How to Make a Sprinkle Fault Line Cake

I know you’ve seen this hot cake trend all over the place!  A fault line cake uses a fun frosting technique to show a “crack” in the side of your cake, revealing a fun feature like sprinkles. This sprinkle fault line cake features white almond cake layers, raspberry filling, and a creamy almond Swiss meringue buttercream. 

 

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This recipe was originally published on July 18, 2019.  It was republished on February 8, 2024 with updates.

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White Almond Cake

 

As much as I love a standard vanilla cake, there is just something about white cake that won’t let me go. I love this recipe because the cake layers are soft, moist, and have such a tender crumb. The almond flavor is subtle with a slight fruity note that pairs perfectly with the raspberry filling.

The secret to this cake’s incredible texture is a combination of dried buttermilk, cake enhancer, and using a combo of butter and oil for the fats. You can find the dried buttermilk fairly easily, but I always get that and the enhancer from King Arthur Baking (not an affiliate, just a fan).

 

Using almond extract (or even clear vanilla extract) gives you a pretty white cake.  This would be a great batter for coloring if you wanted to try a gender reveal cake, rainbow cake, or any other vibrant cake.  Just be sure to use gel color to get the best shade without watering down your batter.

 

 

Top Tips for Cakes

 

• Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature.  This will help everything blend nicely and give your cake a nice texture.
• Scrape down your bowl often.  Butter and sugar can hide out at the bottom of your bowl.  Make sure everything gets blended!
• Do NOT over mix.  Once you add the wet and dry ingredients, keep the speed on stir and only mix to combine.  
• Wilton baking strips will give you a flat top and prevent the edges from caramelizing. 
• Use an electronic scale to divide your cake batter into the pans.

 

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Almond Swiss Meringue Buttercream

 

Meringue based frostings are a lot less sweet than American buttercream (aka ABC) and have an amazingly silky texture.  I figured a Swiss meringue buttercream would be a great frosting to use on my sprinkle fault line cake because it would be very easy to smooth without worrying about it crusting over.

To go with the almond cake, I decided I would make an almond Swiss meringue buttercream.  Since SMBC is very buttery, it is a little harder to color with gel colors (but these tips and tricks help), so I decided to use Lilac powder from The Sugar Art. It’s a nice purpley pink shade.

 

 

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Tips & Tricks

 

It’s important to get your egg white and sugar mixture up to the correct temperature, essentially pasteurizing the eggs. I suggest doing this in a separate bowl, then pouring the mixture into the stand mixer to begin whipping. This will help the meringue cool down quicker because the bowl isn’t retaining the heat.

You want to make sure your meringue is at room temperature before you begin adding your super soft butter to the mix.  If it gets too soft and soupy, pop it in the fridge (covered) for 10- 15 minutes and then continue. It will take at least 15 minutes to get the meringue to the right temperature, but you could pack the outside of the bowl with ice packs or frozen veggies to speed it up.

 

Related Reading: Milk Tea Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream

 

Raspberry Goo

 

I really, really, love that white almond cake, but I love this raspberry goo even more! It’s as simple as heating up frozen raspberries and sugar (4:1 ratio) and cooking them down for a while, then straining out the seeds and cooling. So simple, but it has a gorgeous color and robust fruity flavor.

To add the filling to the cake layers, I piped on my almond Swiss meringue buttercream (fairly thick actually), then used my small offset spatula to remove a good bit of the center frosting. This created a bit of a well that I poured my raspberry goo into. It was completely trapped and could not leak down into the cake, or out through the sides.

 

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How to Make a Sprinkle Fault Line Cake

 

Start with a cake that is filled, stacked, and crumb coated. That crumb coat should be firm and chilled. To prevent a ton of sprinkles from sticking to the bottom, wrap a narrow piece of wax paper around the bottom half of the cake and secure it with pins. Watch the video tutorial if I’ve lost you!

Add a band of frosting around the middle of the cake. Use a piping bag or an offset spatula, whichever you prefer.  Smooth out that band a bit. Make sure your turntable is over a large tub or bucket to catch most of the spillage.  Gently press handfuls of sprinkles around the band of frosting.  Sorry, but the sprinkles will get everywhere.  Once you’re satisfied with the sprinkle distribution, chill the cake for at least 30 minutes.

 

 

Creating a Fault Line

 

Fill a piping bag fitted with a large round tip with your lovely SMBC.  Start at the bottom of the cake and pipe up to the sprinkle band. For that top layer of frosting by the band, make it a bit irregular so that your fault line cake looks intentional.  Repeat on the top half of the cake. Make sure your frosting is thick and sticks out past the sprinkles. Otherwise, you’ll scrape off the sprinkles!

Gently, smooth out the sides of the cake.  Be very careful not to scrape off any sprinkles.  After your first pass, fill in any gaps with more frosting and remove any stray sprinkles.  Smooth out the cake again. Repeat this process until you are satisfied with the look of your fault line cake.  You can leave the top of the cake rough, or smooth it out for a flat top. If you have any gaps in your sprinkles, use tweezers to place larger pieces for even coverage.

 

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Add Some Shine

 

You can leave your sprinkle fault line cake like this if you are ready to be done. But what really takes this design over the top is a touch of something shiny! It took a hot minute, but I added edible silver leaf to the rough edges of my fault line. 

This works so well with the fault line design because it defines that jagged gap perfectly. There’s some contrast with color and depth that makes the design pop. You can also use the silver leaf to slightly alter the shape of the fault line. 

 

 

Have a Little Heart

 

I used up all of my SMBC and had nothing for decorations, so I decided to go harder with the sprinkles! Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, so I grabbed a heart shaped cookie cutter and plunked it onto the center of my cake. All you have to do is add a thin layer of sprinkles and gently press into the cake.

Once you carefully remove the cookie cutter, use tweezers to tidy up any stray sprinkles. Then you are left with a perfectly shaped heart made out of sprinkles! Honestly, this would have been even better if I’d added an outline of silver leaf, but I just didn’t have the energy.

 

Related Reading: Pink Champagne Cake with Gelatin Bubbles

  

Use Up Those Yolks, Folks

 

To make the white almond cake easier and less wasteful, I used pasteurized egg whites from a carton. Since those don’t work for a true Swiss meringue buttercream, I ended up with 5 egg yolks. If you hate wasting even egg yolks, you could use them to make my cherry almond tart or coconut cream pie.

Or for a less sweet option, use 4 of them to make my 4 yolk challah! When I make macarons, this is my favorite way to use up extra yolks. It is so soft, slightly sweet, and makes for perfect toast.

 

 

Honest Thoughts

 

I think this cake looks gorgeous, the cake layers are delicious, I could eat that raspberry goo with just a spoon, and the creamy frosting is luxurious. But the one thing I don’t like about fault line cakes is that they tend to have too much frosting. 

Now, you kind of need that in order to create the necessary depth and fault line look. I just think it creates a cake that has too much frosting. For me, the fix is to leave some frosting on my plate. No biggie. If this is going to be a problem for you, use this recipe (‘cause it is tasty!!), but go with a different design.

 

 

Enjoy!

 

A fault line cake is a fun, trendy look that isn’t too difficult to create.  Fill that crack with sprinkles, fondant, buttercream flowers, or anything else your creative mind can come up with.  If you make this fun cake, make sure to tag me (@bakesandblunders) so I can see your lovely work.