Sixlets Cake for a Blog Birthday, and a Giveaway!

One year ago I was baking up a scratch-made confetti cake for this blog's first birthday.  Not only was it fun to make - in a fling-sprinkles-everywhere kind of way - it was incredibly well received.  Many of you made your own version and sent me pictures of the happiest faces behind lit candles, which makes me more than a little teary as I type this. Words can't express how special those emails are.  They are a gift to me.

Here we are at year two!  I wanted this year's cake to be just as special and sprinkle-filled as the last, but I wasn't exactly sure how to go about doing that - until I discovered Sixlets.

Have you heard of Sixlets?  They're like sprinkles, only bigger, and instead of solid candy they are a mixture of chocolate and carob wrapped in a candy shell.  A little like M&M candies but different, round.  They are sold by the pound in solid colors, metallics and color assortments.  I'm tellin' you,  it's a sprinkle lover's dream come true!  I stacked them high to the tippy-top of this cake for ultimate sprinkle-coverage!

The inside of the cake holds a birthday-blue sprinkle swirl, just like my favorite birthday cake ice cream.

This recipe makes a lot of cake batter - about 14 cups, and you'll need a stand mixer to make it...

...so I'm giving one away!

Rules: To enter, kindly subscribe to Sprinkle Bakes, either via email or Google friend connect (right side-bar).  If you are already a subscriber, then you're good to go!  Just leave a comment telling me about the best birthday gift you have ever received.  It could even be a gift from yourself to yourself ( like my cotton candy machine), or it could be a gift that you really, really want and haven't gotten yet.
US. and Canadian residents are eligible. Contest ends October 7th.  Winner will be chosen by utilizing Random.org, a random number generator.

Again, to clarify:

1. Subscribe

2. Leave a comment about your best birthday gift.

That's it!


Contest is now closed, thanks for entering!

Here's a few more details about the cake. 

If you've been sticking around here for a while, then you know I love a good scratch-made cake, so you may be surprised to know that this cake is not completely scratch-made.  It's Rebecca Sutterby's famous White Almond Sour Cream cake (WASC, as it has come to be known) - and it's the absolute best cake for creating beautiful consistent color.  I knew my blue swirl would really stand out in this batter!  It's also a great choice for a pristine white wedding cake sans food coloring.  It is moist, delicious and feeds a crowd!

Edit:  Beautiful Sixlets cakes are showing up in my email and on my Facebook page!  Check out these gorgeous color combinations!!

Left to right: 
Orange, blue and white Sixlets cake by Amy Rasmussan Fontana.
Silver, blue and Lavender Sixlets cake by Chantell Lindner of This Lil Piece of Heaven.
Lime, blue and purple Sixlets cake by Rebecca Nebel.  Just, beautiful!!

And check out this Halloween version by Jacque Mclean of Major Cakes.

The Sprinkle Bakes Sixlets Cake

Cake portion adapted from Rebecca Sutterby's WASC                                               [click for printable version]

Cake:

2 boxes white cake mix
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
2 2/3 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp real vanilla
2 tsp almond extract
2 cups (16 oz) sour cream
8 large egg whites 

½ tsp Wilton sky blue food coloring

¾ cup multicolored jimmies (the kind you find in the ice cream section of the grocery store will hold up well in the batter)

2 lbs. Sixlets candies

Various and sundry sprinkles of your choosing for the top of the cake

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. Grease five 7-inch cake pans and line with parchment.  You may also choose to use four 9” cake pans.
3. Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir together with a wire whisk. Add the remaining ingredients and beat on a low speed for 2 minutes until smooth. 
4. Remove 6 cups of batter and tint with the sky blue food coloring.  Add the multicolored jimmies to the blue batter and fold gently to combine. 
5. Pour batter in pans, alternating blue and white batters.  Pull a knife or skewer through the batter to create a swirl.  Bake cakes for 40 -50 minutes, or until cake springs back when pressed in the middle.

Icing:

8 egg whites

1 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

32 tbsp. (1 lb. or 4 US sticks) unsalted butter, cubed

2 tsp. clear vanilla extract

1. Set a saucepan filled 1/3 full of water over medium high heat and bring to a simmer.
2. Whisk together egg whites, sugar and salt in a heat-proof bowl.  Set over simmering water and whisk until mixture is hot and sugar has dissolved.
3. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
4. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes, then increasing to medium-high until stiff peaks are formed.
5. Continue beating at medium-high speed until mixture is fluffy and has cooled.
6. Remove whisk attachment and replace with paddle attachment
7. Decrease mixer speed and add butter, a little at a time, beating until well incorporated before the next addition.
8. Add vanilla extract.
9. Beat until icing is smooth.  Increase speed if icing is slow to firm.

Assembly

1. Ice cakes and stack them, making sure the edges are as even as possible.  Apply an even coating of icing to the outside of the stacked cakes using an off-set spatula, filling any gaps and crevices.
2. Starting at the bottom of the cake, gently push sixlets into the icing. Create a line of alternating colors (or use a solid color, your choice!)  To achieve the graduated swirl, use colors in the same order on the second line, but move the first color over one space to the right.  Continue this pattern all the way up the cake.  By the time you’re done, (about  1 hour 20 minutes) you’ll be in a hypnotic state from applying sixlets sprinkles.  This process is very meditative – enjoy the zen!
3. Sprinkle the top of the cake with various and sundry.  Add a sparkler if you’re into pyrotechnics…which I certainly am!