Bubble Gum Cake with Sour Cream

Lemon zest goes in the dry mix. Three eggs — yolks and whites separated, and this part matters. The whites get whipped to soft peaks, not stiff, which is the whole difference between a dense cake and one that actually rises.

Why You’ll Love This Bubble Gum Cake

Bakes in 42 minutes total. Maybe 40 if your oven runs hot. Not an all-day project.

The crumb is light. Airy. Works because of the separated eggs — whipped whites folded in at the end instead of just dumping everything in a bowl like a sheet cake.

Lemon zest cuts through the sweetness. Real citrus, not extract. Tastes like it has something going on instead of being flat.

Homemade from actual ingredients. Butter, eggs, lemon. The bubblegum balls are the weird part — they stay chewy even when baked, so you get that texture surprise when you bite through the cake.

Room temperature or cold. Either one works. Leftovers last three days in a container and honestly might taste better the next day.

What You Need for Bubble Gum Cake

Flour. All-purpose, unbleached. 210 grams.

Baking powder and baking soda — 7 milliliters and 1 milliliter respectively. Not interchangeable. Baking soda needs acid in the batter, which you get from the sour cream.

Salt. A quarter teaspoon. Just salt.

Three eggs. Room temperature matters here. Cold eggs don’t incorporate as well, and you need the whites to whip properly.

Sugar — granulated for the batter, 185 grams total. Divide it: 90 grams gets beaten into the egg whites, 95 grams creams with the butter. Don’t mix them up.

Unsalted butter. 100 grams, softened. Not melted. Not cold. Soft enough that your finger leaves an indent.

Vanilla extract. A teaspoon.

Almond milk and sour cream. 250 milliliters of one, 60 milliliters of the other. The sour cream adds tang and helps the cake stay moist.

Lemon zest. One lemon. Get a microplane and zest it into the flour before you mix anything else.

For the glaze: powdered coconut sugar, 120 grams. Oat milk, 25 milliliters. Mix until it’s pourable but thick.

Twelve bubblegum balls. Multicolored. They don’t bake into the cake — you press them into the glaze after you pour it, so they stay chewy.

A tube pan. 2.5 to 3 liters. Butter and flour it thoroughly because this cake needs grip to rise.

How to Make Bubble Gum Cake

Heat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius — 350 Fahrenheit. Middle rack. This takes a few minutes, so do it first.

Grease the tube pan. Seriously. Get butter or spray in every corner, every crevice, up the center tube. Then flour it. Tap out the excess. The flour sticks to the grease and keeps the cake from sticking, which matters more than it sounds.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest in a bowl. The lemon zest goes in the dry stuff because it distributes better than if you add it later. Set the bowl aside.

Separate the eggs. Whites in one bowl — a clean one, because even a tiny speck of yolk will ruin the whip. Yolks in another.

Start whipping the egg whites. They’ll get foamy, then cloudy. Keep going. When they start to hold a shape but still look soft and glossy — that’s soft peaks. That’s where you stop. This takes maybe three minutes with an electric mixer.

While the mixer’s running, gradually sprinkle in 90 grams of sugar. The whites keep whipping into soft peaks. If you add all the sugar at once they won’t whip properly. This is the meringue. Don’t overbeat it or it gets grainy and separates, and the whole thing falls apart.

In another bowl, beat the butter with the remaining 95 grams of sugar until it’s pale and fluffy. Maybe three minutes. Scrape down the sides.

Add the egg yolks one at a time. Beat after each one. The mixture should look smooth and slightly lighter.

Vanilla goes in now. One teaspoon.

Mix the almond milk and sour cream together in a measuring cup. Just stir them.

Now alternate. A third of the dry mix goes into the butter. Then half the milk mixture. Then another third of the dry. Then the rest of the milk. Then the last of the dry. Start with dry, end with dry. This keeps the gluten from overdeveloping. Don’t beat it. Just fold it in or stir until it’s combined.

Fold a quarter of the meringue into the batter first. This loosens the batter so it’s easier to fold in the rest without deflating it completely. Use a spatula. Use your hand if you want. Just fold, don’t stir.

Then fold in the rest of the meringue gently. You’re trying to keep the air in. The batter should still look a bit streaky — better to undermix than to beat all the air out.

Pour into the pan. Smooth the top. Tap the pan gently on the counter to release any huge air bubbles trapped inside.

Bake 42 minutes. Check at 38 minutes with a toothpick in the middle — it should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The cake smells sweet and buttery when it’s done. That’s your nose-check.

Cool it upside down on a rack. This sounds weird but the tube pan is designed for this — the cake hangs from the center tube as it cools, which keeps it from collapsing under its own weight. If you flip it right-side up while it’s warm it can sink. Wait until it’s completely cool.

Carefully run a knife around the outside and the center tube to loosen it. Pop it out. It should come free pretty easily if you greased and floured well.

How to Make the Glaze and Finish

Whisk together 120 grams of powdered coconut sugar and 25 milliliters of oat milk. It should be thick but pourable — like heavy cream that coats the back of a spoon.

Pour it over the cooled cake in a thin stream. Let it drip down the sides naturally. Doesn’t need to be perfect. The irregular drips look better anyway.

Before the glaze sets — and it sets fast — press the bubblegum balls into it. Space them around the top, or cluster them, whatever you want. They’ll stay chewy inside the cake even though they went through the oven. The glaze hardens around them and holds them in place.

If the kitchen is warm and the glaze isn’t setting, stick the whole cake in the fridge for maybe 20 minutes.

Serve at room temperature. The crumb stays tender. The lemon zest hits first, then the sweetness, then you bite into a chewy gum ball and it’s a whole different experience.

Bubble Gum Cake with Sour Cream

By Emma

Prep:

40 min

Cook:

42 min

Total:

1h 22min

Servings:

10 servings

Ingredients

• 210 g (1 1/3 cups) all-purpose flour unbleached
• 7 ml (1 1/2 tsp) baking powder
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) baking soda
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt
• 3 eggs separated
• 185 g (3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp) granulated sugar divided
• 100 g (1/2 cup) softened unsalted butter
• 5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract
• 250 ml (1 cup) almond milk
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) sour cream
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 120 g (3/4 cup) powdered coconut sugar
• 25 ml (1 2/3 tbsp) oat milk
• 12 large multicolored bubblegum balls

Method

1. Cake
2. 1 Start with preheating oven to 175 C (350 F) and position rack middle. Grease and flour a 2.5 to 3-liter tube pan thoroughly; flour must stick well or you risk a sticky nightmare.
3. 2 In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest for an extra zing that cuts sweetness. Set aside.
4. 3 In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites until frothy. Gradually add 90 g (3/8 cup) sugar while whipping to soft peaks — not stiff! Watch closely or meringue breaks and deflates. This mix adds lightness, crucial for that airy crumb.
5. 4 In a separate bowl, cream butter with remaining 95 g sugar till pale and fluffy. Add egg yolks one by one, beating well after each. Vanilla goes in here.
6. 5 Alternate adding dry ingredients and almond milk mixed with sour cream to butter mix; start and end with dry. Don’t overbeat. Thick batter with lemon essence shows properly mixed.
7. 6 Fold gently 1/4 of meringue into batter to loosen it, then the rest by hand folding with a spatula. No rushing or folding too hard or air escapes ruining volume.
8. 7 Pour batter into pan, smooth top. Tap pan gently to release large bubbles. Bake about 42 minutes but check after 38 minutes by inserting a toothpick—it should come out clean or with few moist crumbs. Nose tells too—sweet buttery aroma rising is sign.
9. 8 Let cake cool fully upside down on a rack to maintain shape and prevent collapse. Warm cake sticks. Cooling a few minutes in pan post-bake can stick crust.
10. 9 Pop out carefully and place on serving plate.
11. Glaze
12. 10 Mix powdered coconut sugar with oat milk in a bowl until pourable but thick enough to coat backside of a spoon.
13. 11 Pour over cooled cake in thin stream, letting it drip down sides irregularly for texture. Don’t overglaze or cake gets soggy.
14. 12 Arrange colorful bubblegum balls evenly on glaze before it sets. Adds pop and chewy surprise. This glaze is less sweet than powdered sugar plus milk and more complex flavor profile from coconut sugar makes it less cloying.
15. 13 Chill briefly if warm kitchen to set glaze.
16. 14 Serve at room temperature. Biting through soft crumb, tangy lemon hint, and chewy gum balls bursting with sweet fruit flavor contrast makes eating a playful journey.

Nutritional information

Calories

280

Protein

5g

Carbs

40g

Fat

10g

Print Recipe Save to Pinterest

Frequently Asked Questions About Bubble Gum Cake

Can I use a regular round cake pan instead of a tube pan? Not really. The tube pan’s designed so the center heat rises through, which makes the cake bake evenly. A round pan and this cake means the edges cook way before the middle. Stick with the tube pan.

What if I don’t have sour cream? Greek yogurt works. Same amount. Slightly tangier but the cake still turns out. Haven’t tried straight yogurt. Probably too thin.

Do the bubblegum balls actually stay chewy? Yeah. They’re boiled sweets — sugar and gum base. Heat makes the outside sticky, the glaze seals them, and when you bite down they’re like how they started. It’s weird in the best way.

Can I make this ahead? Two days in advance is fine. Cover it loosely. Three days and the crumb starts getting stale. Freezes okay too — wrap it well, it’ll last a month. Thaw at room temperature.

How do I know if the egg whites are whipped enough? When you pull the beaters up, the peaks should hold their shape but flop over at the top. Stiff peaks stand straight up — that’s too much. Soft peaks look glossy and cloud-like. That’s the target.

Can I substitute the lemon zest? Orange zest works. Different flavor but the brightness is there. Don’t use extract instead — it tastes artificial and you need the oil in real zest.

What if the cake sinks in the middle? Oven temperature’s probably wrong. Test it with an oven thermometer. If it’s running cold the cake won’t set fast enough and collapses as it cools. Also possible you overmixed the batter — too much gluten development and the structure can’t hold the rise.

Are the bubblegum balls food-safe? Yeah. They’re just candy. Check the package if there’s any weird additives you’re avoiding but standard ones are fine. Kids love the surprise of them so it’s a fun cake to make with them.