I have to admit a certain weakness for funfetti. I don’t know if its because I enjoy handling the rainbow sprinkles when I’m baking the cake or if I just really love all the bright childhood colors… Either way it’s a favorite and I think a birthday cake is the PERFECT opportunity to make this cake.
If you find cake decorating to be a bit intimidating then check out my How to Decorate a Cake post, it has lots of helpful tips and a full how to video.
Yes there are sprinkles in the buttercream and yes I am 100% into this.
A Few Tips and Pointers
- If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
- If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
- You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
- To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set on the shop page or make your own from foil and paper towels at home. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!
- If American buttercream is a bit sweet for you try whipping up a batch of Italian meringue buttercream. It’s silky smooth and very creamy, not at all cloying!
- To pipe the two-tone frosting you fill one bag (1/2 way full) with white frosting, one bag with pink frosting and then put both bags in a third piping bag. No need for a tip, just snip about an inch off each bag.
How to Make a Pink Birthday Cake
1. Sift dry ingredients and whisk to distribute
2. Whisk together wet ingredients. I prefer to warm them slightly so there are no clumps, but room temperature works just fine.
3. Add wet to dry, mix and fold in sprinkles. Pour batter into your three six inch pans, which you’ve buttered and floured. I always use cake strips for flat layers with a fluffy edge but they’re optional.
4. Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and cream. Mix. Divide into two equal batches and add soft pink food coloring to one.
5. Add sprinkled to each batch of buttercream and fold in to distribute.
6. Fill one bag (1/2 way full) with white frosting, one bag with pink frosting and then put both bags in a third piping bag. Pipe a swirl of buttercream onto the first cake layer then add the second layer on top. Repeat the process. Fill in any gaps on between the layers with buttercream and give a quick smooth.
7. Pipe alternating white and pink rings on the vertical side of the cake and top. Use a bench scraper to smooth the side and an offset spatula to smooth the top. To finish the corner of the cake use the bench scraper to slowly pull inwards while you turn the cake.
8. Transfer some white buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe the buttercream on the top edge of the cake using a wave motion. You could also pipe dollops, or a braid pattern instead.
9. Press sprinkles onto the base of the cake and it’s ready to serve!!
If you love this recipe try these out!
Funfetti Cake with Italian meringue Buttercream
If you’ve tried this Pink Birthday Cake Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Pink Birthday Cake
Video
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cupsugar
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 egg whites
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup sprinkles
For the Vanilla Buttercream:
- 1 cup butter
- 5 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 drop soft pink food gel coloring
- 1/4 cup sprinkles
Instructions
For the Cake
- Butter and flour three six inch pans. I use cake strips on my pans for more even baking as well. Preheat oven to 340F.
- Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Beat the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. Fold in the sprinkles at the very end and mix until just combined.
- Divide the mixture evenly into the cake pans.
- Bake at 340 for about 25-30 minutes or until the centers are springy to the touch.
For the Vanilla Buttercream:
- Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar and cream and mix. Divide into two batches and dye one with the pink food coloring. You will stir in about 1 tbs of sprinkles into the white buttercream and 1/4 cup into the pink buttercream.
- Transfer both colors to 2 piping bags. Snip off the tips. Transfer both to one piping bag. Snip off the tip.
For the Assembly:
- Pipe buttercream between the cake layers.
- Cover the cake with a thin crumb coat and chill for a few minutes.
- Once the cake has chilled, pipe buttercream on the outside of the cake. With a steady hand, work your way around the cake until it is completely covered with the buttercream.
- Cover the cake with the buttercream and smooth with an offset spatula.
- Use the regular buttercream and pipe the pink and white buttercream between each layer. You can get a two-tone effect by filling one bag with white buttercream, one with the pink and then placing both in a third bag.
- Lightly press confetti sprinkles on the bottom of the cake and then pipe the white Italian buttercream using an 869 tip.
Notes
- If sour cream isn't available you can substitute whole milk yogurt, I do it all the time and can't really tell the difference.
- To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set online or make your own from foil and paper towels at home. I made a so check it out if you're interested!
- If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
Nutrition
This is in my oven right now, as a test run for my sons birthday cake! Just a quick question, is it possible to freeze this cake? If all goes well I would like to freeze it until Friday night (6 days away)
Thanks!!
Jem,
If you wrap it up in plastic you can freeze the cake ahead of time. It’s not going to be super fluffy, but will still taste great for a birthday party!
John
Hi John! This was my very first homemade cake (non-box lol) and I really enjoyed the recipe! A couple of questions…would using vanilla yogurt vs plain give the cake more flavor in your opinion? Any feedback on Greek vs regular yogurt? And lastly, do you use larger piping bags than the standard Wilton? I found it hard to combine the two bags of icing into one bag because they were so full…any feedback or tips would be greatly appreciated! I’ll be making this again for my nieces 1st bday in a couple weeks 🙂
Cynthia B,
This cake has vanilla in it, so I usually wouldn’t want to add more vanilla flavor! You can totally use flavored yogurt though! I use standard piping bags for decoration! When piping a swirl, I usually fill each bag about half way or more, then refill when I run out. You could always order large bags for double bagging! I’m so happy you liked the cake!!
John
Hello! I love all your instagram videos! They are really amazing to look at and I can’t wait to try to make a cake! Do any of these cakes need sugar syrup or is it really moist the with the yogurt/sour cream?
Thanks!
Tara,
Thank you so much! I never use sugar syrup because the sour cream will keep the cake really moist!
John
Hi
You have mentioned in the instructions …
To make 2 batches of colour blue and yellow and pink and white
I want to make this cake and I m confused with this step
Please clarify
Renu,
Divide the buttercream half, dye one batch pink! Hope you enjoy!
John
Hi John,
Just want to clarify did you use Italian and Swiss buttercream for this cake? You mentioned Italian buttercream in Step 4 when Assembling . Thanks!
Charlotte,
I used vanilla buttercream for the cake! Hope you enjoy!
John
Hello, I’ve been following your instagram and decided to try your recipe for my niece’s first birthday. I wanted to point out that you have an error in the instructions…you mention blue and yellow coloring for the buttercream. I’m guessing you just used pink and regular buttercream in the depicted cakes in this post? Can’t wait to try your recipe!
Jai,
Thank you so much! Let me know how it turns out!
John
Is this recipe good for cupcakes?
Just made this cake and am extremely pleased at how it turned out. It is a denser cake but is still so delicious. I had made an egg white batter cake once before that turned out very dry but your recipe was far superior to the previous one I had used. I must ask though why just egg whites? Why not use the whole egg?
Am looking forward to making many more of your delicious cakes. I just have to decide which one next because they all sounds so delicious
Hi Beth,
I use egg whites for the color! It keeps the batter a bit whiter!
When you bake your next cake, I would love to see the results!
John
I am hoping you can help me out because I printed this recipe about 2 weeks ago and it listed sour cream instead of plain yogurt . I just made the cakes and used the plain yogurt ( I know they both are essentially the same when baking) but I was thrown off again because the printed recipe also called for salted butter and this one doesn’t. I am so not used to mixing the wet ingredients the way you say to. Normally I whip the butter and sugar together and then add the eggs and vanilla. I am baked by myself a test cake as well because I want to use this recipe for a cake order. I can’t wait to eat it! Anyways, is there a reason why you switched out the sour cream and salted butter? Thanks!
Ivry,
I actually do the recipe both ways! I think I changed the sour cream for consistency. The plain yogurt won’t noticeably change the flavor of the cake!
John
Hi John,
If i don’t use yogurt in the recipe, will that change the cake?
Aethar,
Unfortunately, an absence of yogurt will change the consistency of the cake. You can use sour cream instead!
John