May 15, 2022
This year, Kev and I celebrated our birthdays with a spin on a classic birthday treat. Birthdays are synonymous with colorful cakes and sprinkles. The typical traditional birthday celebratory dessert I remember eating year after year for birthdays is a sprinkle cake also known as confetti or funfetti cake. These cakes come in many varieties and often seem to be the go-to cake for celebrations. Instead of a traditional layered confetti cake, I decided to bake up a confetti sponge roll packed with colorful sprinkles. The sponge cake is rolled and filled with a lightly sweetened cream of course! Although I could have added more sprinkles to the filling to make it even more festive, I decided to top each slice with additional sprinkles right before serving. Sponge cakes are one of my family’s favorite treats. They absolutely love swinging by the local Asian bakeries in Brooklyn to get their fix of sponge cakes. It didn’t matter the time of day – they would enjoy a slice for breakfast, lunch, and even a pre or post dinner treat. The springy light texture of the cake leavened with eggs paired perfectly with a slightly sweet cream filling. Sponge cakes always made for an easy yet delicious treat to close out a meal. Throughout my childhood, my parents almost always defaulted to a version of sponge cake to celebrate birthdays. It was either a sponge cake or a chiffon cake, depending on bakery availability and mood. Occasionally, they would opt for a Carvel ice cream cake, one of my absolute favorite cakes. I always seem to go for the ice cream cake with a cone topping (usually in the decoration of a clown). The more chocolate crunchies packed into the center of the ice cream cake the better – that’s a story for another day though. Since my parents are staying with Kev and I over the next few weeks to help us prepare for the arrival of our little one, it was only fit to thank them through homemade treats. My confetti sponge roll cake was the perfect treat to thank my parents and celebrate both Kev and my birthday. I usually make a slightly more decadent version of a sponge roll cake during the holidays. Two years ago, I opted for a matcha chocolate sponge roll featuring alternating layers of regular and chocolate cream and designed to look like a holiday log with a festive touch. For a birthday version, I omitted the matcha and chocolate and tossed in colorful sprinkles into the batter right before baking. I tried to evenly distribute the colorful sprinkles throughout the cake and bake it for just a few minutes in a high temperature oven. I would then set the cake aside to cool slightly before pre-rolling the cake, letting it completely cool, and filling it with a super easy lightly sweetened cream. Right before serving, I would slice up pieces of the cake and top it with more sprinkles for the special birthday touch. To make the birthday celebration even sweeter, I brewed up some birthday tea from Harney & Sons and served the tea alongside slices of the confetti cake. This simple dessert was the perfect nostalgic birthday treat (with a twist) to celebrate our birthdays with my parents.
For the confetti sponge cake roll:
For the confetti sponge:
· 3 extra large eggs, yolks and whites separated, room temperature
· ¼ cup granulated sugar
· ½ cup and 2 tablespoons cake flour
· a pinch of kosher salt (about 1/8 teaspoon)
· 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
· 2 tablespoons colorful sprinkles
For the whipped cream filling:
· 1 cup heavy whipping cream
· 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
· ¼ teaspoon cornstarch
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a jelly roll baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper long enough to hang off the two shorter sides of the baking sheet. Set aside.
2) In a bowl, combine the egg yolks and ¼ cup sugar until fluffy, about 1 minute. Fold in the cake flour. Set aside.
3) In a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment to whip together the egg whites and kosher salt. Gradually add in the 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Let the stand mixer whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form, about 3-5 minutes on medium speed.
4) Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the flour mixture until combined. Be careful not to deflate the egg whites while folding the egg whites into the flour mixture. Evenly distribute some sprinkles across the parchment lined baking sheet. Fold in the remaining colorful sprinkles into the cake batter.
5) Use an offset spatula to evenly spread the batter in a thin layer onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Tap the baking sheet on the kitchen counter a few times to help smooth out the batter.
6) Transfer the sheet pan to the oven and bake until the cake is golden brown on top and set, about 6 minutes. Remove the sheet pan from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife along the longer edges of the sheet pan to separate the sponge cake layer. Starting on one end of the sponge cake layer with the parchment paper hanging off the sheet pan, loosely roll the sponge cake into a log. Set aside the rolled sponge cake. Let cool for at least 30 more minutes.
7) While the sponge cake is cooling, make the whipped cream filling by whipping together the heavy whipping cream in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment on medium speed. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch. Continue whipping the heavy cream until it is fluffy and has doubled in size, about 3-5 minutes.
8) When ready to decorate, unroll the sponge cake and spread the whipped cream evenly across the sponge cake. If desired, sprinkle the whipped cream filling with additional sprinkles. Carefully reroll the sponge cake until it resembles a log. Serve immediately.
*In the photos, I had doubled the ingredients for the whipped cream filling when making this cake to use for some mango mousse. The ratio of ingredients listed above for the whipped cream filling is more than enough to fill the sponge roll and then some.
Takeaways: The proportions of ingredients for my confetti cake work best with a jelly roll pan. I used a jelly roll pan with the dimensions of 15 inches in length, 10.5 inches in width, and 1 inch in height. Tapping the baking sheet a few times on the counter right before baking is the key to an even sponge layer. When I omitted this step during the test trial for my confetti cake, I ended up with an uneven sponge layer. For any leftover confetti cake, wrap it up in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
And now for some photos of the last few weeks of my pregnancy:
Thank you to all our family, friends, and colleagues for their kind messages and thoughtful gifts for our soon-to-be little one!