Celebrating Cinco de Mayo this year? Or maybe someone you love wants an awesome birthday treat? When you cut through this pinata cake, sprinkles or candy stream out from the center of it. It’s an adorable surprise, and we’ll teach you how to make one in a few easy steps!
Would you look at that, everybody…it’s almost Cinco de Mayo! The weather is getting so warm here at Sweets & Treats HQ. Gosh, it feels like it was Christmas yesterday. Time flies doesn’t it?!
Of course, we’re getting into the seasonal mood with our recipes, too. We’ve talked about making the cutest-ever pinata cupcakes before, either for Cinco de Mayo, a birthday, a retirement, or, hey, just because! This is a full-on pinata cake, which is a very similar idea, except in a bigger, more amazing form! It still has sprinkles inside for a cute surprise when you cut into the cake.
We’re making our pinata cake for Cinco de Mayo, but you can use this tutorial for pretty much any occasion. Or, again, just because. Who doesn’t want a sweet and secretly colorful little treat? (Imagine making a gray cake and filling it up with rainbow sprinkles, for example?!)
Here’s how to make a pinata cake!
How To Make A Pinata Cake
Baking a pinata cake, believe it or not, isn’t hard at all. No advanced baking skills required! We’ll go through it step-by-step.
You will need…
- Vanilla cake and buttercream (store-bought, by a mix, or homemade)
- Our Cinco de Mayo pinata sprinkles (or another fun sprinkle mix!)
- Piping bags and piping tips (use a Wilson tip 104 to mimic our cake)
- An offset spatula and knife
Step 1: Make your cake and buttercream frosting.
The beginning of this recipe is even easier than the rest of it: you’ll want to start by making your cake (in 3 6-inch cake pans) and coloring the frosting. You can use mixes from the store or make these two things from scratch, but just ensure they’re both plain/white/vanilla flavored if you want to mimic our photos exactly! We have an easy plain vanilla cake recipe here on the blog, as well as one for buttercream frosting.
In particular, you’ll want orange-, green-, yellow-, and pink-colored frosting to copy our lovely cake. Of course, you can use whatever colors you want if you’re feeling creative!
Step 2: Start building your pinata by cutting cake layers.
You’ll have 3 6-inch cakes now (hopefully!). You’ll want to take one and put it on your cake board/plate, then frost the top and smooth that frosting down with an offset spatula. Easy!
Next, you’ll want to take one of the cakes and cut it in half horizontally, then cut a 2.5 to 3-inch circle into both of the halves. (They should be shaped a little like donuts or tires!) Take one half, put it on top of your whole cake layer, then smooth frosting on top of it and inside of it. Do the same with the second half on top of the first half.
Look at that…we’ve got a hollow pinata shape forming!
Step 3: Add your pinata surprise…sprinkles!
Take your Cinco de Mayo pinata sprinkles…or whatever sprinkles suit the occasion!…and pour it all into the cavity. Make sure you have enough to fill the cavity to the top!
Now we’ll want to seal the cake so the sprinkle center is a surprise, of course. (Or else this is just a sprinkle volcano cake!) Place your last cake layer on top of the hole. Remember, you should have had 3 6-inch cakes: one for the bottom, one cut in half and hollowed out for the middle, and one for the top.
Step 4: Put together the finishing touches!
Frost the whole outside of the cake now so that it looks like one solid piece, more or less. Again, we used pink-colored buttercream frosting made from scratch for this recipe, though you can go for whatever color you want depending on the time of year/holiday/etc.
To decorate the cake, we used green, orange, and yellow buttercream with a Wilson tip 104 piping bag. We wanted to give it
Step 5: Enjoy your pinata cake!
Slice into it and watch the candy fall out! Isn’t that so fun?!
Pinata Cake: FAQs
Here are some questions we’ve been asked about our adorable filled cake!
What else can you use inside the cake?
Besides sprinkles, any smallish candy you’d like! Chocolate chips, M&Ms…get festive!
How long does it take to make this cake?
About 30 minutes to bake (depending on what mix or recipe you use) and 1 to 1.5 hours for prep. You may want to set aside a morning or afternoon for it, but it’s so, so worth it.
Do you have to use 6-inch cakes?
Not at all. 8 or 10-inch cakes also work well in this recipe.
Did you enjoy this candy filled cake?
Bring a fun and unforgettable baked surprise to your next party! Comment down below with your thoughts on this pinata cake. Did you have any trouble? Did you make any additions or substitutions? We love to hear what you have to say!
More cakes at Sweets & Treats!
You may think that there are times that don’t call for cakes…but you’d be wrong! (Just kidding!) Seriously, though, fun cakes make any occasion worthwhile, and we have a ton of recipes here on the blog: