Homemade Funfetti Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Last weekend I celebrated my birthday! This is my fourth time posting about my birthday on Naptime Chef. I know it puts me in the minority, but I actually enjoy celebrating my birthday. For real. I am not really all that concerned about my age, probably because I was always the youngest kid in my grade growing up. For me my birthday is the one day a year when I really let go and do whatever I want. This year I went to the gym (which I actually enjoy), had brunch with friends, spent the afternoon with my family, and my husband took me out to dinner. I also, of course, baked myself a cake.
I know I could easily ask my husband for any cake under the sun but, truth be told, I love the excuse to bake myself a big ole’ cake once a year. I choose whatever flavor I want, play with recipes until I land upon the best possible version, and go crazy making it the day before my celebration. Throughout the year I also bake for my children’s birthdays as well as my husband’s, but I always go with their requests. This is the one day a year I get to go with anything I want, even if nobody else likes it. Yay!
This year I am feeling celebratory. We are days away from moving into our new house, my daughter is loving school, and the baby is growing leaps and bounds every day. It is a happy time. I’ve always loved funfetti cake so I decided to make me my own based on some inspiration from Pinterest. I also wanted lemon cream cheese frosting and the chance to try out the new, very popular, ombre frosting technique. Luckily, with a little tweaking here and there everything turned out just as I hoped. The cake was most, delicious, and adorable. The frosting technique actually worked, and everything liked my new creation. Happy Birthday to me!
Ingredients
- adapted from The Kitchn
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup whole milk, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons soft unsalted butter
- 8 tablespoons shortening
- 1/3 cup multi-colored sprinkles, plus more for decorating the outside
- 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 cups confectioners' sugar
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans and set aside.
- 2. In a small bowl whisk the egg whites, ¼ cup milk, and extracts and set aside.
- 3. In an electric mixer mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, until just combined. Then beat in the butter and shortening until well combined. With the mixer on low speed beat in the remaining milk until the batter is smooth. Then, gradually pour in the egg white mixture, beating for one minute between each addition. Use a spatula to fold in the sprinkles.
- 4. Divide the batter evenly amongst the two prepared baking pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops spring back when touched and a cake tester inserted comes out clean.
- 5. Let the cakes cool for five minutes in the pan. Then invert them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- 6. To make the frosting: Beat the cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. With the mixer on low beat in the confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy.
- 7. To make the different hues of frosting divide the frosting into six bowls. Add varying amounts of lemon food coloring or paste to each one to develop different shades of yellow. I used 5 drops in the first bowl, 4 drops in the second, 3 drops in the third, 2 drops in the four, and 1 tiny drop in the fifth. Leave the sixth bowl completely neutral with no coloring.
- 8. First, use a little frosting between the cakes layers. Then set the cakes on a platter and frost with the shades of vanilla as you choose!
I was wondering what kind of cake you’d make, no chocolate confection from Julia this year? Hope your day was great 🙂