This cake is the ULTIMATE celebration cake. Funfetti, brithday cake, anything and eVERYTHING with sprinkles, all wrapped into one ginormous, four-layer beauty complete with cream cheese buttercream, ube white chocolate whipped ganache, and strawberry whipped cream (because go big or go home). What’s the occasion? Not a birthday, as you might expect, but a massive milestone for us here at Sisters Sans Gluten. For anyone who follows us on Instagram, you’ll know we spend a TON of time on the platform and honestly, it’s become a go-to space for some of the best friendships, support, encouragement, and inspiration these past two years. When we first started, it involved a lot of shouting into the void, but as we connected with more and more fellow foodies, gluten free long-haulers like ourselves, recipe developers, food photographers, and all-around fantastic folks, Instagram became our trusted home for sharing our love of gluten free baking and learning a hell of a lot from friends we meet along the way. It’s been a long process and has evolved into a much larger part of our little business, but it’s an absolute joy every day to dive into the Instagram community.
So, a little over two years after we shared our very first Instagram post on SSG, we’ve now reached over 10,000 followers (a big moment in an Instagrammer’s life!) which is just mind-blowing. Ten thousands folks think there’s something worth sticking around for and it’s at once humbling and incredibly exciting because that means thousands more folks to connect with, share ideas with, and learn from. To celebrate this crazy accomplishment, we made a CAKE. And not just any cake, THIS cake (as we described above). Heck, it might even have 10,000 tiny nonpareils all over it – who knows!! Like life, and like our constant learning journey on Instagram, the cake had its highs and lows: it almost slid over while I was constructing it, so the layers are a horrendous mess (photo below), but all in all it was FUN and it tastes AMAZING and so here we are, eating another slice and looking forward to the next 10k.
If you’re looking for other sprinkle-heavy treats, we’ve got TWO other for you to try: these white chocolate stuffed sprinkle cookies, and these funfetti cupcakes that are sure to make your day a whole lot better. But never fear, we’ve got about a gaggilion (sp?) nonpareils and jimmies left so you better believe we’ll be covering every availabled baked good with them in the coming weeks. Also side note, sprinkled are TOTALLY the glitter of the baking world. But for seriously, sprinkles aside, these other colorful treats are sure to bring the figurative sunshine: pink lemonade bars, Vietnamese pandan honeycomb cake, ube angel food cake, creamsicle cupcakes, or even this strawberries n cream cake!
The Ultimate Gluten Free Funfetti Cake
Equipment
- Four 6-inch round cake pans
- Cake scraper
- Electric mixer
- Piping bags
- Wooden skewer or dowel
- Cake board
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
For the cakes:
- 6 large egg whites no yolk!
- 3/4 Cup melted salted butter
- 1/2 Cup sour cream
- 3/4 Cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 Tbsp clear vanilla extract (if you don't have clear, regular is fine!)
- 1 1/4 Cup white sugar
- 1 Cup gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum added (if it doesn't have xanthan gum, add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum)
- 1/2 Cup sweet rice flour
- 1/2 Cup packed blanched almond flour
- 1/2 Cup arrowroot starch
- 1 1/2 tsp baking power
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Cup rainbow sprinkles we used jimmies
For the cream cheese buttercream:
- 4 Cups salted butter room temperature
- 1 Cup (8 oz) cream cheese room temperature
- 5-6 Cups powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp clear vanilla extract
For the ube ganache:
- 1/2 Cup heavy cream
- 1 Cup chopped good quality white chocolate
- 1 tsp ube extract
For the strawberry whipped cream:
- 3/4 Cup heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp sifted powdered freeze dried strawberries
- 1/4 Cup strawberry puree
- 1 Tbsp powdered sugar
- pinch salt
For construction:
- 3 Cups nonpareils (sprinkles)
Instructions
To make the cakes:
- First, make your cakes! Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and line four 6-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and parchment paper then set aside. In a medium bowl, beat your egg whites with clean beaters until soft peaks form, then set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla, and sugar until thicker and smooth. Add in the flours, starches, baking powder and soda, and salt and whisk until smooth. Then fold in 1/3 of the egg whites at a time until fully combined. Finally, fold in the sprinkles. Pour your cake batter evenly into the four prepared pans and then bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Remove and let cakes cool completely before turning out. Once cakes are cool, use a sharp, non-serrated knife to slice off the tops so that your cake layers are flat. Continue to cool on a cooling rack.
Make all of the fillings and frostings:
- While the cake is baking, make your ganache (this will need to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes). Heat the heavy cream in the microwave for about a minute until hot to the touch. Pour in the chopped white chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes, then stir until the cream and chocolate have fully combined. Add in the ube extract and mix (add more if you want a stronger ube flavor). Then refrigerate the ganache for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. When it has cooled and stiffened, remove and beat the ganache with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes or until thicker and spreadable like a frosting. Then keep in the fridge until using.
- Make the buttercream! In a large bowl, beat all of the room temp butter on high for 5-6 minutes until the butter is much lighter and smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat until creamy, then add the vanilla and 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time until the frosting is thick but still spreadable. You'll want it fairly sturdy for constructing the cake, so air on the side of more powdered sugar. Scoop a few cups of buttercream into a large piping bag and cut a 1/2 inch opening, then set aside.
- Make the whipped cream! In a medium bowl, whisk the heavy cream until soft peaks form, then add in the sifted, powdered freeze dried strawberries, strawberry puree, salt, and powdered sugar and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form (this will happen fairly quickly). Set aside.
Construct the cake:
- Place one cake layer on a cake board and cake decorating stand if you have one. Spread a thin layer of buttercream on the cake, then pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge. Fill the ring with some of the ube whipped ganache and then some of the whipped cream (two layers), then place the second cake layer on top. Continue until you've placed the last cake layer on top, then insert a dowel or wooden skewer through the cake from top to bottom to hold it steady (it will be fairly tall). I recommend freezing the cake immediately because it will be slighly unstable, or you can crumb coat the cake now with buttercream and then freeze at least 4 hours or until frozen solid.
- Finally, add the final frosting layer of buttercream to the frozen cake, and then immediately pat on all of the sprinkles (we did this over a large wide bowl so the sprinkles wouldn't fall everywhere. Freeze again for 15-20 minutes to set the final frosting + sprinkles and then let defrost for a couple of hours before slicing! This cake is easiest to slice when it's still chilled. You can leave in the fridge overnight or throughout the day to get to the right temperature. At room temp the frostings will be very soft and will squish when cut.
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cake!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
