Time to get your red, white and blue on! I am so excited to share this cake with you because it’s basically a party on a plate! It’s one of those desserts that makes you want to throw a party just so you can make it. And even better, it’s actually really easy to make. And those cake crumb “sprinkles” on top? I might be kind of, sort of, completely obsessed!
Okay, so the cake itself is a go-to vanilla bundt cake that is one of those cakes you can doll up and make your own. It’s got a beautiful crumb, just the right amount of sweet and the ingredient that seals the deal is a touch of almond extract. It’s one of those flavors that just kind of floats around tying it all together.
But the best part of the cake is when you cut into it, and it’s pretty easy to create the swirl technique. You divide your batter into equal portions, color it and layer it in the pan. That’s it, the cake creates the swirl as it bakes!
I topped the cake with my favorite cream cheese glaze and then the cake crumb sprinkles!! Okay, so my original plan was to use good old red, white and blue sprinkles, but after striking out at about five different stores, I realized that was not going to happen…
So I was racking my brain about decorating when I started trimming off a very thin layer on the bottom of the cake, just so it would sit pretty on the stand for photos. I started spooning my cream cheese glaze over the cake when it hit me. Cake crumb sprinkles. Cake. Crumb. Sprinkles! And yes, I do realize that I’m probably more excited than any person should be about this, but hello, sprinkles!
So I crumbled up my cake scraps, sprinkled them on top of the glaze and ta-da! I think they actually look better than regular sprinkles would have looked! Then you cut into the cake, and it’s ta-da all over again!
Have a fantastic holiday weekend and I’ll see you next week with some new desserts!
Happy baking!
Take your summer celebrations to a new level with this red, white and blue swirl cake. Vanilla cake topped with cream cheese glaze and colorful cake crumb “sprinkles” is sure to become a new summer tradition.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- Red food coloring
- Blue food coloring
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray 10-inch Farberware® Fluted Mold pan well with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time and mix on medium speed until incorporated. Alternate adding dry ingredients with milk and extracts, starting and ending with dry ingredients.
- Divide batter evenly into 3 separate bowls (this will be about 18 ounces of batter in each bowl) and color one red and one blue, leaving the remaining as is.
- Start filling the prepared pan by adding 1 heaping tablespoon of red batter in the pan. Next, place a heaping tablespoon of white batter directly on top of the red. Next, place a heaping tablespoon of blue batter right on top of the white. Keep repeating this process until you have used all the batter. You will keep spooning batter right on top of each other. There is no need to spread it out, as you keep filling, the batter will spread out on its own. When you have filled the pan, you can give the pan a gentle shake, if needed, to even out the batter.
- Bake the cake for 55-65 minutes, rotating once halfway through. Cake is done when toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool for about 10 minutes and then invert cake onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- To make red, white and blue cake crumb sprinkles, turn completely-cooled cake over. With a serrated knife, trim the crust off the bottom of the cake and dispose (you will not need this). Next, trim a very thin layer off the bottom of the cake (this is also helpful to level the cake before placing on a cake stand or plate). Crumble up that layer into crumbs and set aside to decorate the cake. Turn cake right side up and continue on to making the cream cheese glaze.
- To make the cream cheese glaze, cream the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Add the extract followed by milk, one teaspoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency. Spoon the glaze on top of cake and spread gently with a spatula. Garnish with cake crumbs.
Disclosure: I am in a working relationship with Farberware and this recipe was developed for Farberware Cookware. Thank you for your continued support and allowing me to share what I love.
Debbie the NY Baker says
Looks wonderful – just perfect for the upcoming holiday. One question: the glaze instructions make mention of adding the extract(s) but none are listed as ingredients for the glaze – just the cake. Is it 1 tsp vanilla or 1/2 tsp each of vanilla and almond or ??? Thanks!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
SO FUN-this cake def is a partyy! so prettyyy
bblondie says
Thanks, girl!!
amy @ fearless homemaker says
Oh, beautiful! This turned out so stunning, and I love your creation of the crumb sprinkles — brilliant. =) And it’s funny, but whenever I use almond extract, I think of your blog! I know it’s your go-to secret ingredient in a lot of recipes! =)
bblondie says
Thanks, girl! That’s so funny about the almond extract! It’s one of my favorite tips & tricks 😉
mary says
JUST FABULOUS, AS USUAL!!!!!!!!!!
bblondie says
Thank you!! 🙂
Liz says
Such a gorgeous holiday cake!! Hope you have a marvelous 4th of July! xo
bblondie says
Thanks, Liz! Hope you had a great weekend!