Air Fryer Vanilla Sprinkle Cake

By Lucy Parissi

5 from 4 votes

, Updated Apr 18, 2024

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Air Fryer Vanilla Sprinkle Cake! Did you know you can make the BEST retro sheet cake in your Air Fryer? This simple vanilla cake topped with sprinkles is perfect for sharing and super easy to make.

Baking in the oven? Try my School Cake Tray Bake Recipe

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This simple vanilla cake topped with glaze and hundreds and thousands is my kids’ fave and I am so pleased you can bake it in the air fryer.

It is a super-easy cake that even complete newbies can make – just measure the ingredients in a bowl, beat together and air fry!

The cake is so pretty and absolutely delicious, fluffy, buttery and better than any school cantina sprinkle cake.

You simply need self raising flour, caster sugar, Stork or butter, eggs, milk and vanilla plus an electric hand mixer or stand mixer. I baked this cake in my Cosori Air Fryer.

HOW TO MAKE AIR FRYER VANILLA SPRINKLE CAKE

Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!

MAKE THE CAKE

Mist 7 inch square pan with cake release and line the bottom with baking paper. Measure the self raising flour and sugar into a mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stir to combine.

Add the butter, eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat together using an electric hand mixer or your stand mixer, using a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Mix until the batter is completely smooth, about a minute.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan and level. Place a trivet into the air fryer basket, place the cake pan over it and cook for 30 minutes at 160°C (320°F). Lower the temperature to 150°C (300°F) and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes (or as needed).

Check for doneness – insert a toothpick in the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. If the skewer comes out wet or with moist crumbs continue to cook for a further 5 minutes.

Take the cake out of the air fryer using oven mitts. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the glaze and decorate

If you want to tint the glaze pink as I have done then put the blueberries and lemon juice in a bowl, crush the berries with the back of a spoon and strain the juice.

Mix the juice, icing sugar, vanilla extract and water to make the pink icing. Drizzle in the water gradually, only adding as much as needed to create a thick glaze.

Drizzle the glaze over the cake until it drips down the sides. Add the sprinkles before the glaze sets and leave to dry. Slice the cake into squares using a serrated knife and make sure to share!

BAKE PERFECT CAKE IN YOUR AIR FRYER

• Make sure the paper is stuck to the sides of the pan otherwise the air circulating from the top of the air fryer might cause it to fold down into the cake batter.
• If the cake has domed while baking you might want to level it before frosting so you have perfectly even square slices. I like to use my serrated bread knife when slicing.
• Store the cake in a suitable container at room temperature, away from bright sunlight. It will keep fresh for 2-3 days.
• Check your self raising flour in fresh. If you use flour that’s past its “Best Before” date your cake may not rise properly.

LOVE TO BAKE? CHECK THESE POPULAR RECIPES!

• Chocolate School Cake
• Air Fryer Cake
• Air Fryer Rolls
• Air Fryer Scones

HAVE YOU MADE MY AIR FRYER VANILLA CAKE RECIPE? Please leave a rating, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram with @supergolden88 and the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day!

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5 from 4 votes

Air Fryer Vanilla Cake

By Lucy Parissi | Supergolden Bakes

Bake the BEST Vanilla Cake in your Air Fryer! This simple vanilla cake topped with sprinkles is perfect for sharing and super easy to make.

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Preheating: 3 minutes minutes

Total Time: 53 minutes minutes

Servings: 16

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Video

Equipment

• Cosori Air Fryer
• Digital scales
• Cake release
• 7 inch square cake pan
• Victorinox Serrated Knife
• Air Fryer Trivet

Ingredients

For the Cake

• ▢ 260 g (2 cups) self raising flour
• ▢ 250 g ( 1 ¼ cup) caster sugar
• ▢ 3 large eggs
• ▢ 115 g (½ cup) softened unsalted butter or margarine (Stork)
• ▢ 120 ml (½ cup) semi skimmed milk
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

For the Glaze

• ▢ 2 tbsp fresh blueberries  or frozen and thawed berries
• ▢ 2 tbsp lemon juice
• ▢ 240 g (2 cups) icing sugar (= powdered sugar)
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ water as needed

To Decorate

• ▢ sprinkles

Instructions 

Make the cake

• Preheat the Air Fryer at 160°C (320°F) for 3 minutes while you prepare the batter. Mist 7 inch square pan with cake release and line the bottom with baking paper.
• Measure the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stir to combine.
• Add the butter, eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat together using an electric hand mixer or your stand mixer, using a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Mix until the batter is smooth, about a minute.
• Transfer the batter into the prepared cake pan and level. Place a trivet into the air fryer basket, place the cake pan over it and cook for 30 minutes at 160°C (320°F). Lower the temperature to 150°C (300°F) and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes.
• Check for doneness – insert a skewer or toothpick in the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. If the skewer comes out wet or with moist crumbs continue to cook for a further 5 minutes.
• Take the cake out of the air fryer using oven mitts. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. If the cake has domed while baking you might want to level it before frosting.

Make the glaze

• Put blueberries and lemon juice in a bowl and crush the berries with the back of a spoon and strain the juice.
• Mix the juice, icing sugar, vanilla extract and water to make the pink icing. Add the water gradually, only adding as much as you need to create a thick but spreadable glaze.
• Drizzle the glaze over the cake until it drips down the sides. Add the sprinkles before the glaze sets and leave to dry. Slice the cake into squares using a serrated knife and make sure to share!

Notes

• If your are using plain flour (all purpose flour) add 2 1/2 tsp baking powder in with the flour and sugar.
• Note that air fryers can vary in their cooking and baking temperatures. Check on your cake after 30 minutes and adjust the cooking time if needed.
• Using a trivet: raising the cake pan from the bottom of the air fryer allows for better heat circulation and better rise. You can use any small wire rack to raise your cake pan as long as it doesn’t raise the cake pan too close to the heating element.

Nutrition

Calories: 242kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 59mg | Potassium: 30mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 224IU | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 0.3mg

Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.

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