Piñata Cake

Homemade piñata cake is a fun birthday cake that's easy to make starting with cake mix and store-bought frosting. Fill with sprinkles for a surprise when you cut and top with a mini piñata! Perfect for gender reveals, taco-themed parties or any celebration. Wondering how to make a piñata cake? Here's how! Just follow the steps.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Diet Vegetarian

Recipe Type Birthday, Cake Mix, Cakes, Cinco de Mayo, Kid-Friendly, Party, Spring Desserts

Skill Level Easy

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1 15

Servings

Calories 548kcal

Author Angela G.

Ingredients

Cake

2 13.25 oz boxes of yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
⅔ cup vegetable oil
2 cups water
6 eggs (or ingredients listed on your specific box mix)
7 oz rainbow sprinkles (approx. 2 ¼ cups)
5 cups vanilla buttercream frosting (I used Betty Crocker)

Decorations

⅓ cup pink vanilla frosting
⅓ cup orange vanilla frosting
1 mini piñata cake topper

Instructions

Make the Cake

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and line two 8” cake pans with parchment paper.
Add cake mix to a large mixing bowl. Add water, oil and eggs and beat with an electric mixer until well combined.
Pour half the mixture into two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
Repeat with the remaining mixture. Or, if you have a larger oven and four pans, you can bake them all at once!
Leave cakes for about 15 minutes before removing them from the pans and cooling on a wire rack.

Assemble the Cake

Once cakes have cooled completely, use a long serrated knife to slice away the domed tops of each layer, creating a nice flat surface.
Using a 2” cookie cutter, cut a circle into the center of one of the cake layers.
Repeat with two more of the layers, leaving one uncut. You can place the first layer you cut on top of the second and third to use as a guide and make sure the holes line up.
Place one of the cake layers with a hole in on your cake stand or turntable. Spread with an even layer of vanilla frosting.
Repeat with two remaining cut-out layers, then spread a little extra frosting inside the hole to help the sprinkles stick.
Pour sprinkles into the hole until filled to the top.
Place final uncut cake layer on top. Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides of the cake.
Pipe a border of pink frosting around the bottom, and orange frosting around the top of the cake.
You might also like to pipe some dots around the sides of the cake with the remaining orange and pink frosting.
Top with your mini piñata cake topper and serve!

Video

Notes

You will need a 2" cookie cutter.

I used a Wilton #21 nozzle for the frosting or you can use a can of frosting with a nozzle.

I used a Wilton #12 nozzle for the dots.

Nutrition