The only way to turn twenty nine is with this funfetti dunkaroo frosting cake. Dunkaroos were relased in 1990, and I was relased in 1991. While I baked this cake I knew that all of us turning 30 or inching our way towards it would love this simple no fuss vanilla funfetti cake  with dunkaroo frosting.

The world is soooo different than in was when I was growing up in the 90’s. No one batted an eye about the ingredient list or plastic packaging dunkaroos came in. Today I’m sure they couldn’t be packed in lunchboxes without some judgment about their contents or package. I hear they are being re-released this year and I’m curious to see if any changes were made to fit this new world. Part of me hopes so, part of me doesn’t (okay, I DO hope the plastic has been removed)

Whether or not you buy them when they hit the shelves (and who are we kidding, we will have to give them a try) you can make this cake that was meant for birthdays. My daughter saw this and was in disbelief that I made her a simple lemon cake for her birthday, and I got this one for mine. The taste, the layers, the sprinkles, the soft cream cheese frosting – it’s all worthy of celebrating! Just like you!

 

The cake + batter

Okay guys, let me just say – this cake is really no fuss. Layers may look intimidating, but they’re not. I love my 6″ cake pans. And for the batter – well I used a box of vanilla cake mix! No really, I did. While you could find a box of funfetti cake mix in the USA, that type of thing doesn’t exist here in Tunisia, so I went ahead and got a vanilla cake mix and added non-peril sprinkles. Normally I make cakes from scratch, however during this corona quarantine insanity our stores are bare and there were approximately ZERO bags of flour available. A little shortage won’t stop me from having a fab birthday. If you can get your hands on what you need and you insist on baking a vanilla layer cake from scratch, here is my vanilla bean cake with vanilla bean sugar, which is divine. But a little too gourmet for a NO FUSS birthday cake 🙂 The cake appears small, but could easily feed 8-10!

The frosting

The frosting makes this cake. When I started mixing this frosting, I didn’t intend for it to taste like the dunkaroo dip. But, once I tasted it and added in my sprinkles I knew that’s what it reminded me of! This recipe is fully loaded with real butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar. I do not healthify recipes when they’re for a birthday! Especially the last year of my 20’s. Nope, not happening 😉

Decorating

In case you guys haven’t gotten the memo between my use of box cake mix + simple frosting, and no adapting ingredients – this cake is truly NO FUSS and so was my decorating and styling. I had my 20 month old son and 7 year old daughter help me frost this cake, and we have no official frosting tools. 😉 We used a butter knife to spread our frosting and a small spoon to create frosting lines. Just like we did in the old days.

In the past I loved a fancy birthday cake, now I just want something simple, fun and delicious to build memories around. One of the special moments of this day was when my family sang happy birthday to me. Our son PJ tried to say happy birthday and did a great job. He says it like “happy birthday you you” and hasn’t stopped saying it.

I hope you all stay well and enjoy this precious time at home with our family. I know we will be doing plenty of baking, keeping it simple like we did with this cake. I can’t help but wonder what snacks they will feel nostalgic for when they are my age. I hope it’s something special we made together. 🙂

PS. We obviously didn’t have any of the signature dunkaroo cookies, but these are vanilla cupcake goldfish grahams are a tasty way to enjoy extra dunkaroo dip. 🙂

And the recipe…

Funfetti cake with Dunkaroos frosting

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

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Ingredients

• Box of funfetti cake mix OR vanilla cake mix
• 1/3 cup non-peril rainbow sprinkles
• 16 oz creamcheese (room temperature)
• 1 stick butter (room temperature)
• 4 cups Powdered sugar

Instructions

1. BAKE YOUR CAKE MIX WITH NO SHAME 🙂 if you do not have funfetti cake mix, add in some rainbow or non peril sprinkles to make it festive!
2. Bake according to cake mix directions.
3. Let cool entirely before frosting.

For the frosting:

1. Mix your cream cheese and butter together on high using a hand mixer until fully combined and whipped (2 minutes)
2. Slowly in your powdered sugar, mixing as you add in each cup.
3. Add in sprinkles and gently fold into the frosting.
4. Let chill in the fridge for 20 minutes before frosting your cake.

Peace + love,