Cotton Candy Cake Recipes

COTTON CANDY CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 3 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper and spray them with nonstick spray. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high for about 1 minute. Add in the eggs, milk, and cotton candy flavoring. Beat on high for another 1 minute. Add in the flour mixture and stir just until the flour has been incorporated. Divide evenly into 2 smaller bowls and color with blue and pink food coloring if desired.
• Alternately spoon blue and pink batter into the cake pans and gently swirl them together. Don't swirl too much as the batter will turn purple and bake into a brown color. Place into the oven to bake for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Once baked, remove from the oven, place onto a cooling rack, and let cool to room temperature.
• While the cakes are cooling, make the buttercream. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, powdered sugar, salt, and cotton candy flavoring together. Beat first on low for about 2 minutes, or until the powdered sugar is almost completely incorporated, to avoid it from flying out of the bowl. Increase speed to high and let it whip for 4 minutes to create a smooth buttercream.
• Separate the frosting evenly into 3 bowls. Color 1 bowl pink, 1 bowl blue, and leave the last bowl white.
• Once the cakes are cooled, place 1 layer onto a cake stand or plate. Top with about ¼ cup of buttercream and spread to the edges. Place a second layer of cake on top and frost. Place the last layer of cake on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake with buttercream. Alternate between white, blue, and pink frosting for a cotton candy, rainbow effect.
• For neat multi-colored frosting swirls, alternately spread some pink and blue buttercream onto the sides of a piping bag fitted with your choice of tip. Once you are happy with the mix of colors, fill the remainder of the bag with white buttercream. Pipe in a clock formating, piping 1 swirl each at 12:00, 6:00, 3:00, and 9:00. Continue in that fashion around the perimeter of the cake.
• If desired, top with clouds or pieces of cotton candy.
• Once the cake is frosted, slice and serve!

JACQUES' HOMEMADE COTTON CANDY

Steps:

• To make this recipe at home, you will need a pair of wire cutters and an old inexpensive whisk. Cut the round ends off an inexpensive whisk. Arrange the tines so they are evenly spaced. You will also need an open space to make the cotton candy. At home, slit open a garbage bag and cover the floor area. Wedge 2 long wooden spoons under something heavy so they extend off the edge of the counter.
• Place the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Insert a candy thermometer and cook the sugar mixture until it reaches 320 degrees F, what is known as the hard crack stage (the sugar becomes brittle when it comes in contact with a cooler surface). Remove from the heat and carefully pour into a medium-size microwaveable glass bowl. If you leave the sugar in the pan, the sugar will continue to cook and turn dark brown. A glass bowl will hold the temperature of the sugar. I put a towel under the bowl to keep the bowl from tipping over and to protect my hands from the heat of the glass. (The sugar will stay liquid enough to work with easily for about 10 minutes; after that it will start to thicken. If this happens before you are finished, just pop the bowl in the microwave for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the sugar is liquid enough to work with once again.) If you are going to color and/or flavor the sugar, add those drops now.
• Dip the tines into the hot sugar. Allow the sugar to drain off for 1 to 2 seconds until the draining sugar strands are relatively the same consistency. Then wave the whisk over the extended wooden spoons and allow the sugar strands to gently drift until they are resting on top of the spoons. Make sure you are about 12 to 18 inches above the spoons. Use broad long strokes and work quickly. Gather the cotton candy and roll onto paper that you've rolled into a long, thin cone, like cotton candy is served in at the carnival or serve as is. If you need to store the cotton candy for a few hours, place it in an airtight container. The delicate sugar will melt in a humid environment.

COTTON CANDY CAKE POPS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9" x 13" pan.
• Prepare cake batter as directed on package.
• Pour cake batter into prepared cake pan and bake 32 to 38 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. While cake is still slightly warm, crumble into large bowl. You should have fine crumbs with no chunks of cake remaining. Let cake cool completely.
• Pour 1 packet of Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ Cotton Candy Flavour Mix into 1 can of Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ Frosting Starter. Stir until evenly blended. Repeat with second packet and can.
• Add one-half of 1 can of the Cotton Candy frosting you just created to crumbled cake and stir with a fork until frosting disappears and is completely incorporated into cake crumbs. Test your mixture by picking up a handful and squeezing it together. It should hold together without breaking apart. If mixture is too dry, add more frosting.
• Roll mixture into oval-shaped cake balls and transfer to a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Make sure balls are tightly packed and look smooth with no cracks. If they appear cracked, you may need to add more frosting.
• Transfer baking sheet with cake balls to freezer for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Place candy melts in a small, deep, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30-second bursts, stirring each time until candy melts are completely melted.
• Remove cake balls from freezer. Dip tips of lollipop sticks into candy coating and insert sticks no more than halfway into the centre of your cake balls. Let them set for 1 to 2 minutes resting on the cake ball, sticks in the air. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Remove cake pops from refrigerator. Generously spread Cotton Candy frosting onto cake balls. Use the tip of a knife to create a swirled pattern in the frosting, creating a cotton candy effect.
• Sprinkle with decorating sugar.
• Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.