Celebrations

I'm wrapping up my fun with ice cream! Today it's all about bringing back childhood memories. We're doing that with sprinkles. Lots and lot of sprinkles!

I've been seeing a version of this cake around the internet and have been dying to make it in my kitchen. I mean, look at all of those sprinkles! It's so pretty! It's also seriously easy to do. No need to worry about smooth icing, piping bags or imperfections. Just cover your cake with frosting and pour on the sprinkles.

I didn't stop with just sprinkles on the outside, the cake is also filled with adorable bursts of color. This is the perfect cake for a birthday, whether the birthday person be eight or eighty! Just be sure to stock up on sprinkles, you'll need a whole bunch of them.

It isn't a birthday celebration unless there is ice cream to go along with your cake. As soon as I saw this Fireball ice cream among the flavors from Perry's escapes, I knew it would be the perfect pairing with my vanilla sprinkle cake. Nothing reminds me more of middle school than fireballs and this ice cream tastes exactly like the classic candy.

If you are in the region that sells Perry's Ice Cream, you should definitely go and try out this flavor. I was so surprised at how dead on the flavor was in this ice cream. It has a strong cinnamon and spice flavor, with little bits of fireball candy mixed throughout. You definitely don't need to eat an entire bowl of this stuff, a scoop with your cake will totally satisfy.

Feel like a kid again. For your next celebration eat lots of sprinkles and ice cream!

Two Years Ago: Spice-rubbed Chicken & Gratin Dauphinois

Three Years Ago: PB&J Mallomars

Four Years Ago: Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Celebration Cake

Adapted from Baked - Occasions

I cut the original recipe in half for this cake and assembled it in a cake ring. It's a technique I picked up from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook - you can see a quick assembly video in this post. I didn't like the frosting that went along with this recipe and would recommend using this vanilla frosting recipe instead. You'll also need a big container of rainbow sprinkles.

Since I cut this recipe in half, I used a food scale to weigh out the ingredients. It is so much easier to weigh out your dry ingredients than to dirty up a bunch of measuring cups!

1 1/4 cup cake flour (157 g)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (45 g)

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 teaspoon kosher salt

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (50 g) vegetable shortening

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (175 g) sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup ice cold water

1/4 cup whole milk

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles

2 large egg whites, room temperature

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 325 °F. Butter a quarter sheet pan and line with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper too.

Sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Cream together butter, vegetable shortening and sugar, until fluffy. Add vanilla extract and egg yolk. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.

In a container with a spout, combine water, milk and buttermilk.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture, mix on low until combined. Add 1/2 of the milk mixture and stir until smooth.  Add another 1/3 of the flour, mix, followed by remaining milk, mix. Add remaining flour and mix on low until smooth. Fold in sprinkles.

In a cold metal bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Fold into the cake batter with a spatula. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove cake from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Prepare your favorite vanilla buttercream recipe.

Remove cooled cake from the pan. Peel off parchment paper. Cut two full circles and two half circles with a 6-inch cake ring. Alternatively, you can cut around a 6-inch plate with a sharp knife.

Line 6-inch cake ring with a cake collar, set the two half circles into the bottom of the ring, fill in the middle section with remaining pieces of cake. Add 1/2 cup buttercream and smooth. Add second cake circle and press down. Add more buttercream and final cake circle. Top with butter cream and smooth out. Place cake in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Remove cake from the freezer and slip off cake ring. Peel off cake collar and frost the outside of the cake. You can start with a crumb coat, freeze for 15 minutes and then layer on another coat of frosting. Pop the cake in the fridge for 1 hour.

To cover cake in sprinkles, place it on a cake stand that is on top of a large baking sheet. Pour a bunch of sprinkles on the top of the cake and smooth out, allowing extra sprinkles to pour over the edges. Take handfuls of sprinkles and place your hand at the bottom of the cake, smooth sprinkles up the sides. Continue smoothing until the entire cake is covered in sprinkles. Shake off the excess sprinkles. Celebrate!