Name: Frosting in the Cake Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 20
Ingredients: 1 boxed butter cake mix; 3/4 C oil; 1 C milk; 4 eggs; 1 can buttercream frosting

Yes, you’re seeing double – it’s a Frosting in the Cake Cake.

I almost renamed it Ugly Frosting Cake but that’s not very appetizing. The cake is plain and you might overlook it at a pot-luck, but that would be a mistake.

This ultra-ultra moist and still somehow fluffy dessert will wow your family and friends. Promise.

I visited my sister a couple of weeks ago and the conversation as usual came around to recipes. She has muscadine grapes on her property (not to mention blueberries, strawberries, and a newly-planted fig tree) and made some wonderful jelly with them.

We also chatted about a cake that I haven’t made in years that’s dumped into one bowl along with a can of frosting, then mixed all together and baked. So….it’s a Frosting in the Cake Cake because the frosting is actually in it – not on top!

I get high and mighty about making cakes from scratch, but I make an exception with this one. The recipe came from a Taste of Home bulletin board over ten years ago that since has been shut down.

I don’t know if the person who originally created it got in a hurry and decided to heck with it and dumped the frosting in the batter, but I’m glad they did. This is one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted. No kidding.

There’s a very thin, almost chewy caramely layer on top of the cake. Be sure and get the corner piece to get the most of that.

I’ve found that a butter cake mix and a buttercream frosting is the best combination. Others have experimented with a strawberry cake mix/frosting combo and I once made a chocolate combo, but be sure and try the butter cake combo first.

The flavor is unbelievable – buttery, kind of vanilla-y, but not. It’s hard to describe.

Oh, and if you want it prettier just sprinkle some powdered sugar on top. For heaven’s sake don’t frost it though!

Frosting in the Cake Cake

Yield: 20 pieces

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Wonderful flavor, ultra-ultra moist and yet still fluffy. One of the best cakes you'll ever have.

Ingredients

1 boxed butter cake mix
3/4 C oil
1 C milk
4 eggs
1 can buttercream frosting

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray and flour a 13x9" cake pan.
In a large stand mixer, combine all of the ingredients. Start mixer on low (it will slosh about a bit until blended), then turn it up a little to mix until lumps are gone (1-2 minutes).
Bake cake for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is a medium-dark caramel brown.
Let cool on a rack. Dust with powdered sugar if desired before serving.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Careful when you start the mixer - the milk will slosh around so make sure and start it on very low, then turn it up a little after mixed or you'll have milky batter all over your kitchen!

The brands I used this time are Duncan Hines Butter Cake mix with Pillsbury Butter Cream frosting. It's perfect and soooooooo good!

Next time I might try a butter pecan cake mix with butter cream frosting. Oh, and what about an orange cake mix with butter cream frosting. The combinations are endless, but please try the butter cake mix and butter cream frosting first.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 20 pieces Serving Size: 1 piece
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 115Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 30mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 2g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

Everyone loves a festive cake and this Confetti Cake is definitely that! It’s easier to make than you’d think.

Among this month’s selections from The Perfect Cake by America’s Test Kitchen (#atkcake) is this three-layer Confetti Cake and I knew it was the one to make! It’s so colorful and festive, with little sprinkles inside and out. A perfect celebration cake.

I chose this three-layer cake because I wanted to practice my poor-to-nonexistent cake decorating skills. One day I’ll get that absolutely smooth finish so many other bakers get. This time, not so much.

The first hurdle in preparing for the bake was finding out that of my three 8-inch cake pans, one is actually only 71/2 inches! That’s what I get for buying a cheapo cake pan at the grocery store. I don’t recommend that.

No problem. I baked two of the cakes and then after they were turned out, baked the third. Only I didn’t get quite as much batter in the third so it was a little shorter and a bit lopsided. Again – no problem. I filled in the lopsided part with more frosting.

Everything considered, it came out fairly straight. (Now you’re looking back at the cut-cake photo above to see which layer was lopsided. It’s the bottom layer…)

The cake is unusual in that it uses 6 egg whites and no yolks. (I’ll be using those yolks in an upcoming homemade ice cream recipe…stay tuned). The texture is soft and spongy and the taste is quite delicious.

The buttercream frosting from the book is almost too buttery for me (if that’s possible), but it complimented the cake quite nicely. Be sure and mix the frosting until it’s nice and fluffy.

So, How Do I Make a Confetti Cake?

Make a fantastic white/vanilla cake and stir in processed (in the food processor) rainbow-colored sprinkles. You’ll want them processed so you don’t have big, smeary color blobs in your cake. If you’re short on time, use a boxed cake.
Make your favorite vanilla buttercream frosting and frost the cake, smoothing the sides and top.
Press in a layer of whole sprinkles about 1″ high around the bottom of the cake. Add some on top, too, if you’d like.
Celebrate and enjoy!

How to Make a Confetti Cake

Yield: 10 - 12 slices

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Additional Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Pretty and delicious celebration cake!

Ingredients

For The Cake:
1 C whole milk, room temperature
6 large egg whites, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 C (9 oz) cake flour
1 3/4 C (12 1/4 oz) sugar
4 tsp baking power
3/4 tsp salt
12 tbsp butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened
3/4 C rainbow sprinkles
For the Frosting:
1 lb (4 sticks) butter, each stick cut into quarters and softened
1/4 C plus 2 tbsp heavy cream
1 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
5 C powdered sugar
4-6 drops yellow food coloring

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray three 8" round cake pans, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper and lightly flour the pans.
In a food processor, pulse 1/2 cup of sprinkles until coarsely ground, 8 to 10 pulses. Pour into a small bowl and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, egg whites, and vanilla together.
In a stand mixer bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined. Add the butter, 1 piece at a time until only pea-sized pieces remain, about 1 minute. Add all but 1/2 cup of the milk mixture and increase mixer speed to medium. Beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the remaining 1/2 cup of the milk mixture. Beat until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds (batter may look a little curdled - that's OK, it'll smooth out later). Remove the bowl from the stand and stir a couple of times by hand. Stir in the ground sprinkles.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and smooth the tops with the back of a large spoon. Bake until a toothpick comes out with just a few clinging crumbs (don't over bake), about 20-25 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Let the cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans, discarding the parchment. Let cool completely on the wire rack (about 2 hours until room temperature to touch).
Make the Frosting: In a stand mixer, beat butter, cream, vanilla, and salt on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to medium-low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Add additional cream by the teaspoon to get desired spreading texture. Add a couple of drops of yellow food coloring into the frosting. Beat until ingredients are incorporated and smooth, 3-4 minutes.
Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. If you make this early and refrigerate it to frost the cake later, let the frosting come to room temperature and then rewhip for a couple of minutes until frosting is fluffy again.
Place 1 cake layer on your cake platter and spread about 3/4 cup of frosting evenly on top, right to the edge of the cake. Repeat with the second layer and 3/4 cup of frosting, pressing down lightly to adhere. Put the third layer on top and press down lightly. Use the remaining frosting to evenly cover the top and sides of the cake. Press the remaining sprinkles around the bottom of the cake.
Refrigerate leftovers. Before serving refrigerated cake, bring cake to room temperature to soften the butter frosting.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

It's very important that milk and egg whites are room temperature before adding.

The frosting is very buttery. If you refrigerate it, make totally sure you bring it back to room temperature before serving.

I added sprinkles to the top of my cake because it looked kind of naked without them, I thought. Knock yourself out and put them wherever you'd like.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 468Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 298mgCarbohydrates: 76gFiber: 1gSugar: 55gProtein: 5g