Funfetti Birthday Cake Cupcakes inspired by the famous Momofuku Milk Bar birthday cake recipe. Birthday cake crumb is mixed into funfetti cucpake batter and used to make the funfetti birthday cake frosting. Sprinkles galore.
I live in a small town. We don’t really have much of a culinary scene. No cool restaurants. No bakeries with cronuts. No innovation. Until a couple years ago, when we finally got a bakery! That makes delicious things! They’re not boring!
Our food scene needed it. We’re no New York – we’re the furthest thing from it – but this bakery was a start, and now we’re getting more interesting and innovative restaurants nearby.
Anyway, I bring this up because we stopped by the other day and they had Funfetti Birthday Cake Cupcakes, inspired by the Momofuku Milk Bar birthday cake recipe. They baked the birthday cake crumb into the cake like a streusel, and processed the crumb to mix into the frosting as well. Pure genius.
And, because I wasn’t just going to only have one of those funfetti birthday cake cupcakes, I found a way to replicate them at home. And now I’m sharing it with you guys because the world needs to know about these Momofuku-inspired Funfetti Birthday Cake Cupcakes.
If making the entire fancy layered cake in the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook is too much for you, I don’t blame you. It’s an ordeal. Cupcakes are way easier. And sometimes you don’t need an entire cake in your house… Make cupcakes! If you want to hand it out to friends, make cupcakes!
It’s really just the best of both worlds.
Do you guys live near any good bakeries? Do your towns or cities have local favorites?
-Audrey
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PinIngredients
Funfetti Birthday Cake Cupcakes:
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup grapeseed oil
- 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles
- 1 cup birthday cake crumb
Birthday Cake Crumb:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup cake flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles
- 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
- 1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
Birthday Cake Buttercream:
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 to 5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- About 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 cups birthday cake crumb
Instructions
Make the crumb:
- Heat the oven to 300°f.
- Combine the sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, and sprinkles in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until well combined.
- Add the oil and vanilla and paddle again to distribute. the wet ingredients will act as glue to help the dry ingredients form small clusters; continue paddling until that happens.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 300°f.
- Let the crumbs cool completely before using in a recipe or scarfing by the handful. stored in an airtight container, the crumbs will keep fresh for 1 week at room temperature or 1 month in the fridge or freezer.
Make the cupcakes:
- Heat the oven to 350°f.
- Combine the butter, shortening, and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and mix on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. scrape down the sides of the bowl once more.
- On low speed, stream in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. increase the mixer speed to medium-high and paddle for 4 to 6 minutes, until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original fluffy butter-and-sugar mixture, and completely homogenous. don’t rush the process. you’re basically forcing too much liquid into an already fatty mixture that doesn’t want to make room for that liquid. there should be no streaks of fat or liquid. stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- On very low speed, add the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and the 50 g (¼ cup) rainbow sprinkles. mix for 45 to 60 seconds, just until your batter comes together. scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Stir in 1 cup of birthday cake crumb.
- Line a cupcake pan with liners and fill each liner about 2/3 full of batter. Sprinkle remaining sprinkles over top.
- Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes. the cupcakes will rise and puff, but will remain slightly buttery and dense. at 30 minutes, gently poke the edge of the cake with your finger: the cake should bounce back slightly and the center should no longer be jiggly. Leave the cupcakes in the oven for an extra 3 to 5 minutes if it doesn’t pass these tests.
- Take the cupcakes out of the oven and cool on a wire rack or, in a pinch, in the fridge or freezer (don’t worry, it’s not cheating). Cupcakes should be completely cool before frosting.
Make the birthday cake buttercream:
- Pulverize two cups of birthday cake crumb.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until soft, about 1 minute.
- Add 2 cups of the confectioners’ sugar, the salt, and vanilla. Beat on low speed until the sugar is well incorporated.
- Add another 2 cups sugar and the cream.
- Add remaining cup of sugar as needed to thicken the frosting.
- Add pulverized birthday cake crumb. Beat on medium speed until the frosting is smooth and fluffy, about 4 minutes.