If Fruity Pebbles and birthday cake had a baby, it would look a little something like this. This colorful dessert (or breakfast?) is a fluffy vanilla cake speckled with Fruity Pebbles, slathered in cereal-infused vanilla icing, topped with even more Fruity Pebbles, and drizzled with a sugary vanilla glaze that gives it all a milk-and-cookies feel. This ridiculously beautiful and over-the-top cake recipe is courtesy of Cakes by Melissa: Life Is What You Bake It, the first cookbook by Melissa Ben-Ishay, founder of the wildly popular bakery Baked by Melissa. You may know Melissa for her equally adorable and delicious creations like cupcarons (a cupcake and macaron hybrid) or for her quintessential tie-dye cupcakes. And whether you're familiar with the baker or not, just know that she's the real deal — and this cake recipe is 100 percent worth the effort.
With over 120 recipes for cakes, icings, fillings, and toppings, Cakes by Melissa, out Oct. 3, is the must-have cookbook for budding pastry chefs or anyone with an insatiable sweet tooth. Out of all the swoon-worthy cakes in the book, like Rainbow Cookie Cake, Chocolate Espresso Cake, and Pancake Cake, it's The Cereal Cake (page 81) that's making us say, "Need now." Although the final result requires several steps and separate recipes — patience is key! — it's sure to be the happiest and most appreciated cake you've ever made. Fulfill your Fruity Pebbles-loving heart with the full recipe below.
Notes
Fruity Pebbles appear in almost every aspect of this cake: the cake, the icing, and the toppings — with Vanilla Glaze as a stand-in for the milk and pink buttercream between the layers.
Ingredients
- For the Cereal Cake:
- 1⁄2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 2 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup ground Fruity Pebbles cereal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1⁄4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 3⁄4 cups whole milk
- For the Vanilla Icing:
- 1⁄2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
- 3 and 3⁄4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1⁄4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- For the Cereal Icing:
- 1⁄2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1⁄2 cup finely ground Fruity Pebbles or similar cereal
- For the Vanilla Glaze:
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 4 tablespoons whole milk, plus more as needed
- 1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- For the Cereal Crumble:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2⁄3 cup sugar
- 1⁄3 cup ground Fruity Pebbles cereal
- 1⁄4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- For The Cereal Cake:
- 1 recipe Cereal Cake
- 1 recipe Vanilla Icing
- 1 recipe Cereal Icing
- 1 recipe Cereal Crumble
- Pink food coloring
- 2 cups Fruity Pebbles cereal
- 1 recipe Vanilla Glaze
Directions
- To make Cereal Cake: Have all your ingredients at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter for 1 minute on high speed, then scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the sugar to the butter and beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
- With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the vanilla; then add the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl midway through.
- Combine the flour, ground cereal, baking powder, and sea salt in a separate bowl.
- With the mixer on low speed, add half the flour mixture. When it's mostly incorporated, add half the milk. Add the remainder of the dry and wet ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Stop mixing as soon as you have a smooth batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the middle of the cake feels springy when you gently press your finger against it (approximately 30-35 minutes). All ovens are different, so it's important to do the fingerprint test to see if the cake is done.
- Let the cake cool completely before icing.
- To make Vanilla Icing: With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the butter on high speed for 1 minute. Add the vanilla and whip just to incorporate.
- In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and salt. With the mixer on low speed (otherwise you'll be covered in confectioners' sugar), add the sugar 1 cup at a time, until completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl between additions. Whip on high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- To make Cereal Icing: With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the butter on high speed for 1 minute. Add the vanilla and whip just to incorporate.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, and mix until completely incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Add the salt and whip on high speed for 3 minutes more.
- With a spatula, fold in the ground cereal and mix just until combined.
- To make Vanilla Glaze: With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (you can also mix the glaze by hand using a whisk or a spoon), combine the con- fectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla. Mix on low speed until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add a little more milk to thin it to the desired consistency.
- If not using within 10 minutes of mixing, cover the bowl with plastic wrap to keep the glaze from drying out. Store at room temperature.
- To make The Cereal Cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 13 x 18-inch half-sheet pan, then line it with wax paper or parchment and butter the paper. Mix the cereal cake batter according to the recipe directions. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the middle of the cake feels springy when you gently press your finger against it about 40 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, make the vanilla and cereal icings and the cereal crumbs. Add the food coloring to the vanilla icing drop by drop until you reach the desired shade of pink.
- Use a 6-inch round cutter to cut three rounds from the cake. Place one cake layer on a turntable, frost with about half the pink icing, and sprinkle about a quarter of the cereal crumbs over the top; repeat with the second layer. Place the top layer and frost the entire cake with the cereal icing.
- Decorate the top and sides of the cake with the remaining cereal crumbs and the Fruity Pebbles. Make the vanilla glaze and drizzle it over each piece of cake as you serve it. It's better to decorate all at once, but if you're assembling the cake the night before, I would hold off adding the cereal to the top until the day of.
Source: Recipe from Cakes by Melissa by Melissa Ben-Ishay. Copyright © 2017 by Baked by Melissa. Used with permission by William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
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- Category
- Desserts, Cake