confetti cake with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream frosting

it seems as though everyone loves funfetti cake.  children and adults alike love to see those brightly colored rainbow sprinkles in their slice of cake.  i agree that funfetti cake is indeed fun and festive, but i am not a fan of box cake mixes.  so, for my birthday celebration this year i decided to make homemade funfetti cake . . . aka: confetti cake.

i used a basic white cake recipe and simply added rainbow sprinkles to the batter.  easy peasy.  as the cake bakes, the rainbow sprinkles provide little pops of color in the white cake.  it just screams birthday, and it's perfect for a party.

instead of topping this cake with traditional buttercream frosting, i decided to kick it up a notch with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream frosting.  (it's my birthday after all.)

confetti cake with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream frosting
prep time: 15-20 minutes
baking time: 35-40 minutes
cooking time: 5-10 minutes
yields: one double layer 9-inch round cake

cake ingredients:
1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups milk (or buttermilk)
4 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles

frosting ingredients:
5 large egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
4 sticks (32 tablespoons) salted butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

directions:
for the cake: preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  in the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).  in a separate bowl, sift together the cake flour and baking powder.  in another bowl, whisk together the milk and the egg whites.  add 1/2 of the sifted dry ingredients and 1/2 of the milk and egg mixture to the batter and beat until combined.  add the remaining dry ingredients and milk and egg mixture, then beat well.  stir in the vanilla extract.  fold in the sprinkles until combined.  (note: be sure to use sprinkles, not nonpareils.  sprinkles will provide contained bursts of color, whereas nonpareils will bleed and make messy streaks of color.)  pour the batter into two greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.  bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean.  once baked, allow the cake to cool in the cake pans for 10 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pan and allow them to cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting.

for the frosting: heat the egg whites and sugar in a double boiler over low heat, whisking constantly.  heat the mixture until it reaches 160 degrees F and all of the sugar has dissolved.  transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer, and beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled (about 8 minutes).  add the butter in increments of 2 tablespoons, beating well after each addition.  beat on medium-high speed until the frosting is thick and smooth (about 4 minutes).  stir in the vanilla extract.  (for a double layer 9-inch round cake, you will most likely have some extra frosting left over.)

enjoy!

love, laurie