Birthday Cake Popcorn
Birthday Cake Popcorn is a festive alternative (or addition) to birthday cake. It is a simple and pretty recipe for your next birthday celebration.

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to The Endless Meal
Happy birthday to you!

Can you believe that The Endless Meal turned a year old on September 14th? Or it would have if it were a real thing.

My first idea to celebrate this one year milestone was to recreate the first recipe I posted. Or more specifically, re-take the photo. It's cute, in an omg-I-can't-believe-I-thought-that-was-good-enough-to-post-online kind of way. I'm a little embarrassed to share it with you (I'm cringing a little inside) but if you're interested in seeing the first post ever on The Endless Meal, check out the Campfire Roasted Stuffed Red Peppers.
I don't have much of a sweet tooth but my fingers (and camera) were covered in sweet, sticky, birthday cake deliciousness throughout the whole photoshoot. If you are a fan of birthday cake you will love this.
And if you have a furry friend whose birthday you want to celebrate, try making this dog birthday cake!

Want more birthday cake goodness? Check out:
Want more delicious popcorn? Check out:

Birthday Cake Popcorn
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 6 cups popped popcorn
- ½ bag marshmallows
- ¾ cup vanilla cake mix
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2-4 tablespoons milk, can be dairy-free milk
- Optional: sprinkles
Instructions
- Place popped popcorn in a large bowl and remove any un-popped kernels.6 cups popped popcorn
- Place marshmallows in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir frequently until marshmallows have melted. Add cake mix and stir till well combined. Stir in the vanilla then stir in the milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it is a pouring (but not runny) consistency.½ bag marshmallows, ¾ cup vanilla cake mix, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 2-4 tablespoons milk
- Pour melted marshmallows over popcorn and stir to combine. If using, top with sprinkles.Optional: sprinkles
Popcorn Balls
- To make these into popcorn balls, wet your hands lightly then scoop up a small amount of popcorn. Gently form into the shape of a ball. Re-wet hands between each popcorn ball to prevent the popcorn from sticking to your hands.
Sounds good.
Do you think this would work with other flavors of cake mix?
I think it would!
Hello, is there a drying time after you mix the popcorn with the mixed marshmallows? I’m planning on making some for my daughters team today but I need to time it right. Thanks! š
Nope! You’ll be able to eat them right away or save them for later. š
This sounds very yummy. Have you ever tried using rice chex instead of popcorn? With all of the their great recipes for the puppy chow variations this may be good too???
I’ve never tried Rice Chex before but I would definitely give it a shot. I bet it would be tasty š
Hi Kristen,
I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest. Looks yummy. Do you think you could make it with Puffcorn as well, or just popcorn? Can’t wait to try it. Thank you!
Hi Jennifer,
I’m not sure what Puffcorn is! Is it similar to popcorn?
If you try it with Puffcorn let me know how it turns out š
Do I/we use microwaved seasoned buttered popcorn or make fresh popcorn kernals in a paperbag with no extra seasonings?
Hi Kathy,
I popped the popcorn on the stovetop for this recipe since I don’t have a microwave. I’m pretty sure that plain microwavable popcorn would work too though š
Such pretty popcorn! I love new ways to eat old favorites!
Love this! Thinking of making it for my daughter’s bday party. How far ahead do you think I could make this?
Hi Elizabeth,
You can definitely make this a day or two before her birthday.
Hope her birthday party is a ton of fun!!
Perfect, thank you!
Hi there! This popcorn looks amazing! I’m wanting to make it but I’m wondering what size your bag of marshmallows is…or how many cups of marshmallows are needed? Do you use mini marshmallows or regular?
Hi Wanda,
I used regular marshmallows, but mini ones would work too. Iām not sure how big the bag I used was but Iāve only ever seen one size of bag. Do marshmallows come in different sized bags where you live?
Iāll have a look at the marshmallows next time Iām at the grocery store and let you know k!
If I had to guess I would say roughly 5-6 cups ?
Does the cake mix fully cook in the marshmellow mixtue? We are thinking of doing this for our son’s 5ht birthday?
Hi Apurva,
The cake mix is really just for flavouring. Just add the dry cake mix and follow the recipe. Since youāre not adding any of the other cake ingredients it does not need to cook. Hope this makes sense now!
Happy birthday to your son!!
Do you make cake batter or use just straight cake mix?
Hi Hannah,
Just use the dry cake batter And thank you for asking for clarification. Iāll put that in the recipe now so that it is clear to everyone!
Hello! I found your recipe somewhere on notcot and it looks so cute and easy to make. I was wondering: Your recipe calls for “2-4 teaspoons milk” but then you have say to add milk by “tablespoon”. What’s the proper measurement?
Hey Kellie,
Clearly I had eaten too much birthday cake popcorn when I was writing this recipe The correct measurement is 2-4 tablespoons. Going to change that now!
Wow this looks so fun!
This looks so fun! Congrats on one year and a very happy birthday to The Endless Meal! I’ve really enjoyed reading it!
Thank you so much, Riley. Means a lot that you say that š
This is too cute! I love this idea. And happy blogaversary! My 4th is coming up next week! Time sure does go by quickly š
It’s crazy how quickly time flies by. Happy early blogaversary to you too!!
These look WILD!!! And so easy to make! Can’t wait to try this!! Thanks for sharing. š
No problem at all, Jeni! I hope you love it as much as I did š
Happy Birthday to The Endless Meal aka blogiversary! Yaaaaay!
Thank you so much, Rachael!
What a great idea! I think I will try this one for my daughter’s next birthday.
When I was taking the photos all I could think was that this would be perfect for a little girl’s birthday. Hope she loves it!
What a cute idea! I love how colorful this looks. This screams “celebration time”! Happy Birthday to The Endless Meal!
I always love an excuse to celebrate! Thank you š
This looks sooooo yummy…..Happy Birthday to you! I want to make this right now — down to the store to buy a cake ox
Thank you so much!
Happy, happy, happy birthday! Great way to eat popcorn. So colorful and pretty looking.
Thank you so much, Vita! It is hard to believe it has been a whole year already š
This looks yummy and so cute! Am I just totally blind or is the cake mix missing from the recipe? Do you add it in with the melted marshmallows?
Hey Kari,
Thank you so much for pointing that out! I’ve fixed the recipe now so it should make more sense now š
I’m a bit confused still. Does the cake mix get cooked while stirring in the marshmallows in the sauce pan or should i stir in the baked cake crumbs in to the marshmallows.
please let me know I’m planning to make this for this sunday jan 14th 2013
Hi Reena,
Oh no, donāt bake the cake! Just stir in the powder with the marshmallows ?