Say hello to the mother of all birthday cakes – a layered funfetti vanilla piñata cake! The cake is completely covered in cheerful multi-coloured non-pareils (round sprinkles), and as you cut out a slice you’ll find multi-coloured rainbow sugar confetti hidden inside each layer of soft vanilla cake! To top it all off, the cake is filled with M&Ms which ooze out of the centre! What’s not to love?
Although a little time-consuming, this cake is surprisingly easy (and inexpensive!) to make. One of these bad boys takes around 3 hours to make but can easily feed 20 people. If you want to make the whole cake yourself, I would suggest following my victoria sponge recipe for the vanilla cake mix, and then following the rest of this recipe… But for a much easier, quicker (and cheaper!) method here’s my cheat’s guide (Shhhh!) which tastes just as good.
You will need:
- 3 boxes of vanilla cake mix
- 9 eggs and some vegetable oil to mix in with the cake mix (read packet instructions if you’re using a different mix!)
- 2 tubs of vanilla icing
- 3 packets of multi-coloured non-pareils (or 3 packets of hundreds & thousands / sprinkles but they’re not as bright!)
- 3 packets of fruity confetti
- 1 bag of M&Ms
- Don’t forget the candles!
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 180C (or check packet instructions).
2. Mix 1 box of vanilla cake mix according to the packet instructions, then stir in a whole packet of the fruity confetti. Advice: don’t attempt using the 100’s & 1000’s or glitter strands as they won’t work – I learnt the hard way!
2. Grease a round cake tin and pour in your cake mixture, then pop it in the oven.
3. Meanwhile, make another batch of vanilla cake (repeat step 1).
4. To check the first cake is ready, stick a rounded knife through the middle – it should come out clean. Then take the first cake out the oven and remove it from the cake tin, and leave it to cool.
5. Pour the second batch of batter into the cake tin and pop it in the oven, then make your third batch of batter (repeating step 1).
6. Take out the second cake when it’s ready, remove it from the cake tin and leave it to cool. Pour the third batch of batter into the cake tin and pop it into the oven.
7. Whilst the third cake is in the oven, place your first two cakes on top of each other a plate (or cake board). Cut a hole right through the middle. Using 1 tub of vanilla icing, spread some on top of the first layer, then on top of the second, and the rest in the middle (see below), then place it in the fridge for a few minutes to allow the icing to harden a bit.
8. Take the third cake out of the oven when it’s ready and let it cool, then take the first two layers of cake out of the fridge and fill the hole in the middle with the bag of M&Ms.
9. Pop the third layer on top!
10. Cover the whole outside of the cake with the second tub of vanilla icing, then cover it with the multi-coloured non-pareils! The easiest way to do this was just by taking a small handful at a time and patting it onto the icing. A little time-consuming but worth the effort!
