A sweet funfetti cake batter fudge that’s made with cake mix and packed full of colorful sprinkles. A great birthday cake alternative!
Welcome to another installment of a day in the life of a sprinkles addict.
I may be biased, but it’s not a bad addiction to have, though it is causing some tension in my marriage — Zach does not like sprinkles in his desserts, or at least not nearly as many as I do, and I may or may not be storing (literally) 30 pounds of sprinkles in our office.
It’s also making its way into my work life (I shook a sprinkle out of my scrub top in the hospital the other day — Idon’tevenknow), and I had to brush bright pink powder out of the crevice of my camera where I accidentally crushed a lone sprinkle.
I’ve presented to you plenty of sprinkle-stuffed desserts in the past — funfetti cookies, my FAVORITE funfetti cake, and even a recipe for DIY sprinkles, to name just a few, but I think this is the first time that I’ve worked sprinkles into fudge.
Today I have a simple, decadent, no candy thermometer required, cake batter fudge for you.
I do use box-mix cake batter here (I’ve waffled in the past on my preference for making things solely from scratch and incorporating box-mix for the most authentic flavor), but for this recipe cake mix resulted in the easiest and best tasting fudge of all of my taste-trials. If you’re concerned about using “raw” cake batter mix, I recommend cooking the cake mix in the oven for several minutes before using, just as I do with the flour in my cookie dough bites recipe.
I love making condensed milk fudge recipes (like my easy fudge recipe and hot chocolate fudge!) because of their simplicity — it’s just a matter of combining the ingredients on the stovetop and melting them together for sweet confection perfection.
This funfetti-packed cake batter fudge is very creamy, very sweet (cut it into small pieces!), and a little more than irresistible.
While I mentioned that Zach doesn’t like biting into sprinkles, I love the subtle texture that they make — it keeps things… interesting, fun, and (very) colorful. It’s also what I love about my cake batter buttercreams.
You can use regular sprinkles or nonpareils, or a mix of both (which is what I did here). The nonpareils give a little more of a crunch (I don’t want to say “gritty” because that sounds bad and it’s really a lovely texture, but I think that will give you a good idea of the taste), while the sprinkles are softer and less obvious.
Alright, well I’m off to sweep up some sprinkles and catch up on the lovely comments and e-mails that so many of you have sent in the past crazy-busy week (keep them coming!).
Enjoy!
More Recipes You Might Like:
Cake Batter Fudge
Ingredients
- 14 ounces (397 g) sweetened condensed milk Make sure you are not using evaporated milk. Only condensed milk will work with this recipe.
- 2 cups (340 g) Ghirardelli white chocolate chips I only recommend Ghirardelli chocolate chips for this fudge. I have had no problems with this brand whereas people have not had their fudge set up properly with other chips.
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter
- ¼ cup (40 g) white or "funfetti" cake mix not prepared -- just use the powdered mix straight out of the box. I use Pillsbury.
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons colored sprinkles or a mix of sprinkles and nonpareils + additional to sprinkle on top, if desired
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine condensed milk, chocolate chips, and butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until butter and chocolate chips are completely melted and mixture is well-combined.14 ounces (397 g) sweetened condensed milk, 2 cups (340 g) Ghirardelli white chocolate chips, 2 Tablespoons salted butter
- Reduce heat to low, and add cake mix and vanilla extract.¼ cup (40 g) white or "funfetti" cake mix, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Stir well, until cake mix is completely absorbed.
- Remove from heat and stir in 2 Tablespoons sprinkles/nonpareils. Immediately pour into prepared pan, use a spatula to gently smooth the surface.2 Tablespoons colored sprinkles or a mix of sprinkles and nonpareils
- Decorate with additional sprinkles, if desired. Allow to cool to room temperature. If desired, chill in the refrigerator until completely firm before cutting and serving. It usually only takes several hours for my fudge to become completely firm, but since some people have had issues with their fudge setting (see note or see video) I recommend allowing it to chill overnight for best results.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Ashlyn
Delicious flavor!! Just a tad bit softer/stickier than I usually prefer fudge. I used ghiradelli chips and pillsbury cake mix. Still a hit though, and very much enjoyed by friends and family.
Ashley
The video says 1 teaspoon vanilla, but the recipe itself says 1 1/2 teaspoon.
Sam
Either will work, but I prefer 1 1/2 teaspoons 🙂
Natalie
I used Ghirardelli chips and the Pillsbury cake mix and even had it chill in the fridge for almost 24 hours before cutting into, but it never quite set up correctly. It still tastes great and I’ll definitely eat it, but I’m telling my friends and family that I made taffy instead of fudge 😆. It was my first time making this recipe though, and I’ll probably still make it again!
Kimberly Hahn
I am contemplating making this fudge. Can marshmallow be used? Or do you have a recipe for using marshmallow?
Sam
Hi Kimberly! I do not have a marshmallow recipe, sorry!
L
Had no problems. I watched the video before making it . Make sure you use Borden sweetened condensed milk. My aunt used a off brand before on a recipe. It made the pie soupy. Sometimes you just have to use name brand.
Jacie
The fudge tastes really good, but I’m not a huge fan of the texture. Not really fudge-like in my opinion… it’s a bit gummy/squishy. And I do think my fudge set correctly, since after having it chill overnight, it’s very firm and almost difficult to cut. But it was easy to make and didn’t take long and like I said, it’s yummy!
Samantha
Made this recipe today and it’s perfect! I was however very close to messing it up. I know you mention one 14 ounce can of condensed milk, however in Canada our standard size is a 10 ounce can, so I needed two ! Wondering if anyone else has made this error and that resulted in there fudge not setting up properly 🙂
Sam
O no! I’m so sorry for the confusion! I would imagine it wouldn’t set up very well if you didn’t have all of the condensed milk. I’m glad you were able to catch that. 🙂
Carla Watson
I love the flavour of this but mine didn’t stiffen up.. 2 days in the fridge now. I am also from Canada and have the 10 oz cans but I only used one. Still it stayed soft though. Should I reheat it and add more cake mix maybe? Hmmm..
Thanks for any ideas❤️
Sam
Hi Carla! That’s really odd, using less condensed milk would make it more likely to set. I don’t think reheating it is going to work here. I wonder if it was your particular brand of chocolate chip. Did you make any other substitutions?
Margaret
I have been loving all of your recipes, Sam! Based on your recipes, I think we may have similar taste, lol. I’ve made this fudge 2x times now, my family enjoys it. Thanks for doing what you do!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it os much, Margaret! 🙂
A.Rrajani Photographer
SUCH A AMAZING RECIPE!
THANK YOU FOR SHARING….
Andres
In the video, you say that you buy your chips in bulk. What store or online store do you get them from?
Sam
Hi Andres! I buy my sprinkles in bulk, they come from Country Kitchen Sweet Art 🙂
Lori knox
I think the problem is that you are actually using for than 2 cups of chocolate chips. I measured out 2 cups and had some left in the bag. I think if I had used the whole bag and then a Little more like you did,
It would have worked. Also, the vanilla is listed as 1 1/2 teaspoons but you only used 1
Teaspoon in the video.
Sam
Hi Lori! I do use 2 cups of white chocolate chips here. When using weights, the bag actually tells you that you don’t have 2 full cups in it. 2 full cups of chips is 340g and the 11oz bag only has 312g in it. For the vanilla extract, I just misspoke in the video and going back to re-film the whole thing was just not practical by the time I caught it. 🙂
Stella
I don’t know what’s wrong with all the negative reviews I made these yesterday and they turned out prefect, super cute. You obviously didn’t steal these pictures from Pinterest. These people need to calm down. If they mess up a recipe it’s not your fault it’s theirs. And I can see that your trying as hard as you can to try and help them figure out what went wrong. Thanks for another delicious recipe. ❤️
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy to hear that yours turned out so well, Stella. Thank you for your sweet comment and for trying my recipe. I appreciate it. Enjoy! 🙂
Tasha
Can you make this recipe without butter I have all the ingredients right now but no butter
Sam
Hi Tasha! I haven’t tried it but I think it could still turn out. Let me know how it goes if you try it. 🙂
Jess
Hi I used the brands you recommended and followed all of your steps and my batch came out super sticky, taffy-like. Any suggestions?
Sam
Hi Jess! How long has it been sitting?
Jess
It sat over night.
Sam
Honestly I really don’t know why it would have happened. I have tried to replicate this issue and have been unsuccessful. I’m sorry. 🙁
Food service directorr
If it was nearly boiling (even just one or two heat bubbles) it would activate the gluten to solidify with the sugars to result in taffy.
carol Doti
How long will theses keet? Can you freeze them
Sam
Hi Carol! I’d say about 1 week at room temperature in an airtight container, about 2 weeks in the refrigerator, and yes it can be frozen and should last at least a month in the freezer. Enjoy!
Brian
I love all your recipes! I had no problem with this one. Its relatively simple.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Brian! 🙂
Morgan
This was such a simple recipe! I made this for my daughters 5th birthday party and it was a total hit! I was so surprised how quickly my batch set up! This will definitely become a birthday tradition for my girls.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Morgan! 🙂
A. Kristner
I should have paid attention to the bad reviews. I’m not a baker but have been craving fudge and this didn’t come out well at all. Its kinda my fault though because I normally don’t look at the reviews but still, this was a waste of a grocery store trip. I used these different chocolate chips from trader joes. It took 2 extra hours to set, and it was a sticky mess to cute. Disappointed.
Sam
Hi A. Please take a second to re-read the recipe and watch the video, the type of chocolate chips that you use is *very* important. You can see me make the fudge perfectly in the video and it cuts very firmly.
Food service director
If the fudge is heated to high it can also have the end result of ganoush.
Yes, even your preferred brand will do it.
Lots of trial and error.
At least the errors taste good in fudge!