Piñata Funfetti Cake

How are we already in August! Is it just me or did July come and fly right by us?  I have been sort of MIA catching up with my family, but have no fear I am BACK! I have people asking me left and right every day (also family who missed cake) when a new blog post is coming on my website and I was pleasantly surprised with the feedback. I just wanted to take a minute to say THANK YOU to everyone who has been reading these and has been so supportive! Let’s get on with it!
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This last week we celebrated my nieces 3 months (remember the 1st posting was there 2nd month) and for this I really wanted to step out of my comfort zone and do something different. This week I attempted to make a Piñata Funfetti Cake. If you are looking for the most epic cake in the entire world, look no further. This Piñata cake is not only buttery vanilla goodness with rainbow sprinkles, but the crème de la crème of this entire cake is the hidden treasure inside. SPRINKLE MEDLEY! I cannot type that without all caps, my bad. 

Piñata Funfetti Cake 

Tools:
Electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (a handheld on works great too!)
3 Mixing Bowls
Whisk
Spatula
Parchment Paper
Cake pans (for this recipe I used two  4" round cake pans
Bench Scraper
Offset spatula 
4 cups of Sprinkles (of your choice)
2 inch circle cutters (I used a shot cup)
Wilton 1M tip
3 piping bags (ziploc is good too)

 
You'll need:
2 1/2 cups of All Purpose flour
2 cups of granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of table salt 
4 tsp pure vanilla extract 
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup of whole milk
1 cups (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, at room temperature

American Buttercream (recipe from Chelsweets) 

You'll need:
4 sticks or 2 cups (434 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 cups (907 grams) powdered sugar
1/2 tsp (3 grams) salt
2 Tbsp (30 grams) heavy cream
3 tsp (12 grams) vanilla

To make the cake :
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line your pans with parchment paper. 

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and whisk together. Set it aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, & vanilla on medium speed until the mixture looks fluffy.

Add the eggs, two at a time, beating until each addition is well mixed. You can use your spatula now to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary.

Adding the dry and wet ingredients: Add the flour mixture in 4 parts, alternating with the milk in 3 parts, beating just until each addition is mixed well before adding the next, try not to over mix it. 

Next, fold in Sprinkles with a spatula (if you do not know what folding means, it means to gently incorporate an ingredient so that the heavier ingredient like the cake is placed at the bottom and the lighter is above). 

After you have incorporated the sprinkles into the batter, separate the batter evenly between the 2 pans. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

​Once baked thoroughly  I like to put them into the fridge for at least 30 minutes to cool. 

To make the American Buttercream:
Beat the butter on a medium speed for 30 seconds with a paddle attachment, until smooth.
Slowly add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Alternate with small splashes of cream.

Once fully mixed, add in the vanilla and salt, and beat on low until the ingredients are fully incorporated, and the desired consistency is reached. If the frosting is too thick, add in additional cream (1 teaspoon at a time).

For this I separated the frosting into 3 batches. I left one white, one purple, and one pink (I used gel food colors for this). 

Stacking and Layering:
Once your cakes have baked and cooled remove the cake from their pans and place on a large piece of parchment paper. 

Since the cakes are 4 inches I actually trimmed the crust to get rid of any caramelization so that when I cut into it we just see the beautiful funfetti. Thus, this made the cake about 3 4/5th (3.80 inches) round. Next, find the center of the cake and split the cake into two halves for you have 4 disks of cake. 

After the cakes have been split, take your 2 inch cookie cutter, in this case it will be a shot glass for me, and find the center of your cake and press firmly. Repeat this on only 3 layers leaving one layer for the top layer of the cake (3 layers with holes and 1 without). 

Now we can begin building the cakes starting with a 6 inch round cake board. 

Place one of the three layers with the hole on the cake board and frosting your cake as usual. Repeat this 2 more times until you have reached the final layer. Be mindful to a-line the holes so that they are evenly stacking.  Before adding the top layer, fill the holes with your desired sprinkles and add the top and final layer. 
 
Once all 4 layers are stacked, cover the cake in a think crumb coat with the remainder white buttercream, and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Once the crumb coat is firm to the touch, add the purple and pink buttercream alternating between the two colors. I used an offset spatula to add the colors gradually. 

Once smooth, use a Wilton 1M tip to make the rosettes with white buttercream on top.  I decorated the rim of the cake in places with chocolate hearts and a chocolate lollipop cut into 3 pieces for a fun element. 

I also added more chocolate lollipops and a chocolate love sign that I made with chocolate molds to top the cake. 

This cake serves about 8 people. If you are not a huge fan of sprinkles you can definitely add any candy, chocolate, or even a small toy for kids birthday to make it your own.

If you liked the candy on top of my cake leave a comment below or put in a request in the contact portion and I will definitely show you guys, because it is so easy and makes your cake look that much more professional. 

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