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Fruity Pebbles Cake

Light and fluffy Fruity Pebbles flavored cake layers, topped with Fruity Pebbles filling and cereal crunch, and coated in a whipped vanilla buttercream.​

Today is my birthday, and what better way to celebrate than with a fun, delicious new recipe!

I’ve had this Fruity Pebbles cake on my mind since trying the Fruity Pebbles macaron ice cream sandwich from Perfect Scoop in Las Vegas last month. I was obsessed with how well they incorporated the cereal flavor into the cookie and the ice cream without just throwing in pieces of the cereal. The flavor was a part of every bite and that’s exactly what I wanted for this cake.

In my first round, I used ground up cereal in place of some of the flour in the cake. It created a great flavor to the cake, but the texture was all wrong! It was too dense and fell apart really easily. I was a bit disappointed but as I thought about how to get the Fruity Pebbles flavor into the cake, I remembered that Milk Bar has something they call “Cereal Milk,” where they soak cereal in milk for about 20 minutes and then strain the milk. The milk remains smooth but there’s now a fabulous cereal flavor to it. That’s exactly what I needed for this cake and it worked beautifully. With the Fruity Pebbles milk, you’ll get a great Fruity Pebbles flavor in the cake (not overly strong) and still have a nice fluffy, moist cake.

While I was thinking about Milk Bar, I also decided to use their cereal crunch element for this cake to add some texture to the layers. The cake is certainly a sweet one, so the added kosher salt in the crunch provides a bit of a balance.

Not one to stop there, I also wanted the filling to be flavored with Fruity Pebbles, so I ground up some more cereal and added it to my vanilla frosting. I love how it adds just one more touch of the cereal flavor and is a slightly different texture than the frosting itself. It does thicken slightly with the cereal crumbs in it.

So now with Fruity Pebbles cake layers, Fruity Pebbles filling and cereal crunch, and a whipped vanilla buttercream, this cake shouts Fruity Pebbles with every bite. It’s definitely on the sweeter side but I wouldn’t want it any other way!

Enjoy!

Fruity Pebbles Cake

Yield: one 3-layer, 8-inch round cake

Ingredients

For the Cereal Milk (adapted from Milk Bar)

1 1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cup Fruity Pebbles cereal

1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

pinch of salt

For the Cake

3 cups cake flour

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup cereal milk

5 egg whites, room temperature

1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract

For the Fruit Pebbles Crunch (adapted from Milk Bar)

2 1/2 cups Fruit Pebbles cereal

1/2 cup milk powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Frosting

2 1/4 cup (5 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

6 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

For the Filling

2 cups frosting (recipe below)

3/4 cup finely ground Fruit Pebbles (about 2 cups)

Instructions

For the Cereal Milk

1. Combine the milk and cereal in a medium bowl. Let sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature.

2. Strain the milk through a fine mesh sieve or strainer, collecting the milk in a small bowl. Collect 1 cup.

3. Whisk the brown sugar and salt into the milk until fully dissolved.

For the Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch round pans with nonstick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Spray again and set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine.

3. With the mixer on medium low, gradually add the butter and milk. Stir until the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Add the egg whites and clear vanilla extract in three batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

5. Evenly divide the batter among the three pans. Bake for about 25 minutes. Let cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely. Can wrap each cake layer individually with plastic wrap and freeze for up to a week.

For the Fruity Pebbles Crunch

1. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees F.

2. Pour the Fruit Pebbles into a medium bowl and crush them a little with your hands. Add the milk powder, sugar, salt, and toss to mix. Add the melted butter and toss to coat. As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the cereal and creating small clusters.

3. Spread the clusters on a parchment lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely before using or store in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to a month.

For the Frosting

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, until nice and fluffy.

2. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar. Mix until combined.

3. Add the cream, salt and clear vanilla. Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes.

4. Transfer 2 cups of the frosting to a medium bowl.

5. With the remaining 3 cups of frosting, beat by hand with a wooden spoon to push out any air pockets before frosting the cake.

For the Filling

1. In a blender or food processor, pulse the Fruity Pebbles cereal into fine crumbs.

2. Combine the Fruity Pebbles cereal and 2 cups of frosting and stir until combined. The filling will now be a little thicker than the frosting. It will spread more like a cookie dough filling. I suggest making the filling when you're ready to use it.

Assembly

1. Place your cake board on a turntable. Spread a small dollop of frosting on the cake board and place the first cake layer, top side up, on the center of the cake board.

2. Carefully spread half of the Fruity Pebbles filling on the cake layer, followed by 1 cup of the Fruity Pebbles Crunch.

3. Place the second cake layer, top side up, on the fillings and repeat step 2.

4. Place the final cake layer, top side down, on the second layer of fillings. With the frosting, lightly frost the cake to create a crumb coat. (This layer of frosting is meant to be thin and does not need to be perfect. 5. The point of the crumb coat is simply to lock in the crumbs.) Freeze the cake for 10 minutes to set the crumb coat.

6. Continue frosting the cake with the remaining frosting and extra Fruity Pebbles cereal. Best served day of assembly. Can also be frozen in an airtight container for up to a week.


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