By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey
I love sprinkle release day!
Just in time for back to school lunch making fun, I give you Box of Crayons sprinkles! Basically, the colors you had left at the bottom of your pencil/art box! Jimmies in red, green, blue, yellow and orange mixed with metallic silver sugar gems!
7 oz of sprinkles! Enough to decorate 6 dozen cup cakes (that’s a lot!)
Box of Crayons sprinkle. Available HERE.
If only I had these inside my lunchbox as a kid!
By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey
Funnel Cake Photo by Teresa Earnest Social
It’s County Fair season and we brought the fun inside with our own Funnel Cake Stand…but not just any Funnel Cake Stand! My funnel cakes are dipped in glaze and garnished with sprinkles for over the top fun!
Sprinkle Funnel Cakes
makes 6-8
What you need:
1 1/2 cup milk, divided
3 cups powdered sugar
Food coloring (I used pink)
1 1/4 cups water
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste (you can sub vanilla extract)
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoon baking powder
Oil for frying
Spring Break Sprinkles or your favorite sprinkles
What to do:
1. Make glaze: In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup milk and 3 cups powdered sugar (mixture should be pourable). Add enough food color to get your desired color. Set aside.
2. Make funnel cake batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup milk, water, eggs and vanilla paste until thoroughly combined. Whisk in flour, sugar, salt and baking powder (batter should be pancake batter consistency. If too thick add a bit more water.) Pour batter into a squeeze bottle with the tip cut off at the bottom making a large (about 1/2-inch opening). Set aside.
3. Fry funnel cakes: Cover a baking sheet with paper towels and set aside. Add enough oil to come up 3-inches in a deep pot. Attach a candy thermometer on the side and heat oil to 375 degrees F. Once the oil comes to temperature, hold the squeeze bottle several inches above the oil and squeeze out batter in a spiral motion (about 1/2 cup batter is used for each funnel cake). Fry until lightly brown on underside and turn with a spider or tongs and fry on the other side until lightly browned. Remove to the prepared baking sheet to drain. Continue with the remaining batter.
To Serve: Whisk the glaze again and dip the top of each funnel cake in the glaze. Turn and place on a plate and sprinkle with Spring Break Sprinkles! Serve warm.
By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey
“But how do you cover an entire cake with sprinkles Libbie?” –so many people.
It’s really quite easy…you just have to know a couple of tricks!
How to Cover A Cake With Sprinkles
1. Build your layer cake on a cardboard cake round that is the diameter of your cake. Cut a second cardboard cake round smaller than the first and set aside.
2. Crumb coat the outside of your layer cake and place in the refrigerator until firm.
3. Pour your sprinkles (I ALWAYS use Yum Yum Smile Shop Sprinkle Mixes natch!) out onto a baking sheet. (a 9-inch 3 layer cake will take about a cup of sprinkles)
4. Remove cake from refrigerator (it should be firm) and add a thin coat of frosting to the sides.
5. Place the smaller cake round on the top of the cake. (so now you have a small cake round on the top and a large one on the bottom)
6. Holding the cake sideways with one hand on the bottom cake round and one hand on the top smaller cake round, roll the cake in the sprinkles.
7. Remove top cake round and add a light layer of frosting to the top of the cake.
8. Add sprinkles by hand to the top of the cake.
9. Don’t forget a cake topper!
By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey
I’ve never met a single bored sole that didn’t enjoy a festive cake pop during the second hour of watching an expectant mother open baby gifts at her shower.
Sprinkle Cake Pops
makes 12
By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey
Three layers of delicious cake colored in an ombre of “country club” blues. Butter cream frosting, sides covered in Yum Yum Smile Shop Country Club Sprinkles, white gum balls and miniature pool floats. Quite possibly the most adorable, delicious and easy to decorate cake in all the land.
Pool Party Cake
serves 20
What you need:
2 cups cake flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla paste (can substitute extract)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Blue food coloring gel in three different colors (I used a turquoise, cornflower and royal)
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (recipe to follow)
Yum Yum Smile Shop Country Club Sprinkles
White gum balls or other white candy balls
Small pool float toys (I bought mine HERE)
What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray three 9-inch cake pans with non-stick baking spray and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar. |
4. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
5. Add flour mixture alternating with the milk JUST until smooth (don’t overbeat).
6. Stir in the extracts.
7. Divide mixture evenly between 3 bowls. Add a little of the different food colorings into one of each of the bowls (each bowl will only have one color in it). Stir until well mixed. Add additional food coloring as needed to achieve the color you like. I liked mine super saturated, so I added enough to achieve that.
8. Pour each color of batter into one of the prepared pans and bake until tester inserted in the cake comes out clean (about 20-25 minutes). Allow to cool before removing from pans.
9. Frost cooled cakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and decorate with sprinkles on the side (watch video below for sprinkling the sides of a cake and final decorating), gumballs on the top and pool float miniatures floating on the sea of gumball bubbles!
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
yields about 5 cups
Ingredients:
2 cups (4 sticks) butter, room temperature
6 to 8 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla paste (can sub vanilla extract)
4 to 8 tablespoons milk
copper colored food coloring (or any color you like!)
Directions:
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add 6 cups of the confectioner’s sugar. Add the salt, vanilla paste and 4 tablespoons of milk. Beat for 2 minutes. If the frosting is too thin, add more of the sugar (1/2 a cup at a time). If the frosting is too thick, add more of the milk (1 tablespoon at a time). Stir in a little food coloring at a time until you get your desired color. Refrigerate the frosting for a few minutes before using.
*Vanilla sugar is sugar that has been with a vanilla bean in a jar for a few weeks imparting a mild vanilla flavor
Watch the video here for easy decorating!
