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This sweet and salty Birthday Cake Popcorn has a delicious cake batter flavor that is SO addicting! You can’t go wrong with white cake mix, vanilla, marshmallows, butter, and popcorn!!
Popcorn is must-have treat at parties and functions, so take it up a notch by making it cake flavored! This recipe is gooey and as addicting as our gooey caramel popcorn. We know you’ll love it!
Cake Batter Popcorn Gooey-ness
We have movie night every Friday as a family, and we love to have some yummy treat to go with it.
This past week, we made Birthday Cake Popcorn, and it was delicious!! It is gooey and had sprinkles and was a hit with all of the kids in the family.
It was also very simple to make, so you better believe we will be making this again.
Tips + Tricks
For making birthday cake popcorn:
- I add dry cake mix to the mixture, not prepared.
- This popcorn is sticky and can be a little messy (but so worth it) just keep this in mind when serving it.
- Use a lightly salted, plain or a lightly buttered popcorn for this recipe. I would avoid using a really buttered popcorn.
To make into popcorn balls: After the popcorn is completely coated, lightly grease your hands or get them wet and pack the popcorn into ball shapes. You will want to re-wet or re-grease (lightly) between each popcorn ball. This will help the popcorn from sticking.
Popcorn FAQ
Can this be made in advance? This popcorn is definitely best eaten soon after it is made. If you want to make it in advance I would suggest making it as close to when it will be eaten as possible but no more than 2 days ahead of time. After it is made, store it in an airtight container until ready to serve. You can also make them into individual servings and store in ziplock bags, just try to squeeze as much air out as you can.
How to store? Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
How to make for a crowd? If you are wanting to make this popcorn for a crowd and you’re worried about the sticky mess, just divide the popcorn into individual servings or have the guests scoop the popcorn out with a large serving spoon or measuring cup.
For more popcorn recipes, check out:
- Homemade Kettle Corn
- White Chocolate M&M Popcorn
- Caramel Marshmallow Popcorn
- Popcorn Balls
- Caramel Popcorn
Birthday Cake Popcorn Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 6 cups popcorn popped
- 3 cups marshmallows
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 cup white cake mix
- sprinkles
Instructions
- Take kernels out from popcorn and pour into a bowl.
- In a medium pot, melt marshmallows and butter on medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Once marshmallows are completely melted, remove from heat and add vanilla, milk and cake mix. Stir until well combined and pour over popcorn.
- Stir until the popcorn is evenly coated and top with sprinkles. Let set. ENJOY!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe adapted from The Endless Meal.
wonderful site to get recipes. great thanx
You need to cook the cake mix before you add it to the popcorn. Maybe you should edit this recipe to prevent someone from getting sick instead of leaving passive aggressive responses to other concerned individuals.
We really do appreciate the comments and opinions of others and the concern for everyone’s health. None of our responses are intended to be passive aggressive. Thanks for the feedback!
Raw cake batter?? Box cake mixes need to be cooked unless you find the one that specifically says its edible raw. People have gotten sick with E Coli and or bacteria that can be found in uncooked flour and box cake mixes. It needs to be baked for about 7 minutes or when it reaches 160 F to kill off any bacteria. Go look up food safety at the CDC for “raw” cake mixes. Since you’re given out recipes and one that specifically includes a raw box cake mix, you should be warning people ahead of time and let them know it’s at their own risk.
https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2021/o121-07-21/index.html
Rather be safe than sorry, especially when recipes like this are most likely to be served to children.
Thanks for the information and the feedback.
Hi Kelly. I’m not sure how much candy making or baking you are familiar with, but this cake batter gets mixed in with marshmallows that are cooked to soft, nearly hard ball stage which is over 230 degrees. I have made this recipe many times and I love it! No one has ever become sick. There are also are no eggs which is also a concern for actual cake batter to assist in the bacterial growth, even though you are focusing primarily on the flour as raw. Not saying you are wrong in anyway, safety is important, but there is no reason to shy away from this recipe as long as you cook it accordingly.
When you say you added the cake mix mixture does that mean you didn’t mix it with the butter marshmallows and vanilla, just sprinkled it to the popcorn? I assume after you coated the popcorn with the sticky stuff? Have you tried molding these into muffin pans for individual serving sizes rather than a popcorn ball?
So you will melt the butter and marshmallows in a saucepan first. Then once they are melted, you’ll remove from the heat and add the vanilla, milk and dry cake mix. Mix that all together and then pour over the popped popcorn. Hopefully that makes sense! So, no to sprinkling the mix dry over the popcorn. Yes to adding it to the marshmallow mixture (once the mallows are melted). I haven’t tried molding them for individual serving sizes, but I imagine you totally could. It is a more sticky popcorn when eating so it should stick together. If you try that, you’ll have to let us know how it turns out.
My friend asked me last minute if I could make these for her child’s birthday party. Your recipe definitely looks like the tastiest (and prettiest) one I’ve seen but the only problem is I only have funfetti cake mix on hand. Do you think that will work ok?
Oh how fun!! Yes, it should work just fine! I haven’t tried it with the funfetti before, but it should be really similar to the white cake mix. Good luck with the birthday party!!
Please read this before making more treats with RAW box cake mixes. It needs to be cooked or baked first to 160 F to kill off any bacteria that might be in the flour.
https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2021/o121-07-21/index.html
Thanks for the info.
I was wondering if I could use pre popped pop corn for this recipe Thank You
You can but typically it does not turn out as good since there are a lot of additional additives in store bought popcorn. Most of the time store bought popcorn has a lot of added butter flavor to it so it overpowers the flavor of the birthday cake topping you mix into it.
I tried it using the recipe shared by you, but I failed and popcorn got stick with each other. Might be I have done some mistake here. Hope this will not happen again as I am going to try it again within few days.
Now I have ordered birthday popcorn by Thatcher’s Gourmet Popcorn, I have heard their name for providing healthy and delicious gourmet popcorn.
Hi Nina! Yes, this popcorn recipe is a sticky popcorn recipe. We do mention that in the post. It’s messy but tasty! 😉 The popcorn company sounds like they make great popcorn as well. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks LIL’LUNA. Yes, it was tasty, but kids were amazed to see why the popcorns are the sticky. Yes, I mainly order flavored popcorns from Thatcher’s Gourmet Popcorns and the taste of those popcorns are ultimate.
Im getting ready to make birthday cake popcorn ball, not sure how they will taste? I’ve got a friends grandson that will be helping me with these. He wants to do the white chocolate chips balls so I think we shall do those instead. Not as much ingredients in the white chocolate chips balls. And so we will make those instead and I will let all know how they turned out.
That sounds great! I would love to know how they turned out!
Can you use marshmAllow crEme instead of marshmallows?
You sure could 🙂
I like your recipes
Awe, thank you so much!!
WOw this is the cutest popcorn i have ever seen. I don’ t have little kids in my house anymore but my teenagers loved it!
If your wanting to make your popcorn special….this is your recipe. A great addition to any party!
Turned out delicious – so chewy and everyone loved how cute it looked!
Such a perfect summer treat! This was gobbled up quickly!
Gooey & so delicious!! This was super easy to make & a great way to add even more greatness to popcorn. My family loved it!
This wouLd be A fuN birthday party take hoMe treat. I would have never thought to combine birthday cake with popcorn but It works!
This looks really fun. How long does the popcorn last. I was thinking of doing this for a graduation party and making it ahead of time. So, was wondering if I could make it a couple of days ahead.
Thank you,
I wouldn’t do it more than a couple days ahead. I haven’t made them even that far in advance, but it should still be fine. 🙂
I am curious what kind of popcorn you use for this recipe. More butter or less butter?
I think I used a lightly salted popcorn 🙂 You could use buttered too, maybe just not the really buttered one. Hope that helps 🙂
I tried out your birthday cake popcorn for my son’s birthday party, and it was a hit! I’m going to post a photo of it on my brand new website (it’s only got a few posts so far). I’ll make sure to credit you with a link so they can check out your awesomeness (they=my future fans).
I actually used light butter. It was recommended I not do it on the actual Rice Krispy site, but I learned a trick….if you do the melting part super, duper slowly, it will turn out just fine with light butter.
I’ll be using real butter next time though! I’m all finished with my light and fat free phase!
Yay!! Glad it was a hit! Thanks for sharing your changes 🙂
Do you think this can be shipped via priority mail for a gift? My niece is going to college in Colorado and would love this.
I’m honestly not sure?? Haven’t done that. One way to find out? 🙂
Does this stay clumped together (more like popcorn balls) or separate more? I’m trying to decide if I should make this for a 8 adult movie party or if it would be too awkward to self serve and share.
Either way I’ll be making this soon. Looks awesome. ????
It’s sticky, so it does stay together! Maybe have it in individual cups/bags? It will be a hit!
Hi! This looks great. I’ve been considering making it as an end of the year treat for my students. Do you have an estimate of how many “servings” this would yield?
Thanks!
It just depends on how much you are giving them. You’ll probably want to double/triple the recipe for sure. I wish I knew an exact amount, I’m sorry. They will love it, though 🙂
Hey! I have two questions. Do you think I would be able to use a different cake mix (like chocolate for example. Have you tried that?) And how messy is this? I was thinking for a game night but I don’t want people to be sticking to the pieces. Thanks in advance! 🙂
It is messy and sticky and I haven’t tried chocolate, but it sure is a hit. It might have to be the treat for after the games 🙂
Hi want to make this for my daughter sleepover, but I will like to prep and make it a day in advance and put it in clear favor bags tied up. Would it be fine.
How fun!! Yes, it should be ok 🙂 I hope they like it!
This looks so yummy! Have you made it a day or so early? How early could I make it and store it for later use? Does it get hard when it cools? Thanks so much!
I’ve made it the morning of, but not any earlier. It doesn’t get hard. I’m sure a day a head will be ok 🙂 Hope you enjoy!! Thank you!
This looks soooo tasty! We are heading out on a family RV trip and I was thinking about bringing this. Is it something you have to eat fresh, or will it harden into an inedible glob if I make and bag it in advance?
Thanks!
This would be perfect! It shouldn’t turn into a glob 🙂 Let me know what you think! Have fun!
Vanilla extract or vanilla icing? I have an upcoming 4th of July / birthday party coming up & want to make this with red, white, & blue star shaped sprinkes for the kiddos (if it makes it to the table 😉
Vanilla extract:) Haha..yes, good luck not eating it first!! It’s delish! Thanks for stopping by!!
So is that dry white cake mix? Or Cake mix with milk or water added to it?
It is the dry mix, that you add to the melted marshmallows and butter, then you’ll add the cake mix, vanilla, and milk. It is the tastiest popcorn ever!! Hope you like it!
This is such a fun recipe and perfect for family movie nights. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Of course! Thanks for stopping by! 😀
Your little daughter is just adorable. I can imagine how much she (and everyone else) loves this sweet treat!
Oh my goodness, I think I could devour this entire bowl!
Oooh, look at that gooey deliciousness! Looks fab!
It is actually my husband’s birthday this week, and i think this would make the perfect treat when he comes home from work one night!
My daughter is never going to eat plain popcorn again!! This is a great idea, and perfect for birthday parties!
This is so fun! I bet my kids would LOVE it!
This looks like such a fun recipe! My daughter’s birthday is this week and I will be surprising her with this recipe!