With a ripple of rainbow and a crunchy sprinkle streusel, this Funfetti Coffee Cake is the breakfast birthday treat of our dreams! It is THE breakfast birthday cake of all breakfast birthday cakes - the annual exception when an AM sugar rush is totally encouraged. Not your birthday? Make this cake to add a bit of rainbow magic anytime, any day of the year.
Packed with sprinkles inside and out, there is no hope in honestly selling this cake as a breakfast item. However, once a year, I think we can make an exception. Admittedly, this recipe started as somewhat of a novelty, but as it started to disappear, piece by piece, off my kitchen counter, I knew we had a winner. It’s the breakfast birthday cake you never knew you needed! Okay, maybe not the best thing to east first thing in the morning, but a slice of this Funfetti Coffee Cake is an amazing treat all afternoon long.
Like most sour cream coffee cakes, the crumb is dense yet moist. Half of the sprinkle streusel ripples through the middle of the cake while the remaining portion adds crunch and color to the top. This cake tastes like birthdays. And by that I mean it tastes heavy on sprinkles. Make sure your sprinkles are fresh before adding them into the cake batter. Sprinkles can go bad and have the ability to impart a rancid taste through the cake, so make sure to taste test them first!
All in all, this is a super fun, festive treat. It plays on our love and nostalgia for all-things-sprinkle but with the freshness of being homemade.
Types of Sprinkles
Quins - These types of sprinkles are flat, colorful, and come in a variety of shapes. They are most recognizable as being round, flat, and sequin-like (possible where they got the name?) They don’t keep their shape when baked, but their colors suspend beautifully when folded in a cake batter.
Jimmies - These rod-shaped sprinkles are typically multi-colored or chocolate. Think of the sprinkles you spoon over frozen yogurt - these are probably them. They also bake up well in any funfetti-like recipe. Add these at the very end of mixing and fold gently to keep the colors from bleeding and turning the batter blue/grey.
Nonpareils - These super tiny, multi-colored sugar balls are also known as Hundreds and Thousands (what is feels like when you accidentally spill them on your kitchen floor). Unlike the previous two variations, I don’t typically recommend nonpareils for baking within a batter. However, when mixed with the other sprinkles to make the streusel here, it worked out great! I love the look of the tiny orbs in the crumb topping.
Funfetti Coffee Cake
serves 8 to 10
Sprinkle Streusel
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup assorted sprinkles
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, very soft
Add the flour, granulated sugar, sprinkles, brown sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Cut in the soft butter and stir with a wooden spoon until the streusel begins to clump together. Place in the refrigerator as you prepare the batter.
Funfetti Coffee Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup assorted sprinkles
Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch spring form pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.
Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer), to mix together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the eggs and egg yolk - one at a time. Add the vanilla and almond and mix until combined. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
With the mixer on low, add in half of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the sour cream and milk. Mix until the liquids absorb into the batter. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. It is okay if a few dry streaks remain. Stop the mixer and fold in the sprinkles until just combined. Do not overmix or the sprinkles may bleed.
Spoon about 2/3 of the batter into the pan and spread into a smooth layer with an offset spatula. Remove the streusel from the fridge and sprinkle on about 1/3 of the mixture - breaking it up into small clumps as needed.
Carefully spoon on the remaining batter and spread until smooth. Top the batter with the remaining streusel.
Bake the cake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs (just not totally raw). Be careful not to over-bake. Cool the cake on a wire rack before adding the glaze and serving.
Vanilla Glaze
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 to 3 teaspoons milk
1/4 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or extract
Stir together the ingrains in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add more milk until desired drizzling consistency is achieved. It should drip easily from a spoon but still coat the cake without running everywhere. Spoon the glaze over the cake before serving.
Baker’s Notes
If the crumble top begins to brown to quickly before the center of the cake is set, tent the cake pan with foil.
Make sure that your sprinkles are fresh! Sprinkles expire and can taste terrible. Try them before adding to the cake. This cake is very heavy on sprinkle flavor, so if you sprinkles have gone bad, the taste of the cake will definitely be altered.
Store the cake in an air-tight container or covered in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days.