Simple Seasonal

Healthy Seasonal Recipes Inspired by Your Local Farm and CSA

All-Natural Funfetti Cake – 1ST BLOGIVERSARY!

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All-Natural Funfetti Cake – Celebrate Simple Seasonal’s first year with this delicious, all-natural dessert! Just be sure to make a wish before you blow out the candle…

all-natural-funfetti-cake

Today is Simple Seasonal’s 1st birthday. Like most 1st birthday’s it’s a huge deal to everyone behind this blog – Rachel (that’s me), Dan (the hubs and technology extraordinaire), David (4 year-old and professional photo bomber), and Tumney (the cat, buttercream licker, and general food thief).

When we first started this blog, none of us knew what we were getting ourselves into. Our content from the early days is pretty, well, embarrassing. Check out my last post for Apple Cider Pork Chops in which I remade and rephotographed one of the recipes from our first month of blogging. I left one of the old photos in the post, so you can see just how BAD we were!

Today I’ve decided to keep my jibber jabber short and sweet, so that we can get the party started with nothing less than a rather large birthday cake. It’s actually the first cake to make an appearance on Simple Seasonal. After all, this blog is all about making the most of local, seasonal foods. Today, for us, there’s nothing more seasonal than birthday cake. Over the course of the year we’ve held true to using natural ingredients and every recipe has had at least one local element. Today’s local element is some lovely organic flour from Daisy Organic Flours of Lancaster, PA. To make funfetti cake a little more natural, I swapped conventional sugar for organic. I also opted for some all-natural, vegetable-dyed sprinkles by Pepper Creek Farms rather than the Red#50-infused chemical garbage found in processed sprinkles. They made for a less dramatic cake than the artificial stuff, but was it ever so tasty!

organic-flour-sugar-natural-sprinkles

all-natural-sprinkles

I added some twists to this recipe that harken back to the version I ate growing up. The first – there is almond extract in the batter. You haven’t had funfetti until you’ve had it with almond extract. I’m serious. The second is chocolate buttercream, because… well… chocolate is better, and it’s our birthday darn it!

There is one thing I learned while making this cake, and that is the value of owning an icing spatula. This was such a headache to frost with a butter knife! I just bought this one on Amazon for next time!

cake-triptych

After baking up a storm all morning, it’s time for the party to begin!

blogiversary-funfetti-cake

One candle for one incredible year of food blogging!

lighting-funfetti-cake

Time to make a wish for another great year!

birthday-cake-with-candle

Here’s to hoping that year two is even more awesome than year one!

blowing-out-candle

slicing-cake

slice-all-natural-funfetti-cake

bite-all-natural-funfetti

all natural funfetti cake with a slice being cut out

All-Natural Funfetti Cake- 1ST BLOGIVERSARY!

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Celebrate Simple Seasonal's first year with this delicious All-Natural Funfetti Cake! Just be sure to make a wish before you blow out the candle...

Ingredients

Funfetti Cake

  • 8 Tbsp softened butter
  • 1 1/2 C organic cane sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 tsp almond extract
  • 4 1/2 C all-purpose organic flour
  • 2 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6 egg whites from large eggs
  • 1 1/2 C milk, divided
  • 2/3 C all-natural sprinkles plus more for decorating

Chocolate Frosting*

  • 2 sticks butter
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 2/3 C organic cocoa
  • 4 1/2 C powdered sugar
  • 1/2 C Milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour two 9-10 1/2 cake pans.
  2. Cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
  3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a small mixing bowl and set aside.
  4. In a medium sized bowl, beat together 6 egg whites and a half cup of milk until it quadruples in size, and then set aside.
  5. Beat together the butter with the flour mixture and the remaining cup of milk by alternating between the two.
  6. Gently mix the egg white mixture into the batter.
  7. Fold the the sprinkles into the batter.
  8. Evenly divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake at 350ºF for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown.
  9. After baking, allow the cake to cool on cooling racks and then remove from the cake pan. Allow to cool on cooling racks for at least an hour before beginning to assemble your cake.
  10. Make the chocolate frosting while the cake is cooling. Melt the butter in the microwave on 30% power in thirty second increments until completely melted. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the melted butter and cocoa powder until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Then beat in the powdered sugar and milk while alternating between the two, until the frosting is smooth and creamy.
  11. Before assembling the cake, decide whether you will be making 2 or 4 layers. If you chose a 4 layer cake, carefully cut each layer in half with a sharp, non-serrated knife. Add a dollop of icing to the center of your cake plate to prevent the cake from sliding. Place the first cake layer on the plate, and then add a layer of icing. Next, add your next cake layer, and add more icing if you are doing 4 layers. Once all the layers are in place, spread a thin layer of icing all over your cake and then place it in the fridge for 30 minutes. This will make it easier to get a pretty outer layer of icing. After thirty minutes have passed, generously ice the cake.
  12. For a finishing touch, decorate with sprinkles and light a candle!

Notes

This chocolate frosting recipe is based on the one found on the back of the Hershey's cocoa container. I just increased the amount of cocoa... What can I say? I have a chocolate problem. 🙂

© Rachel Hanawalt
Cuisine: American / Category: Dessert

 

all-natural-funfetti-cake

Yeah, that’s right, it’s our birthday!!

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Comments

  2. Sarah says

    Happy blogiversery! I’ve enjoyed watching your blog grow and seeing your photography get better and better and I look forward to seeing even more! This cake looks amazing – my husband always laughs at me because I say my favorite kind of cake is a funfetti cake. It’s not something they have in England so he just doesn’t seem to get it. Needless to say – I LOVE this cake and I wish I had a slice in front of me right now

    Reply

    • Rachel says

      Thanks Sarah! That’s so sweet. This year has been a learning experience for sure! Funfetti is my mom’s favorite cake too! I think the sprinkles make it taste better.

      Reply

  3. Laura @MotherWouldKnow says

    Congratulations. Love this cake and yes, your’e right – an offset spatula makes all the difference. Wishing you many more anniversaries and fun with your blog. And it’s so nice to see a funfetti cake that isn’t full of chemicals and cake mix:)

    Reply

  4. allie @ Through Her Looking Glass says

    Dear Rachel, Happy first anniversary at Simple Seasonal! Congratulations. What a huge milestone. (THLG’s first year anniversary comes in November.) Hope your first year has been joy-filled and wishing you many, more years of success, beautiful photos and wonderful recipes to come! The learning curve is big in the first year. You are doing awesome. Cheers!!! Gorgeous funfetti cake and pass me a fork!!!! xo

    Reply

  5. Dalia says

    Congratulations Rachel!!! This is a great achievement to be celebrated with such a beautiful cake. Love your blog and looking forward to discovering more of your yummy recipes 🙂

    Reply

  11. Lou Lou Girls says

    Happy blogiversary! This looks so good! Pinned and tweeted. Thank you for being a part of our party! I hope to see you on Monday at 7 pm. We love partying with you! Lou Lou Girls

    Reply

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