Funfetti Cookie Dough Cake from Cake Confidence

I received a review copy of this cookbook  - Cake Confidence by Mandy Merriman - from the publisher through Edelweiss. I was excited to look through it because I have followed the baker in Instagram for a while now (@bakingwithblondie) where you can watch videos of her perfect cake decorating. My cake decorating is not so perfect, and I didn't have all the supplies on hand that she uses, but I still made a delicious cake to celebrate a staff member's pending new job at another library. I picked this for her because she wears a lot of vibrant colors and although she is an adult, she is younger than the rest of us, so cookie dough and sprinkles made sense to me. I added a bunch of notes to the end of this post about the changes I made. Pictures are of my cake; definitely check out the more perfect and taller version in the cookbook itself!

Funfetti Cookie Dough Cake

Funfetti Cake
3/4 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 egg whites
1 Tbsp. Mexican vanilla
1 box Duncan Hines white cake mix
1/2 cup rainbow jimmies

Eggless Cookie Dough
1/2 cup butter, slightly softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup rainbow jimmies

White Chocolate Ganache
1 cup "Very white" Wilton or Guittard white chocolate
1/4 cup heavy cream

Vanilla Buttercream
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp. Mexican vanilla
1/4 cup heavy cream
5-7 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Garnishes
cookie dough balls
rainbow jimmies

Sara and her cake (photo by Libby Young)

Funfetti Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep 6-inch cake rounds with a wipe of shortening and dust of flour.
2. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, vegetable oil, egg whites, and vanilla until combined. Sift in white cake mix and sprinkles and stir until just combined. Don't overmix!
3. Bake for 25-27 minutes until center is baked through - don't overbake! Remove from oven, let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a cooling rack until room temperature.

Eggless Cookie Dough

1. After the cake is finished baking, clean out the pans you used for the cake rounds, and press two layers of plastic wrap in an "x" in two of the pans, remembering to press the plastic wrap into the corners, and leaving about a few inches of overhang on all sides. Set aside. This will help you shape the cookie dough layer into the same size round as your cake.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, which should take about 3 minutes.
3. Add the milk and vanilla and mix for about 30 seconds.  
4. Add in the flour, salt, chocolate chips, and jimmies. The dough will be slightly sticky. Add in flour by the tablespoon as needed.
5. Roll the dough into tiny balls (think marbles or a tad larger) for the top decor of your cake. Store those in a plastic bag or small Tupperware with lid. Set aside.
6. Divide the remaining dough into two separate balls and press one ball in the two prepared cake pans. Using the bottom of a 1 cup measuring cup or the bottom of a drinking glass helps a lot! The dough should be 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Wrap the overhang over the dough and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

White Chocolate Ganache

1. In a small glass bowl, add in chocolate melts and heavy cream. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir with a small whisk until smooth. Add to a squeeze bottle for ganache drip on the side of the cake.

Vanilla Buttercream

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip up butter for about a minute until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2. Add the salt, vanilla, and heavy cream until combined. Slowly add in powdered sugar, about a half cup at a time. Add in more heavy cream if needed for a thinner consistency. 
3. Add in pink coloring if desired. Whip on high for 1 minute to create a soft buttercream.

Assembly

1. On a cake turntable, tape a 6-inch cardboard round on top of an 8-inch cardboard round. Top with a small amount of buttercream and spread it around to act like "glue" for holding the cake onto the board. 
2. Place on first cake round and carefully top with the first cookie dough layer. Add on about a cup of buttercream, spread it flat with an offset cake spatula. Add on next layer of cake, and repeat with remaining two layers.
3. Crumb coat the cake, place in the fridge to set for about 5 minutes.
4. Add sprinkle rim on the bottom, freeze for a minute or so to set, then add on ganache drip.
5. Place the cake in the freezer for 5 minutes to allow the ganache to firm before adding on the buttercream decor and topping them off with cookie dough balls.

Notes from JennyBakes:

1. I don't have 6" cake rounds. I baked this cake in 2 9" cake rounds and made only one cookie dough layer. I made my tiny balls too big so almost didn't have enough for that layer.
2. Because of time, even though I had the ingredients, I skipped the white chocolate ganache step.
3. I had ordered a set of Fancy Sprinkles, so had to separate them out a bit before using them in this recipe. I tried to keep the tiny balls and jimmies for the cake batter and cookie dough and used the larger pieces on the outside and top. 
4. I do not like this buttercream and if I made this cake again would use one of my old standbyes that have a more silky texture. Once you go Italian/Swiss buttercream there is just no use for powdered sugar buttercreams in my opinion.
5. Even with all my modifications and less than perfect execution, this was hugely popular among my co-workers, who called it a unicorn cake and princess cake. The cookie dough inside really is a treat.