If making the homemade sprinkles, they MUST be made the day before as they need to dry out overnight.

Combine the powdered sugar, water, corn syrup and vanilla in a medium bowl with a whisk until there are no lumps. If coloring rainbow style, divide between 6 smaller bowls. Color each bowl with red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple food coloring respectively.

Transfer each color to a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip. Lay out 6-8 large sheets of parchment paper on your workspace. Pipe long straight lines of each color. Pipe them a bit longer than the length you plan on using so you can cut the ends to clean them up. I cut mine to 6-inches long for my cake.

Let dry uncovered at room temperature overnight.

Thoroughly whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil, lemon juice, vanilla and almond extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula just until there are no longer any streaks of flour. Add the sprinkles and fold just until combined. Do not overmix.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared tins. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool in the tins for at least 30 minutes before gently removing the cake layers to a wire rack to cool completely.

Beat the cream cheese with beaters or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until completely smooth and no lumps remain. Remove to a small bowl.

Place the room temperature butter in the stand mixer bowl or regular bowl that the cream cheese was just in. Beat on high for 3-4 minutes or until smooth and fluffy.

Add the cream cheese to the butter and beat until combined, 1-2 minutes.

Level the cake layers by slicing off any domed tops. Slice the cake layers in half to create four thin cake layers.

Place a small dollop of frosting onto your serving plate or cake board. Place the first sturdiest cake layer on top. Pipe or spoon a layer of frosting on top. Repeat with remaining cake layers.

Coat the cake in a very thin layer of frosting, smoothing the sides and top with an offset spatula or bench scraper. Chill in the freezer for at least 10 minutes to set it. This locks in any crumbs that could ruin your final coat of frosting.

When the crumb coat is set, pipe or dollop more frosting around the outside and on top. Spread evenly with an offset spatula before scraping down the outside with a bench scraper. You may need to do this several times to get a smooth look.

Cover the outside with the tall sprinkles, standing straight up. I followed the rainbow pattern (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple), using two of each color at a time.