A light and fluffy, made from scratch funfetti cake (sometimes also called confetti cake)! This soft, snow-white cake is speckled with brightly colored sprinkles and iced with a sweet buttercream frosting — it’s the perfect homemade birthday cake!
If this funfetti cake looks familiar, you caught me, I shared it exactly one year ago in celebration of the first unofficial birthday of Sugar Spun Run.
Well, it’s been two years now since I almost completely deleted this whole website. Instead, I dug in full-force and have spent almost every spare second of my time developing and photographing (and now videoing) recipes to share with you.
As a brief review before we get to this favorite layered funfetti cake of mine, I originally bought the name, Sugar Spun Run, in 2012 and published a few posts super casually, photographed via iPhone-only, and focused on… whatever caught my attention that particular day. It was maintained sporadically, sloppily, and definitely without intention.
So in April of 2015 when I got the bill to renew my website, I almost canceled everything. I was literally one button-click away from doing so… and then decided maybe I’d give it one more shot.
Well, here we are, nearly 250 recipes later with a bright cheerful funfetti cake to show for it.
It’s now been two years of late, powdered-sugar filled nights, of re-making recipes over and over again (often only to decide that they really were just right the first time), of website code-induced headaches, and of desperately attempting to solve the Rubik’s cube that is my camera. Well over 200 lbs of butter have made their way through my kitchen, and my KitchenAid has become my near-constant companion.
And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
So, while today can’t rightly be called my blog’s “birthday”, I wanted to commemorate this two year anniversary anyway. Today I’m celebrating Sugar Spun Run’s Unbirthday, and slicing up this confetti-colored, sprinkle stuffed, 3-layer, from-scratch Funfetti cake just for the occasion. So let’s get down to it.
How do you make Funfetti cake?
Funfetti cake is typically a fluffy white cake with sprinkles mixed into the batter.
Light and fluffy, this cake is made with a combination of butter (for flavor) and oil (for texture and moisture). Developing this recipe took weeks, and the ingredients and their ratios were calculated very precisely and carefully.
For maximum fluffy softness, this recipe calls for plenty of egg whites (no egg yolks). You’ll whip these separately with an electric hand mixer until they reach stiff peaks (that just means that when you lift a whisk straight out of the whites, the peaks stay and don’t recede back into themselves) and then fold them with a spatula into the cake batter. This is easy to do– it takes only about 5 minutes– and is critical for a light and fluffy white cake (don’t get me started on yellow funfetti cakes — there should be no such thing).
I used a buttercream that I flavored with a new emulsion that I found at my local cake shop (see notes in recipe), which accented the frosting with notes of citrus and almond. This kept the buttercream from being overbearingly sweet, but didn’t go over as well with Zach, who loathes lemon.
Vanilla extract (or any other that you prefer) can also be used, of course, and I included notes in the recipe.
Today, I’m cutting up this carefully-crafted funfetti cake into thick slices in an Unbirthday celebration, and I’m so glad that you are here to join me.
Thank you so much for following along, for taking the time to read my posts (or just look at the pictures, that’s OK too), comment, e-mail, and follow me on social media (your support as I tackle video on Facebook has been so helpful).
This space would be nothing without you coming back day after day, and I know I wouldn’t have made it this far without so many kind, encouraging comments (when I get a comment telling me that you tried a recipe and loved it, it makes my whole day).
Sugar Spun Run is here to stay.
Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. –Earl Nightingale
Funfetti Cake from Scratch (and an UnBirthday)
Ingredients
- 9 Tbsp butter softened
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 cup canola oil vegetable oil would also work
- 4 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups+ 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 4 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cup milk
- 9 egg whites room temperature preferred
- 1/2 cup sprinkles*
Buttercream
- 1 lb unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 6 Tbsp heavy cream
- 2 tsp LorAnn Princess emulsion or vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 3 8-inch round cake pans by generously greasing and flouring. Be sure to shake out excess flour.
- In stand mixer, beat butter on medium-low speed until creamy.
- Add sugar and oil and beat until all ingredients are well-combined and creamy.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and then stir in your vanilla.
- In separate bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Measure out your milk.
- With mixer on medium speed, gradually alternate between adding the flour mixture and the milk, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Stir until each one is almost completely combined before adding the next.
- Pause occasionally to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
- In separate bowl, combine your egg whites and, with a hand-mixer on high-speed, beat until stiff peaks form.
- Using a spatula, gently fold your egg whites and sprinkles into your batter. Take care to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so that ingredients are well-combined, and take care not to over-mix.
- Evenly divide cake batter into prepared pans.
- Bake on 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake layer comes out clean or with few crumbs (should not be wet). For best results, rotate your cake pans halfway through baking to ensure even baking.
- Cakes will be a light golden brown when done baking.
- Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Run a butterknife around the inside rim of each pan and invert each onto a cooling rack.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- I used this technique from I Am Baker to frost my cake. If you intend to use this technique as well it requires a lot of icing for the top and I recommend increasing this recipe by 50%. If you are just doing a plain covering that will not be needed.
- In stand mixer, beat butter on medium-speed until creamy.
- Add salt and beat again for about 20 seconds.
- Gradually, about 1 cup at a time, add powdered sugar, waiting until each cup is completely mixed before adding the next cup.
- Tbsp at a time, add the heavy cream on medium-high speed, waiting until each addition is well-combined before adding the next 2 Tbsp.
- Add flavoring (vanilla extract or emulsion). and stir on medium-high for 30 seconds.
- Transfer one layer of your cooled cake to serving platter. Use frosting to ice the top. Add the next layer, ice the top of that. Add your third layer on top and ice the top, and then do a thin "crumb coating" around the entire cake.
- Transfer to freezer for 10-15 minutes, then remove and apply a clean, thick coat of frosting around the entire cake.
Notes
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase anything through these links I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please view the disclosure policy for more information.
Recommended Kitchen Tools
You may also like:
Recipe originally published 4/13/16 — text updated 4/13/17
Jill says
Can i substitute cake flour for AP flour?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Jill! I have not tried it personally, however, others have and have had success. I hope that you enjoy the cake. 🙂
JD says
I am planning on making this cake this weekend. 3 cups of sugar seems like a lot. Is it possible to use less? Does the cake come out very sweet? Thanks!
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, JD! I am happy that you came across my recipe. Everyone has a different level of sweet tolerance and after many rounds of testing, I developed this recipe to mine. You are welcome to make your own adjustments as you see fit. Others who have tried this funfetti cake have enjoyed it and I hope that you do too! 🙂
JD says
Thank you! Can’t wait to try it!
Vanesa says
Awesome! Thank you! You inspire me
Sugar Spun Run says
You are too kind, Vanesa! Thank you for following my blog, I appreciate it! 🙂
Ashley says
Hello!
Do you know how many cupcakes this would make and how long to bake them?
Genevieve says
Can you substitute with buttermilk for the dairy. I want this cake to taste different from the Classic Vanilla cake.
Sam says
Sure you can substitute buttermilk for the milk.
Genevieve says
Can you make a Low Fat Vanilla cake including water in the recipe?
Sam says
I’m not sure how that would turn out but I don’t think I would recommend it.
Ariana says
I need help with mine. I must have done something wrong. I followed the recipe and my cake tastes like cornbread 🙁
Sugar Spun Run says
Oh no, Ariana! I am so sorry that you are experiencing issues with your cake. It should be light and fluffy, not at all like cornbread. Did you happen to use any substitutes? I also wonder if you could have baked it too long or if your oven temperature runs high. Have you tested the oven to make sure it is accurate? I am happy to help troubleshoot. 🙂
Ariana says
So yes, I did use almond milk instead of regular milk. It wasn’t baking at 35 min mark so I did leave it for longer. I wonder if the almond milk made it more watery. The cake looks fine, it just tastes like cornbread.
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Ariana! The almond milk might have been the problem. I haven’t had much luck substituting with almond milk myself. Some say that when they substituted with almond milk it actually needed less time to bake so it could be that the cake may have baked too long. Regardless, I am sorry that you experienced issues. I hope that you give this recipe another chance. 🙂
Liz says
This is the perfect birthday cake. I have been reading this recipe for a few weeks now and finally decided to try it for my brother’s birthday this past weekend. It turned out wonderfully even though I made it in 3 9″ pans. The cakes baked so evenly that I did not have to level them at all before assembling them. Wow! Cannot wait for another birthday so I can make this again.
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that the birthday cake came together perfectly, Liz, and that you enjoyed the cake. I appreciate you using my recipe. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Samantha says
Hello! How many cups of batter does this make? Thank you 🙂
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Samantha! I haven’t measured it that way before, however, It is enough to fill (1/2 way) 3 8″ pans. If I were to guess, 6-7 cups of batter. 🙂
Shawna says
Would this recipe work for a 13X9 pam?
Sam says
Hi Shawna! You can bake it in a 13 x 9, but you are going to have too much batter. 🙂
Amanda says
I’m excited to try this recipe for my daughters birthday! As far as the frosting directions, for the crumb coating on the side of the cake did you bake a small amount of batter separately to use for crumbs or shave off a portion of cake from one of the layers? I’ve seen this technique in videos, just don’t want to mess it up! Also, if using your cream cheese frosting instead of buttercream is the crumb coating necessary? Thanks so much, I’ve had great success with so many of your recipes!
Sam says
Hi Amanda! A crumb coating is a thin layer of frosting that catches any crumbs, you don’t need to make any extra batter. It helps to give the outer layer of frosting a cleaner appearance. I would recommend the crumb coating with any type of frosting to get a really nice finish. 🙂
Stephanie says
What would you recommend for baking time and temp if doing this recipe as cupcakes?
Sarah says
Hi! Just curious as to the butter in the cake recipe. I assume it’s salted since it’s not specified but just wanted to know for sure!
Thanks!!!
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Sarah! I recommend using unsalted butter. 🙂
Melissa says
What kind of food coloring do you use to get such vibrant colors? I made this today and it turned out great but I love your colors.
Cherie carley says
I Love to bake from scratch. And made this for my son in laws birthday and when I tested it.
It was great ! Loved it!
Thank you
Cherie
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you so much, Cherie! I am so glad that the funfetti cake was enjoyed by your family. I hope that your son in law had a wonderful birthday. 🙂