White Rabbit Vanilla-Confetti Cake

Crowd-pleasing vanilla-confetti cake for the 8-inch bottom tier of Charlotte’s ONEderland cake.

INGREDIENTS • 1 box white, vanilla, or yellow cake mix, about 13–15 ounces • 1 cup all-purpose flour • 3/4 cup granulated sugar • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1 cup full-fat sour cream • 1 cup whole milk • 1/3 cup vegetable oil • 4 large eggs • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, optional • 1/2 cup rainbow jimmies-style sprinkles DIRECTIONS 1. Grease the pans, line the bottoms with parchment, and preheat the oven to 350°F. 2. Stir together cake mix, flour, sugar, and salt. 3. Add sour cream, milk, oil, eggs, vanilla, and optional almond extract. Do not use the ingredients listed on the cake-mix box. 4. Mix on low for 30 seconds, scrape the bowl, then mix on medium for 1 1/2–2 minutes only until smooth. 5. Fold the rainbow jimmies in gently by hand after mixing. 6. Fill pans 1/2 to 2/3 full and use extra batter for cupcakes. 7. Tap pans gently to release large bubbles. 8. Bake until the center springs back and a toothpick has moist crumbs but no wet batter. Start checking around the box time; deep layers can take longer. 9. Cool 10–15 minutes in the pans, turn onto racks, and cool completely. 10. Wrap and chill the layers before leveling and filling. Fill with vanilla buttercream and use a stiff buttercream dam. BEST-RESULT TRICKS • Use jimmies, not tiny nonpareils; nonpareils can bleed and muddy the batter. • Almond extract gives a bakery-style flavor, but skip it for plain vanilla or if you do not want guests associating the flavor with nuts. • Keep this entire tier one flavor. Do not alternate flavors inside one tier. • Use a cake board and dowels before placing the top tier.

Planned for the blue-and-white checkerboard bottom tier. Vanilla-confetti is the safest flavor for the largest tier and a broad mix of guests.