Rainbow Sprinkle Bread with Birthday Cake Crumb Topping

Our 6-year old granddaughter spends almost every Friday night with us and has since she was born.  I do most of the work of taking care of her, playing with her, bathing her, etc. (with no complaints!) However, she and her Papa have a valued Friday night tradition, that of a scoop of ice cream after dinner, with caramel sauce and sprinkles, along with a few giggles.  For some reason, no one does this as good as Papa!  I'm tasked with making sure we always have the necessary supplies, especially the sprinkles.

The latest Bake From Scratch magazine has an article on baked goods with sprinkles. As I had all the ingredients (including the sprinkles!) I made this recipe one afternoon. It's very reminiscent of a pound cake, just not as heavy.  It's quite good! I think it would make an excellent cake for strawberry shortcake. My husband was gone for the weekend so I ate a slice then sent the rest of the cake home with my son and his family.  It's too tempting to have such a nice treat laying around my kitchen! I've added rainbow sprinkles to my grocery list as the recipe used almost an entire large jar.  I'll be in real trouble if there are no sprinkles for Friday night!

Rainbow Sprinkle Bread with Birthday Cake Crumb Topping

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract ***
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles
Birthday Cake Crumb Topping (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with baking spray with flour; line with parchment paper, letting excess extend over sides of pan.  Spray pan again.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt.  Reduce mixer speed to low, and gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in sprinkles. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Sprinkle with Birthday Cake Crumb Topping.

Bake until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Using excess parchment as handles, remove cake from pan, and let cool completely on a wire rack.

*** Clear vanilla extract makes a difference in the color of the bread.  I used my homemade extract and the bread was still a nice white color.

Birthday Cake Crumb Topping

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles
1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.  Using your fingers, work in cold butter until mixture has a sandy texture. Add sprinkles and vanilla, and mix with your fingers until small pebble-size crumbs remain. Refrigerate for up to 3 days.