Everyone deserves a special treat on their birthday and this over-the-top vanilla bean cake topped with piles of fluffy vanilla bean frosting and colorful sprinkles makes your day extra special!
When asked what cake she would like for her birthday, Tiffany quickly replied – a colorful one! Of course! As if I had other options, but it was nice to ask her before dusting the round cake pans, which I don’t really use that often.
They are on the highest shelf in the cupboard. It requires me to get the step-stool, stretch my arms as much as I can and get the pans out. I swear, the previous owners must have been at least 6feet tall. Half of my cupboards store stuff I use only once or twice a year because it’s so hard to get them out and put them back in.
Anyhow, back to this lovely vanilla bean cake I made for my daughter’s birthday! You gotta have a sprinkle loaded cake for your kids birthday, and actually for any party.
No matter how old are you, a bite into a sprinkles loaded cake is sure to put a smile on your face.
This vanilla bean cake was my back-up plan for Tiffany’s birthday. My first choice was my favorite triple chocolate cake and I knew there would be some guests who prefer a white cake. Turns out, when you have 17 kids plus parents, you need a back-up to your back-up cake. I was lucky some of the parents said no to the cake. There were no crumbs left.
Actually, I had to re-do both cakes so I can take pictures since I didn’t do it before the party. Not that my family and some of the guests complained when I called them few days later to come over for more cake.
The cake itself is my twist on the classic white cake. It’s moist, light and tender, but in the same time sturdy enough to be used with all kinds of fillings and frostings. The addition of the vanilla beans makes it extra flavorful and the thick layer of fluffy frosting makes it absolutely irresistible.
If you’re looking for a delicious, sprinkled and colorful white cake for your next party, this vanilla bean cake is your thing!
The cake is an all butter cake. Please make sure the butter, the eggs, and the milk are at room temperature. It makes mixing them so much easier.
If for the cake batter I used an American butter, for the buttercream, I highly recommend using a European butter. It’s creamier and has a deeper butter flavor.
I love scraping vanilla beans and using the seeds for special occasions. This cake requires 6 vanilla beans! A lot more than what you’re probably used to and if you do not have vanilla beans, you can use vanilla bean paste. About 1 tablespoon in the cake batter and 1 tablespoon in the buttercream.
I love the black dots in both the cake and the frosting! And the smell is amazing!!!
For the finishing touches, I used colorful confetti but you can use rainbow jimmies or rainbow nonpareils. The only advice I can give when working with sprinkles is to work in an area that you can easily clean. I place a clean tea towel under my cake plate to catch those loose sprinkles.
[mpprecipe-recipe:607]
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Chocolate cake with vanilla bean buttercream
Happy Baking,
Roxana
This cake is so pretty and festive; looks delicious, too!
It’s Buddhas Birthday here in Hong Kong this weekend and why not celebrate with your gorgeous vanilla bean cake. 🙂 I love how you can see the little vanilla specks in the frosting. Pinning!
This cake is a grand birthday cake! I love the vanilla specks.
what a GORGEOUS cake! pretty and fun while still being sophisticated and looking DELICIOUS! love it!
Oh wow, I love all those gorgeous specks of vanilla bean. This sounds amazing, thank you for sharing!
This looks like the most perfect cake!
Oh God! That looks so good… But all your treats look amazingly delicious! I am just drooling going over some of your older posts 😀
What a festive and delicious cake! I can see why you didn’t have any left over!
I tried this recipe because it looks great and easy. I must say, it took me an unexpected five hours from start to finish.
It was my first time using vanilla beans, and it took ages to clean them out. Despite that, the recipe for the cake batter was nice and easy, and the small bit I tasted was very good.
My cake is in the fridge right now, so tomorrow I will know if I’ve succeeded.
Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Hi Kaz,
To make a layer cake it takes a little bit of time. Most of the time is actually waiting time. Wait for the cake to bake, wait for the cake layers to cool down, wait for the flavors to combine once the cake is assembled.
I hope you considered it was worth the effort.
Roxana
Hi! Quick question. The recipe at the top says it makes 1 X 9″ cake, but the directions instructs you to put it into 2 X 9″ pans. Would you kindly let me know which is correct? I wasn’t sure if I needed to double the recipe or not. This sounds delicious, so I would really like to try it, as I have yet to find a good cake recipe. I currently use boxed cake.
Hi Debbie,
You bake the cake layers in 2 different pans, that’s why in the recipe directions it says you need two pans.
Once the cake is baked and you layer it, you have only one cake.
If you want to use just one cake pan to bake the cake in, you have to bake it longer and slice it in half to create the layers.
Please let me know if you have additional questions.
Roxana
What about salt and other ingredients like from another cake
Hi Badahlgren,
You’ll only need salt for the cake. I don’t add salt to buttercream.
What are ingredients are you thinking of?
Roxana
Is it really only 1/3 cup of liquid or is that a typo? Should it be 1 1/3?