Let’s get this fun Circus Animal Cookie Cake party started! First, prepare your oven and pans. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans thoroughly. Set them aside.

Now, let’s ‘doctor’ that cake mix for extra flavor and moisture. In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment), combine the vanilla cake mix powder, eggs, vegetable oil, milk, sour cream, clear vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed, until everything is well combined and smooth.

Spoon out about one-third of the prepared batter into a separate, smaller bowl. Add a couple of small drops of pink gel food dye to this smaller portion. Stir well to combine. Add more tiny drops of dye and stir until you reach your desired shade of pink – remember, gel colors are concentrated, so start small!

Now for the marbling! Alternate spooning dollops of the white batter and the pink batter into the prepared cake pans. Try to distribute the colors somewhat randomly. Once all the batter is in the pans, take a butter knife or a skewer and gently swirl it through the batters just a few times to create a marbled effect. Don’t over-swirl, or the colors will just blend together. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans.

Bake in the preheated oven for 28-35 minutes. To check for doneness, lightly touch the center – it shouldn’t jiggle excessively. Insert a toothpick into the center; if it comes out clean, the cake is done. Let the cakes cool in the pans on wire racks for about 10-15 minutes before inverting them onto the racks to cool completely.

While the cakes cool, make the fluffy frosting. Ensure your butter is properly softened (let it sit out for about 30-60 minutes). In a large bowl using an electric mixer (or stand mixer with paddle), beat the softened butter on high speed for about 3-5 minutes until it’s very pale, light, and creamy. Scrape down the bowl frequently. This step incorporates air for a fluffier frosting.

Turn the mixer speed down to low. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, about 2-3 cups at a time, mixing on low until just combined after each addition to avoid a sugar storm. As the frosting starts to thicken, alternate adding the heavy whipping cream and the vanilla and almond extracts along with the remaining powdered sugar. Mix on low until everything is incorporated.

Once all ingredients are added, increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for another 1-2 full minutes. This incorporates extra air, making the frosting light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl well.

Separate out about 2 to 2 ½ cups of the finished white frosting into a separate bowl. Add 2 small drops of pink gel food dye to this portion and mix well. Add more dye, drop by drop, until you achieve a pink color similar to the cake batter or the cookie coating. Transfer all of this pink frosting into a large piping bag or a large Ziploc bag. Snip off the corner or tip, creating an opening about ½-inch wide. Set both white and pink frostings aside briefly.

Time to assemble! If your cooled cake layers have domed tops, use a long serrated knife to carefully slice off the domes (“torte” them) to create flat surfaces for stable stacking. Place a small dollop of white frosting onto your cake plate or stand (this helps anchor the cake). Place the first cake layer, cut-side up, onto the plate.

Using the piping bag filled with pink frosting, pipe a spiral or concentric circles of frosting starting from the outside edge and working your way into the center, covering the entire layer. Use an offset spatula to gently smooth the piped frosting, filling in any gaps.

Take about 1 ½ cups of Circus Animal Cookies and place them in a large Ziploc bag. Use a rolling pin to crush them into small pieces (smaller than a dime is good; some variety in size is fine). Sprinkle about two-thirds of these crushed cookies evenly over the pink frosting layer. Take some of the remaining pink frosting from the piping bag and pipe a light layer over the cookies, then gently spread it with the offset spatula. This helps the next layer adhere. You should still have a little pink frosting left in the bag.

Carefully place the second cake layer on top, ideally inverting it so the flat bottom of the cake becomes the smooth top surface of your assembled cake. Press down very gently. Now, apply a thin layer of the white frosting all over the top and sides of the cake. This is the “crumb coat” – it doesn’t need to be pretty, its job is to trap any loose crumbs. Use your offset spatula to make it relatively smooth.

Refrigerate the crumb-coated cake for at least 15 minutes to allow the frosting to firm up. Remove the cake from the fridge. Apply about ½ cup of the white frosting to the top of the cake and smooth it into a nice, even layer. (The recipe mentions using Viva paper towels and a fondant smoother here for an ultra-smooth finish, a specific technique – if unfamiliar, simply aim for smooth with your offset spatula or bench scraper).

Frost the sides of the cake with the remaining white frosting, working from bottom to top. The recipe suggests adding a few dots of the leftover pink frosting randomly onto the white frosting on the sides before smoothing, to create a subtle ombre or marbled effect when you smooth it out. Use your icing smoother or large offset spatula held vertically against the side, rotating the cake stand, to smooth the sides and remove excess frosting. Smooth the top edge where the side meets the top for a clean finish.

Take the remaining crushed Circus Animal Cookies (about 1/3 of what you crushed). Gently press these crumbs onto the bottom edge of the cake all the way around. You might need to apply a little extra frosting just along the bottom edge first to help them stick.

Now, make the ganache drip. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the white chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons of the heavy whipping cream. Microwave at 50% power for 1 minute. Remove and stir thoroughly until smooth. White chocolate can be finicky; if it’s not fully melted, microwave in additional 15-30 second bursts at 50% power, stirring well after each, until completely smooth. Stir in 1 to 2 additional tablespoons of heavy whipping cream, one at a time, until the ganache is fluid enough to drip nicely down the sides but isn’t watery.

Add a couple of small drops of pink gel food dye to the warm ganache and whisk until smooth and evenly colored, reaching your desired shade. Let the ganache cool for a few minutes until it’s barely warm but still fluid.

To apply the drip, you can use a spoon or a piping bag/squeeze bottle. Carefully apply dollops or streams of ganache around the top edge of the chilled cake, letting it drip down the sides naturally. Control the drip length by the amount applied. Once the drips are done, pour the remaining ganache onto the center of the cake top and gently spread it out to the edges using a small offset spatula. Immediately add sprinkles over the wet ganache as desired. Allow the ganache to set for about 15-20 minutes (chilling speeds this up) until slightly firmed before slicing.