funfetti cake

british english is so much better than american english.*  especially the insults. i’d much rather call someone a tosser or a prat than an idiot or a dumbass. i’d also like to start saying “cheers” in place of “thank you.”

apparently brits call sprinkles “hundreds and thousands”?? that’s cool. it’s sort of a mouthful but it makes sense. this cake uses a ton of them. i topped the cake with some multi-colored edible glitter that my friend bought me! it looks very similar to fish food flakes, i love it.

*EXCEPT FOR THE WORD SNOG!!!!! THAT WORD IS DISGUSTING

recipe/assembly creds go to the momofuku milk bar, as usual.

cake

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 tbsp brown sugar, packed
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp imitation vanilla extract
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp rainbow sprinkles

frosting

• 2 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 tbsp corn syrup
• 1 tbsp imitation vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• pinch of baking powder
• edible glitter (optional)

for the cake, heat the oven to 350°. combine the butter, shortening, and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream together for 2 to 3 minutes. scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and mix for 2 to 3 minutes. scrape down the sides of the bowl once more. on low speed, stream in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. increase the mixer speed and paddle for 4 to 6 minutes, until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original fluffy butter-and-sugar mixture, and completely homogenous. don’t rush the process. you’re basically forcing too much liquid into an already fatty mixture that doesn’t want to make room for that liquid. there should be no streaks of fat or liquid. stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. add the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and the 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles. mix just until your batter comes together. scrape down the sides of the bowl. grease a half sheet pan and line it with parchment. using a spatula, spread the cake batter in an even layer in the pan. sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles evenly on top of the batter. bake the cake for 25 minutes. cool on a wire rack.

for the frosting, combine the cream cheese, butter, and shortening in a stand mixer and beat until fluffy. add the corn syrup and vanilla and continue to beat. gradually add the powdered sugar, then add the salt and baking powder. whip on high speed until the mixture is bright white and fluffy.

to assemble, use a 6-inch cake ring to punch four whole circles out of the cake. punch two semi-circles out of the remaining scraps. wipe off the cake ring and place it onto a baking sheet. line it with a tall strip of wax paper or acetate, then put a 6-inch cake board in the bottom. put the two semi-circles of cake into the ring, filling in the gaps with cake scraps. use the back of a spoon to spread on 1/5 of the frosting. top with a whole circle of cake and spread with another fifth of frosting. continue until you’re out of cake. freeze for at least 12 hours. remove from the ring and peel off the wax paper. pipe a border of frosting around the edge and sprinkle with edible glitter. keep refrigerated.