Rainbow Sprinkle Cake & a Festive “Candy Shop” Themed Birthday Party

The lollipop candles on this birthday cake inspired the theme for my daughter’s 10th birthday party. As soon as she saw them, about ten months before her birthday, she started planning a “Candy Shop” themed party.

Knowing we would have the guests watch the most classic candy movie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, we invited her guests by hand delivering a “Golden Ticket” wrapped with a giant rainbow swirl lollipop. (The biggest ones we could find, of course.) 🙂

She imagined an abundant display of colorful candy and rainbow balloons. We had bowls of Skittles, M&M’s, mini-Starbursts, jelly beans, gummy bears, mini-marshmallows, mini-Twix (her favorite candy), and varieties of sprinkles. The centerpiece was a DumDum lollipop “topiary.”

The girls ate a lot of candy , but they also used it to decorate chocolate covered marshmallows and chocolate-caramel apple slices. We also had pretzels for toppings- so yummy with chocolate. We tried to coat Oreos with chocolate as well, but had technical difficulties.

We had other candy-themed activities at the party including making candy necklaces on kitchen twine. They used Fruit Loops, gummy pendants, and gummy lifesavers as “beads.” They also played a game with Jelly Belly jelly beans- identifying the flavors by taste alone. Even though is wasn’t a candy-themed activity, the kids probably had the most fun having an iMovie competition.

We had our traditional celebratory Number Cookies too. 🙂

Having a cake covered in a mound of sprinkles seemed to work with our theme! The Rainbow Sprinkle Birthday Cake is a homemade take on a “Funfetti” cake mix cake. It was so colorful and fun, but also really REALLY delicious- super moist with fabulous vanilla flavor. The recipe was adapted from The New York Times, contributed by Julia Moskin. I weighed the ingredients, increased the amount of frosting, and modified the decorating techniques.

Rainbow Sprinkle Cake

Yield: 8-12 Servings (1 layer cake or 12 cupcakes)

For the Cake:

• ½ cup/110 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), slightly softened, more for pans
• 1 ½ cups/190 grams all-purpose flour, more for pans
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon fine salt
• ⅔ cup/158 ml whole milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup/200 grams sugar
• 1 whole egg plus 2 egg whites
• ⅓ cup rainbow sprinkles (not pastel, or naturally colored)

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 12 ounces cream cheese, slightly softened
• 3/4 cup/165 grams unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), slightly softened
• scant 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, more to taste
• 4 1/2 cups/450 grams confectioners’ sugar, sifted, more to taste
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles (not pastel, or naturally colored), or more, as desired

Note: Frosting Proportions for a 3-layer Version: 16 oz cream cheese, 220 g butter, 600 g confectioners’ sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp fine sea salt.

1. Make the cake: Heat oven to 325 degrees, preferably on convection, and place a rack in the center.
2. Butter and line the bottoms of two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Butter the parchment. Flour the pans, coating the bottom and sides, then tap out any excess flour.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. In a small bowl, stir together milk and vanilla.
5. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Reduce speed to low and, with mixer running, slowly add egg and whites and beat until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape down bowl.
7. Add half the flour mixture, then the milk mixture, then the remaining flour mixture, beating to blend after each addition.
8. Scrape down bowl and blend once more.
9. Remove bowl and use a spatula or spoon to fold in sprinkles by hand.
10. Divide batter evenly between the pans (approximately 400 g per pan), and bake until the tops are just dry to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking.
11. Transfer pans to a wire rack and let cool completely, at least 2 to 4 hours, before turning out.
12. Make the frosting: In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, butter and salt together at medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 minutes.
13. Reduce speed to low and, with mixer running, slowly add sugar and beat until smooth.
14. Beat in vanilla just until incorporated.
15. Taste frosting; you should be able to taste the cream cheese and a little bit of saltiness, as well as the sweetness. If desired, add more salt or sugar. Keep refrigerated.
16. Turn cooled cakes out of pans.
17. Using a bread knife, cut off any domed or uneven parts of each cake to make flat surfaces.
18. Place one of the cakes on a platter or a cake stand, cut side up.
19. Using an offset spatula, frost the top.
20. Stack the other layer on top, cut side down.
21. Place remaining frosting on top of the cake and, working from the center outward, frost the top and sides of the cake, as desired. I piped a border around the perimeter of the top of the cake to keep the thick coating of sprinkles on top in place.
22. Sprinkle the top with a thick layer of sprinkles. Coat the sides with sprinkles as well, if desired.
23. Refrigerate cake 30 minutes or longer to set. Serve cool.

Note: This recipe would also work well for cupcakes. Fill batter in 12 cupcake liners and bake 17-20 minutes, on convection.

One Year Ago:

• Pig Party!

Two Years Ago:

• Birthday Red Velvet “Owl” Cupcakes

Three Years Ago:

• Apple Layer Cake with Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting
• The Best Carrot Cake Ever

Four Years Ago:

• Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

It was so tasty, I’ve already made it again! 🙂 I think it might need THREE layers next time. We all absolutely love it.

About Josette@thebrookcook

I live in Stony Brook, New York on Long Island. I love garlic and baking. My hobby (and love) is to try new recipes. My favorite recipe resources include The New York Times, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, and Martha Stewart Living. Enjoy!

View all posts by Josette@thebrookcook →