Vanilla Confetti Cake

What's a birthday without cake? Maybe the winners of the Kim Chee Casserole First Birthday Contest will make their first batch of cupcakes with this recipe! Click the link above to enter the contest, and then leave a comment on this recipe to earn yourself an extra entry!


This recipe is basically my recipe for Tie-Dye Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting, but with a few changes. First, you make the original batter.

Like so.

Now, instead of dividing the batter into bowls and coloring it, you add a big, heaping spoonful of sprinkles.

Any sprinkles will do. I like these little round guys, but those big, flat ones would probably be great, too. Color is important! You want it to be bright and happy!

Stir them in. Don't let them sit too long--I'd be afraid they would melt completely. You can see here, the colors are starting to bleed a little already.

Then the batter goes right into a greased cake pan. Or, into cupcake liners!

You know, the Diva Cupcake Kit comes with sprinkles. Think about how color coordinated you could be, with matching sprinkles and cupcake liners!

Nummy.

Let it cool completely before you frost it or you'll end up with a soggy cake with runny frosting.

The frosting uses two sticks of softened butter.

I hate how much butter gets left behind on the wrappers (and then hate scraping the wrappers off) when you leave the butter to soften on the counter. So I unwrap the butter while it's cold and let it soften in the bowl I plan on making the frosting in.

Be sure to cover the bowl if you have cats that like to jump on the counter or a kid who likes to stick her fingers in stuff!

When the butter is soft and you're about ready for frosting, grab a beater or a whisk attachment and start fluffing the fat.

Hmm. That didn't come out sounding as delicious as intended.

I like the ease of simple powdered sugar frosting, so I added some powdered sugar.

When your frosting has become nice and fluffy, you can give it some flavor. I used a bit of almond extract.

And, of course, vanilla extract is essential.

I didn't feel the need to thin my frosting out at all, but if you do, a little milk or other dairy product will do the job.

When your cake is cool, you can slap a big dollop of frosting on top.

You could eat it like this.

Or you could do the right thing and spread it around so everyone gets a little frosting on their cake.

I wanted to put more sprinkles on the top. But I didn't have any more. It was a sad day. Well, I did have Christmas and Halloween sprinkles. But this is a birthday cake!

That just means I can go on a sprinkle shopping spree, right? Next time I do a recipe involving sprinkles I'll have one of every shape, color, and kind.

You could wait until after dinner to cut a piece of cake.















Or you could cut one now. I think I'll cut one now.

For additional ways to fill your cupcake liners, check out Tie-Dye Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting and Third Trimester Chocolate Cake! And for cute cupcake ideas, check out Bakerella, Bakingdom, and of course Cake Wrecks (the cute ideas are on Sunday--the rest of the days are wrecky ;) ).

Vanilla Confetti Cake

1 c. water
1 c. (2 sticks) butter

2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. sour cream
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sprinkles

Combine water and butter together in a measuring cup or microwave safe bowl, and microwave until mixture boils.

Pour the water and butter mixture into a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and beat together until combined. Use a spoon or spatula to gently stir in sprinkles.

Pour batter into well-greased cake pan.

Bake at 375F for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

Cool cake completely before frosting.


Recipe: Simple Cake Frosting
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/2 pounds (3/4 of a regular 2 lb. bag) powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Cream butter in a mixing bowl. Slowly add in powdered sugar until all sugar is combined and frosting is light and fluffy.

Add vanilla and almond extracts.

Beat until frosting has reached desired consistency.