A cake is always a good idea for a birthday or other celebrations. We (personally) don’t need big layer cakes for that. A simple Funfetti Vanilla Pound Cake, like the one here, is perfect and more than enough! Super easy to prepare and extremely delicious! The colorful sprinkles make the cake perfect for a celebration – whether for children or adults. A little more color in life never hurts, right?! ;P
We are generally big fans of pound cakes aka. loaf cakes. These cakes are usually quick to bake and taste just as delicious as elaborate cakes with multiple layers and buttercream decorations. There’s no need to make things more complicated than necessary, right? If you can spend a few hours less in the kitchen, you’ve already won! ;P
At a birthday party where food is served, cake is a must. A children’s birthday party without a fun cake is simply unthinkable. Nowadays, some people go to great lengths and bake highly decorated cakes with all kinds of fondant decorations. That looks wonderful (if you got the talent for such decorations), but is it really necessary?
Let’s be honest, a highly decorated children’s birthday cake is basically made for the adults and not for the child celebrating their birthday. You want to hear the »oohs« and »aahs« from the other parents. Small children often don’t even understand what they’re looking at. The decorations are forgotten anyway once the cake is cut, and everyone leaves the fondant and other decorations on their plates because they do not taste good. Well, at least you got the pictures, right?! ;P
All joking aside, we definitely prefer a simple funfetti cake in cases like that. They look good, they are normally easy to bake, and they taste good too – what more could you want? From experience, kids love the colorful sprinkles and also get less sugar on their plates without fondant decorations. Win-win situation here! ;P
If you’re still thinking, »Yes, but it’s a boring pound cake!«, you should bake this cake first, eat it, and then complain (if you still need to). Loaf cakes are delicious, and just because they’re simpler doesn’t mean they’re not as good. However, there are a few things to keep in mind when baking a loaf cake, so you end up with something delicious and not dry bricks. We’ve written a short article with Tips & Tricks for perfect Loaf Cakes – just in case you are interested. It never hurts to get some tips here and there…
If you want to add even more color to your birthday sweet table (or your life in general), you might want to check out these two recipes here as well. Both are great for any kind of celebration. Our colorful Black & White Cookies (we call them Amerikaner in Germany) are always a hit at our birthday parties. Simple, colorful, sweet, and delicious!
If you want to make someone really happy, you can of course put in a little more work and bake a delicious Funfetti Birthday Cake. You need a bit more time for that one, but it works without fondant decorations and still looks beautiful! At least in our opinion. ;P
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
For the cake batter:
1 cup (200g) sugar
3/4 cup (180ml) sunflower oil
4 medium eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cups (120ml) buttermilk
1/3 cup (60g) rainbow sprinkles
For the frosting/topping:
3.5 oz. (100g) butter, at room temperature
1 cup (130g) confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract.
3.5 oz. (100g) cream cheese, at room temperature
some additional rainbow sprinkles (optional)
Für den Teig:
200g Zucker
180ml Sonnenblumenöl
4 Eier (M)
2 TL Vanille Extrakt
390g Mehl (Type 405)
4 TL Backpulver
1/8 TL Salz
120ml Buttermilch
60g Regenbogenstreusel
Für die Dekoration:
100g weiche Butter
130g Puderzucker
1 TL Vanille Extrakt.
100g Frischkäse, Zimmertemperatur
einige zusätzliche Regenbogenstreusel (optional)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 9×5 inches (23x12cm) loaf tin* with baking parchment and grease lightly. Set aside.
2. Add sugar and oil to a large bowl and mix on high for several minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs separately and mix well after each addition. Next, add the vanilla extract and mix in. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add together with the buttermilk to the large bowl and mix until just combined. Finally, add the rainbow sprinkles and fold in quickly – you want to avoid the color of the sprinkles to »bleed« into the batter.
3. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf tin and bake the cake for about 60-70 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Take the cake out of the oven, let it cool down for 10-15 minutes inside the tin, then lift it out with the baking parchment and let it cool down completely on a wire rack.
4. For the frosting, add the butter and confectioners’ sugar to a large bowl and mix until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and cream cheese and mix until well combined. Spread the frosting on top of the cooled cake and decorate with some additional sprinkles (optional).
1. Den Ofen auf 180°C (350°F) Ober-/Unterhitze vorheizen. Eine Kastenform* (etwa 23x12cm) mit Backpapier auslegen und leicht einfetten. Zur Seite stellen.
2. Zucker und Öl in einer großen Schüssel für einige Minuten aufschlagen, bis die Masse hell und luftig aussieht. Die Eier einzeln dazugeben und jeweils gut unterrühren. Vanille Extrakt dazugeben und unterrühren. Mehl mit Backpulver und Salz vermischen, dann zusammen mit der Buttermilch zur Schüssel dazugeben und alles nur kurz verrühren. Die bunten Streusel dazugeben und zügig unterheben, damit die Farbe der Streusel möglichst wenig in den Teig »ausblutet«.
3. Den Teig in die vorbereitete Form füllen und dann für etwa 60-70 Minuten backen – mit einem Holzspieß testen, ob noch Teig kleben bleibt und den Kuchen erst herausholen, wenn dieser sauber herauskommt. Den Kuchen aus dem Ofen holen und in der Form etwa 15 Minuten abkühlen lassen, dann zusammen mit dem Backpapier aus der Form heben und dann auf einem Kuchengitter komplett auskühlen lassen.
4. Für das Topping die Butter und den Puderzucker in einer großen Schüssel hell und luftig aufschlagen. Vanille Extrakt und Frischkäse dazugeben und gut unterrühren. Die Creme auf dem abgekühlten Kuchen verteilen und mit einigen zusätzlichen Regenbogenstreuseln dekorieren (optional).
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Funfetti Vanilla Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 00:20
- Cook Time: 01:10
- Total Time: 03:00
- Yield: 1
- Category: Cakes
- Cuisine: International
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A (birthday) party needs guests, gifts, and good cake! This Funfetti Vanilla Pound Cake is the perfect fun little cake for any type of celebration!
Ingredients
For the cake batter:
1 cup (200g) sugar
3/4 cup (180ml) sunflower oil
4 medium eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cups (120ml) buttermilk
1/3 cup (60g) rainbow sprinkles
For the frosting/topping:
3.5 oz. (100g) butter, at room temperature
1 cup (130g) confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract.
3.5 oz. (100g) cream cheese, at room temperature
some additional rainbow sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 9×5 inches (23x12cm) loaf tin* with baking parchment and grease lightly. Set aside.
2. Add sugar and oil to a large bowl and mix on high for several minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs separately and mix well after each addition. Next, add the vanilla extract and mix in. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add together with the buttermilk to the large bowl and mix until just combined. Finally, add the rainbow sprinkles and fold in quickly – you want to avoid the color of the sprinkles to »bleed« into the batter.
3. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf tin and bake the cake for about 60-70 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Take the cake out of the oven, let it cool down for 10-15 minutes inside the tin, then lift it out with the baking parchment and let it cool down completely on a wire rack.
4. For the frosting, add the butter and confectioners’ sugar to a large bowl and mix until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and cream cheese and mix until well combined. Spread the frosting on top of the cooled cake and decorate with some additional sprinkles (optional).
Notes
Let’s get baking!
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I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
