Aimee’s Pretty Palate: Just Add Sprinkles
When I was a little girl, I could be quoted as requesting my birthday morning donuts to be, “chocolate covered, no sprinkles.” For as long as I can remember, I don’t think I’ve ever really been a fan of my desserts being sprinkle laden. I appreciate that there are those with feet firmly planted in the sprinkle camp, however, and I do acknowledge the pure joy and nostalgia of childhood they bring to birthday celebrations.
Speaking of sprinkle aficionados, my baking-enthused best friend’s daughter requested “sprinkle cake” for her eighth birthday. “Sprinkle cake?” I asked. I knew she was likely referring to confetti cake but asked for clarification because kids these days are constantly teaching me new things. “Yeah, you know. Cake with sprinkles.” Ah, yes. Confetti cake.
My Small Batch Confetti Birthday Cake is a homemade version of the beloved box mix. It is delicious, easy and fun to make. It’s even more fun to gift, too. Grab a disposable cake container, load it with precut cake slices and tie it up with ribbon. Voilà. For a budding baker, leave the cake in a newly purchased baking pan with a cookbook attached and your thoughtful dessert drop-off becomes a gift that will continue to inspire creativity in the kitchen. I’ve got just the perfect cookbook suggestion for said gifting. Wink, wink.
Continuing with our all-things sprinkle vibe, Birthday Cake Cookies are also a from-scratch, festive recipe that combines everything you love about a traditional birthday cake without the need for a fork and plate. Totally portable and completely delicious, these cookies are fun to treat and even more fun to eat.
And if baking from scratch or heating up the oven is not on your agenda, then some No-Bake Birthday Cake Truffles may be just what your birthday girl or guy needs. They are another completely portable treat that never fails to impress. Minimal ingredients. Minimal effort. Maximum happiness vibes. I bet you cannot eat just one.
So whether you are celebrating someone eight or eighty, sprinkle some love via homemade dessert gift-giving the next time a birthday occasion rolls around.
Birthday Cake Cookies
Ingredients:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
½ cup rainbow sprinkles
½ cup white chocolate morsels
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla extract, beat until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda. Add flour mixture to butter mixture a little at a time until just combined.
Fold in white chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles.
With a cookie scoop, drop dough balls about 2-inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Use your fingers to gently flatten each cookie.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are lightly brown.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheets before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 24 cookies
No Bake Birthday Cake Truffles
Ingredients:
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups yellow cake mix
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. butter extract*
1⁄3 cup rainbow sprinkles
16 oz. white chocolate candy melts
Rainbow nonpareils
Instructions:
Pasteurize the flour: Uncooked flour is not safe for consumption right out of the bag as it hasn’t been treated to kill any bacteria. Place flour in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30-second intervals for about 1 minute, until flour reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Let flour cool to room temperature.
Combine flour, cake mix, sugar, butter and extracts in bowl of stand mixer. Beat until a firm dough forms and there are no lumps left.
Remove dough. Fold in rainbow sprinkles. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. Place dough balls in freezer for 15 minutes.
While truffles are chilling, melt white chocolate in microwave in 30-second increments until melted and smooth. Dip truffle balls into center of melted chocolate using a fork (careful not to pierce). Tap excess and return to wax paper. Once all truffles are dipped, reheat any remaining chocolate and place into a piping bag. Create lines on each truffle and immediately sprinkle tops with rainbow nonpareils.
Let the coating harden in refrigerator for 20 minutes. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Makes 24 truffles.
*Butter extract adds a richness to the truffles, but you can substitute with an extra teaspoon of vanilla if you don’t wish to use it.
Small Batch Confetti Birthday Cake
Ingredients for the cake:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup whole milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
1⁄3 cup rainbow sprinkles
For the frosting and topping:
4 Tbsp. (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 to 3 tsp. heavy whipping cream
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Rainbow sprinkles, for topping
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mist an 8-inch cake pan with baking spray and line bottom with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add milk, oil, eggs, vanilla and almond extract and mix until combined. Fold in sprinkles.
Scrape batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out mostly clean.
Transfer cake to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Remove from pan and set on wire rack to cool completely before frosting. Discard parchment.
Make frosting: In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter for 1 to 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, 1 tsp. of cream and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add up to 2 additional tsp. of cream until frosting reaches desired consistency and is easily spreadable.
Once cake has cooled completely, use an offset spatula to frost top of the cake. Sprinkle with rainbow sprinkles. Cut cake into 9 squares to serve.
Makes 1 (8-in.) cake.
Aimee Broussard is a Southern food blogger and award-winning cookbook author. Seen on QVC, Rachael Ray and more, she is a self-proclaimed accidental entrepreneur with a penchant for porches and sweet hospitality. Find her online at aimeebroussard.com.
