Cotton Candy Drip Cake

Vanilla Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease four 6-inch round cake pans with pan release or butter then line bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Dust cake pans with flour, then tap out excess and set aside.
2. Combine cake flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in bowl of stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl).
3. Blend on low speed for a few seconds using paddle attachment.
4. With mixer turned on low speed, add one small (1-2 tablespoon) chunk of softened butter at a time allowing butter to mix with dry ingredients until it resembles course sand before adding another piece of butter. (If needed, you can use your hands to break up any large chunks of butter.)
5. Stir together 4 ounces of milk with vegetable oil and add to mixing bowl.
6. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Be sure to set your timer and mix this for entire 2 minutes. Then, scrape bowl to ensure there are no lumps of flour.
7. Whisk together eggs and cotton candy flavoring with remaining 6 ounces milk.
8. Turn mixer on low speed and slowly pour in half of egg mixture. Once it is blended, stop mixer and scrape down bowl.
9. Turn mixer back on low speed and slowly add remaining egg mixture. Mix just until combined.
10. Pour 3 cups of batter into another bowl. Stir 5 drops of pink food coloring into one bowl of batter. Mix only until combined. Then, stir 4 drops of blue and 1 drop of purple food coloring into other bowl of batter.
11. Spoon dollops of pink and blue cake batter into cake pans, alternating colors as you fill pan. Each pan will get 1 1/2 cups or 12 ounces of batter in each.
12. Bake cakes on middle rack of oven for 30-36 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center of each cake comes out clean. Rotate pans after cakes bake for 24 minutes to ensure cakes bake evenly.
13. Remove cakes from hot oven and tap once on counter. This will release air and will prevent too much shrinking.
14. Set pans on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then remove cakes from pans and set them directly on cooling rack. Allow cakes to cool completely.
15. Before frosting, wrap cooled cakes in plastic wrap and place in a freezer for about an hour. This will make it easier to frost and stack cakes.

Cotton Candy Frosting

1. For Cotton Candy Frosting, beat butter in a stand mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
2. Add shortening and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Scrape down bowl and add cotton candy flavoring. Beat until well combined.
4. Sift powdered sugar over butter mixture. Start by mixing on low speed then increase speed to medium and beat until combined.
5. With mixer running, add two tablespoons of heavy whipping cream and beat until creamy. If desired, add more cream a little at a time until frosting is easily spreadable.

Pink & Blue Ganache Drips

1. Pour 2 ounces of pink candy melts into a small bowl and add 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream and 2 teaspoons corn syrup.
2. Microwave on high power for 25 seconds, let sit in microwave for 1-2 minutes. Remove and stir until melted and smooth. If not all melted, heat on high power for 10-second increments, stirring after each until melted.
3. Repeat process with blue candy melts and remaining cream and corn syrup.
4. Allow pink and blue ganache to cool and thicken. The ganache should be thin enough to drip but not so thin that it just runs off side of cake. It might take up to 30 minutes to cool enough. If it gets too cool, just reheat it to thin it out.

Assemble Cake

1. Cut domed tops off cakes. Set one cake on a small cake board.
2. Spread a 1/4-inch thick layer of frosting over cake.
3. Stack another cake on top and repeat until all four cakes are stacked.
4. Frost top and sides of cake.
5. Divide remaining frosting into two bowls and color one pink and other blue.
6. Spread dabs of each color all over white cake.
7. Smooth out sides of cake allowing pink and blue to blend with white. Reserve any frosting you scrape off cake and place it into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Set aside.
8. Use a spoon, a pastry bag, or a squeeze bottle to drip blue and pink ganache over top edge of cake, alternating colors. Make drips varying lengths.
9. Let ganache dry for 15 minutes before adding decorations to top of cake.
10. Pipe leftover cotton candy swirled frosting over top edge of cake.
11. To decorate, sprinkle cotton candy crystals around bottom edge of cake.
12. Just before serving, top cake with cotton candy and lollipops.