Birthday Piñata Cake

Impress the kids with this delicious and fun Birthday Piñata Cake! This foolproof sour-cream chocolate cake recipe has been transformed into a colourful Piñata Cake which everyone will love. Recipe with step-by-step photos.

Piñata Cake

If you are looking for a fun birthday cake with major wow factor, this Piñata Cake is the recipe you need! In fact, now that I have made it several years in a row for both of my kids’ birthdays, I can’t imagine a birthday party without this Piñata Cake. Who can resist a cake filled with candies and sprinkles?!

What is a Piñata Cake?

A Piñata Cake is a layered cake filled with colourful candies and sprinkles, and when you cut the cake open, the filling will spill out of the cavity of the cake like a burst piñata.

It’s a fun cake to make for birthday parties because, at first glance, it looks like any regular birthday cake, and nobody will know about the surprise filling until you cut into the cake!

Birthday Piñata Cake

I first became aware of the concept of Piñata Cakes when I saw Poh Ling Yeow make her Magic Rainbow Piñata Birthday Cake on an episode of her TV show. I absolutely loved the idea and couldn’t wait to try it myself.

As my talent does not lie in novelty fondant cakes and cake decorating in general, I prefer to make a plain iced cake for birthdays and celebrations, such as this Sour-Cream Chocolate Cake or this even easier Easy Chocolate Cake. Both of these recipes are adapted from Nigella Lawson, and they are foolproof recipes which I have been using for nearly two decades.

A few years ago, I decided to surprise my daughter by transforming my usual birthday cake recipe into a Piñata Cake. The look on her face when we removed the first slice was priceless! Since then, this Piñata Cake has been a staple for our childrens’ birthday parties.

Don’t worry too much about the sugar content here … I think of it as a “special occasion cake” 😉 The kids usually get excited when they see all of the sprinkles and lollies, and some may even ask for a scoop of the sprinkles with their slice of cake. But few actually eat a lot of the candy. That has been our experience, anyway!

Easy Piñata Cake

If you are already familiar with making a layered cake, making a Piñata Cake requires just a few more simple steps.

In fact, you can apply the steps below to transform any layer cake into a Piñata Cake.

Piñata Cake Recipe

My recipe for Piñata Cake is adapted from Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Sour-Cream Chocolate Cake, which is one of my go-to recipes for birthday cakes.

As a Piñata Cake should have at least 3 layers, I have also made a vanilla cake for the middle layer to give some contrast in colour, as well as taste.

What is great about this Piñata Cake recipe is that you can make the batter in a food processor, so the cakes are quick and easy to make.

You can fill the Piñata Cake with whatever lollies and candy you like, although I recommend using something which your kids like to eat. I like to use a mix of Smarties, sprinkles and jimmies; the combination of big and small will help with the “spill effect” when you cut into the cake.

How to Make a Piñata Cake

Step 1

Make the cake layers.

I recommend that you start with the vanilla cake so that you can use the same bowl later to make the chocolate cake layers.

For the vanilla cake layer, simply place all of the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and blitz. Transfer the batter to a buttered and lined cake pan, and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

For the chocolate cake layers, repeat the same steps as for the vanilla cake, except that you will need to split the cake batter between two cake pans.

Once the cakes are cooked, let them cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Then carefully remove the cakes from the pan and invert them onto a wire rack to cool completely. By inverting the cakes, this allows the top of the cakes to flatten as they cool.

If you are a perfectionist, you can use a serrated knife to level the cakes once they have cooled completely. As I only ever make this Piñata Cake for kids’ birthday parties, no one will ever notice if the layers are not exactly 180° flat 😉

Step 2

Set the top layer aside.

For the middle layer and bottom layer, use a round cookie cutter or similar to cut out the centre of the cake. I use a cutter which is 8 cm/3.5 inches in diameter.

Don’t throw away the cut out cakes! I use any leftover frosting to make a mini layered cake, intended for myself to eat alone in private later, but my kids have since discovered my “secret cake” 😂

Step 3

To assemble the Piñata Cake:

1. Set aside the top layer.
2. Cut out 4 thick strips of baking paper and place them onto a large cake plate or cake stand.
3. Place the bottom layer onto the cake stand, on top of the 4 strips of baking paper. The baking paper is to keep the cake stand clean when you frost the cake later. (See Image 1)
4. Spread a thin layer of frosting on top of the bottom layer. (See Image 2)
5. Place the middle layer on top. (See Image 3)
6. Fill the cavity with candies or lollies of your choice. (See Image 4)
7. Spread a thin layer of frosting on top of the middle layer. (See Image 5)
8. Place the top layer on top. (See Image 6)
9. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Decorate the frosted cake as you wish.
10. Remove the strips of baking paper. Your Piñata Cake is finished!

Tips for Making Piñata Cake

• Make the vanilla cake first. Once you have made the vanilla cake, save on washing up by making the chocolate cake batter in the same bowl.
• Make the cake layers the night before. The cakes keep well uncovered and overnight in a cool place in the kitchen. Letting them cool completely will also make them easier to handle when you are icing the cakes.
• Choose small lollies or candy for the filling. The filling will “spill” better if the lollies are not too big. Also, using small lollies mean you can use more, which will add to the “wow effect”. I like to use a variety of Smarties, sprinkles and jimmies.
• Cut a big first slice. For maximum “wow effect”, make the first slice a big one so that more of the filling can be revealed as a surprise. I generally cut a large wedge a bit less than 1/4 of the cake.

Piñata Cake Filling

You can usually find everything you need for the Piñata Cake filling in the cake decorating and/or confectionary aisle of your supermarket. Some ideas include:

• Smarties or M&Ms
• Different types of sprinkles. Ready-made sprinkle mixes are great to use here.
• Rainbow jimmies. Jimmies are sprinkles but cylindrical in shape.
• Maltesers
• Chocolate Freckles
• Metallic sprinkle rods
• Dragees, sprinkle balls or sugar pearls

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