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 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 3 cups granulated sugar (600g)
- 1 cup canola oil vegetable oil would also work (236ml)
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups+ 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (all of the flour goes into the cake batter, you will also need additional flour for preparing the cake pan) (516g)
- 4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ cup milk (355ml)
- 9 egg whites room temperature preferred
- ½ cup sprinkles* (80g)
Buttercream
- 1 lb unsalted butter softened to room temperature (453g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 cups powdered sugar (750g)
- 6 Tbsp heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons LorAnn Princess emulsion or vanilla extract
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) 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 to the butter mixture, 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 (175C) 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
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Recommended Kitchen Tools
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Recipe originally published 4/13/16 — text updated 4/13/17
Kelly
Hello!
When making the icing, do you use a sifter first for the powder sugar and measure from there? I’ve made a similar icing and it was way too sweet for my liking.
Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Always unsifted unless otherwise specified. If you’re looking for a less sweet icing, feel free to try our stabilized whipped cream frosting, German buttercream, or our ermine frosting. Enjoy, Kelly! 🙂
Erin
I just made this for my daughter’s birthday. It was beautiful, delicious and a HUGE hit with the family!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy everyone loved it, Erin! Happy birthday to your daughter ❤️
Misty
Hi! My cake keeps getting big holes/craters in them. Despite banging the tin before putting it in the oven, it still happens! Any tips?
Sam
Hi Misty! I would not bang the tin before putting in the oven, I never do that with this cake and don’t experience holes/craters, and since the batter is a bit more delicate due to the egg whites, banging the tins could actually cause some deflation and even contribute to the tunnels. I would say the most important thing would be to make sure the batter is delicately but thoroughly combined (by hand) to be completely cohesive before it is transferred to the oven. And personally I would skip the banging. I hope that helps!
Jasmine
Hi! I cant wait to make this for my niece’s birthday at the end of the month! I’m curious if you measures the flour using the “spoon and level” method? I never even knew that was a thing up until a few years ago! Figured it’s better to check, so I get the consistency just right 🙂
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jasmine! We actually cover this topic in our How to Measure Flour post! If you take a look at that, you’ll see that our team actually prefers to use a kitchen scale. If we aren’t using that method, we’re definitely spooning and leveling! 🙂 We hope your niece loves this cake ❤️
Rachel
I only have 1 8 inch cake pan. Can the batter sit out on the counter while the other bake??
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yes, that should be fine. Enjoy, Rachel!
Renuka
8th hi. Was wondering is this cake best to make the day of birthday or a day before . And if it made the day of how long can you let the cake sit out or does it need to be refrigerated and by freezer do you mean freezer or can it be refrigerator? Thanks can’t wait to make this!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Renuka! We recommend keeping in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. If storing longer than that, store in an airtight container in the fridge (just keep in mind the fridge can dry out cakes). And yes, after crumb coating, you’ll need to put it in the freezer before adding the final layer of frosting. We hope that helps! 🙂
Jodie
I’ve made this recipe before and it’s so good! I forget how much batter it makes though, would it be enough to put into 4-8” pans to make a 4 layer cake?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jodie! If you want to make 4 layers this cake should be fine for that. You will just divide that batter evenly among four pans. The layers will just be slightly thinner. You will want to keep an eye on the bake time as well.
If you want thicker layers, you will need to make an extra batch, dividing the ingredient list in 1/3. 😊
Iver
Can I use carton egg whites? If so, do you know the gram equivalent to the 9 egg whites listed in your recipe?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Iver! We tend to not recommend the egg whites in a carton because they can be difficult to whip to stiff peaks and yield very mixed results. If you do want to try it, a large egg white is typically about 35 grams. We do have a vanilla cake recipe that uses whole eggs if you would prefer to try that one! Enjoy!
Rachel
Hi there! Would using the batter for cupcakes work? Obviously they will probably be done st different times, but not sure if anything in the batter would need to change.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Rachel! It will work; they won’t quite dome as nicely, but they will still be tasty. This recipe will yield about 45 cupcakes, and you will want to bake them on 350 for 18 minutes. 🙂
Amanda
I have been trying out different funfetti cake recipes to try and find the perfect recipe for my son’s birthday cake. This cake is perfect! It’s my tradition to bake a funfetti cake for my son each birthday (he will be 3 this year) and I am so glad to finally have found the perfect recipe. I will be making this for years to come!
Sam
I’m so, so happy to hear this, Amanda! Thank you so much for letting me know how this recipe worked for you, it means a lot to me that you will be using this for your son’s birthday!! <3
Vanessa
So I just made this last yesterday for my daughter’s 10th birthday, what a hit!!! I followed the recipe to the T and it can out so moist and fluffy! Everyone… daughter, friends, and adults absolutely loved it. I even had to cut extra slices to go per request 😁I will never buy boxed confetti cake ever again🤗
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy to hear that everyone loved it, Vanessa! From-scratch always tastes best ❤️
Allie
Do you develop your recipes using weighted ingredients and then convert to measuring cup type measurements or vise versa? I prefer recipes that are by weight vs volume and I’m always wondering how the publisher originally calculated the recipe. PS I love this cake and I’ve made it probably a dozen or so times both by weight and cups/spoons. <3
Sam
Hi Allie! I always personally use weights now when developing my recipes, I’ve found it’s much more accurate (I actually have a post on why everyone should use a kitchen scale!). Over the years I have developed standards for my website as well (1 cup of sugar is 200g, 1 cup of all-purpose flour is 125g, etc.) but I personally always test using weights to be accurate.So glad you have enjoyed the cake! 🙂
Laura
Hey, just wondering if the milk and cream should be room temperature or if straight from the fridge is fine?
Sam
Hi Laura! You’ll really be fine either way, but when making a cake it is ideal if all of the ingredients are at room temperature. For the heavy cream, that can be cold. Enjoy!
Lindsay
Hi Sam,
I was wondering if baking times and/or temperature would change if making this recipe into cupcakes. My little is going to love your cake!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Lindsay! They should cook for about 17 minutes as cupcakes. Enjoy! 🙂
Meghan
I don’t have the option to reply to Lindsey, so I am replying to Sam… but I trying to find out how many cupcakes were made in one batch…
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Meghan! This recipe will probably make about 45 cupcakes. 🙂