A light and fluffy, made from scratch ย funfetti cake (sometimes also called confetti cake)! ย 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. ย 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 originallyย bought the name, Sugar Spun Run,ย inย 2012 and published a few postsย super casually, photographed viaย iPhone-only, and focused on… whatever caught my attention that particular day. ย It was maintainedย sporadically, sloppily, and definitely without intention.
So in April of 2015 when I got the bill to renew my website, I almost canceled everything. ย 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,ย nearly 250 recipes later with a bright cheerful funfetti cake to show for it.
It’s now been twoย years of late, powdered-sugar filled nights, of re-making recipes over and over again (often only to decide that they really were just rightย the first time), of website code-induced headaches, and ofย desperately attempting to solve the Rubik’s cube that is my camera.ย 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, whileย today can’t rightly be called my blog’s “birthday”, I wanted to commemorate this twoย year anniversary anyway. ย Today I’m celebrating Sugar Spun Run’s Unbirthday, and slicing up this confetti-colored, sprinkle stuffed, 3-layer, from-scratchย Funfetti cake just for the occasion. ย 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). ย Developing this recipe took weeks, andย 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). ย 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 spatulaย into the cake batter. ย This is easy to do– it takes only about 5 minutes– and isย critical for a light and fluffyย 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. ย 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 cakeย into thickย 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 postsย (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 withoutย you coming back day after day, and I know I wouldn’tย 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 Runย is here to stay.
Never give up on a dreamย just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. ย The time will pass anyway. –Earl Nightingale
Funfetti Cake from Scratch (and an UnBirthday)
Ingredients
- 9 Tablespoons (127 g) unsalted butter softened
- 3 cups (600 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (236 ml) neutral cooking oil Use canola, vegetable, or avocado oil
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups+ 2 Tbsp (516 g) all-purpose flour (all of the flour goes into the cake batter, you will also need additional flour for preparing the cake pan)
- 4 ยฝ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ยฝ teaspoons salt
- 1 ยฝ cup (355 ml) milk
- 9 egg whites room temperature preferred
- ยฝ cup (80 g) sprinkles*
Buttercream
- 1 lb (453 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ยผ teaspoon salt
- 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar
- 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.9 Tablespoons (127 g) unsalted butter
- Add sugar and oil and beat until all ingredients are well-combined and creamy.3 cups (600 g) granulated sugar, 1 cup (236 ml) neutral cooking oil
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and then stir in your vanilla.4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In separate bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, and salt.4 cups+ 2 Tbsp (516 g) all-purpose flour, 4 ยฝ teaspoons baking powder, 1 ยฝ teaspoons salt
- Measure out your milk.1 ยฝ cup (355 ml) 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.9 egg whites
- 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.ยฝ cup (80 g) sprinkles*
- 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.1 lb (453 g) unsalted butter
- Add salt and beat again for about 20 seconds.ยผ teaspoon salt
- Gradually, about 1 cup at a time, add powdered sugar, waiting until each cup is completely mixed before adding the next cup.6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar
- 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.6 Tbsp heavy cream
- Add flavoring (vanilla extract or emulsion). and stir on medium-high for 30 seconds.2 teaspoons LorAnn Princess emulsion or vanilla extract
- 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
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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.
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Recipe originally published 4/13/16 — text updated 4/13/17
Carrie
Hi. Just wondering what kind of milk you used?
Sam
whole milk. enjoy! ๐
Jamie
Do you think using cake flour instead of AP flour would work in this recipe (and in general, can you substitute one for the other)?
Sam
Hi Jamie! I do think that would work, though I have not made this cake with cake flour. Generally you would use 1 cup + 2 Tbsp cake flour for 1 cup of all purpose. I hope that helps!
Shelby
Is it ok to use buttermilk instead of regular milk for the cake
Sam
Yup! Enjoy ๐
Natalie
My sisters boyfriend is a diabetic but he loves funfetti cakes! We wanted to make him a sugar free or reduced sugar cake ๐ have you ever tried this recipe using less sugar? Or sugar substitutes?
Sam
Oooh, I’m hesitant to advise because I honestly haven’t tried this cake as sugar free or reduced sugar. I would imagine a sugar substitute would work, but having not tried it myself I really can’t advise with confidence. I’m hoping someone else can chime in though!
Courtney
Your cake is beautiful! Planning on making this for my 30th birthday! Just made your vanilla cake this weekend. I saw you suggested a few different sprinkle options, sequins vs jimmies. Which one did you use as I want to look as beautiful as yours!
Sam
Hi Courtney! Thank you so much! I use sprinkles/jimmies or round sequin “quin” sprinkles, do NOT use nonpareils or they may bleed through your batter and ruin the coloring of your cake. Hope this helps. ๐
Kimberly F Applewhite
Hey about how many cupcakes would this recipe make?
Sam
About 45
Ashley
Do you know if I could use sprinkles that are made with natural dyes instead of artificial? Our kiddo is sensitive to artificial dyes.
Sam
Hi Ashley! I haven’t used sprinkles with a natural dye so I’m not sure if they bleed easily or not. That would be my only concern. If they start bleeding you will have a swirl of colors when you cut in. ๐
Kelly
Used this recipe to make a unicorn cake for my daughters birthday. Amazing! Moist and light. Best buttercream I’ve ever made/ had. This recipie is going in my special keep book to make again.
Sam
I am thrilled to hear this! Thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out, Kelly! ๐
Carolyn
Does this cake need to be refrigerated if you’re making it the day before?
Sam
No, but store it in an airtight container (or if you’re just making the layers the day before, you can wrap them in plastic wrap) so it doesn’t get stale. Enjoy!
Elyse Purbaugh
Hi Sam!! I’m so sorry if you’ve answered this for someone – I couldn’t find it in the comments. Can you use carton egg whites so you’re not left with so many yolks?
Thank you!!
Sam
Hi Elyse! As long as it doesn’t say on the carton that the egg whites aren’t suitable for whipping, it will work just fine. An alternative is to make a pound cake at the same time to use up 6 of those yolks! ๐
Elyse Purbaugh
That’s super helpful – thank you so much!!! Great idea and I love poundcake!
Elyse Purbaugh
Hi Sam! I made this last night – super fluffy cake and looks so moist, but unfortunately the middle sunk in. Not significantly – I can probably trim – but is this from overmixing?! What are your thoughts why this happened? Thank you!!
Sam
I am so sorry that happened, Elyse! Since this cake made with egg whites, it could have been under-mixed or over-mixed. The cake could have been slightly under baked, but my best guess is the batter was slightly under-mixed. I hope this helps. ๐
Cindy
Hello-It looks like you worked hard on this receipe, but it has way too much fat and cholesterol. Really, 9 egg whites and almost 2 cups of oil. What could be substituted?
Sam
Hi Cindy, it’s a cake, and a three layer one at that ๐
You can cut the slices smaller or make a smaller cake, just two layers, which will cut down on some of the fat, and some people have used applesauce as a substitute for oil but I can’t comment on how that will work as I haven’t tried it myself (though I suspect it will make the cake more dense, unfortunately). This recipe just uses egg whites, no yolks, so no cholesterol (but lots of protein!) there.
If you want to make just two layers, I’d recommend checking out my white cake recipe, which is very similar, and you can add sprinkles for the funfetti effect.
I hope that helps!
Nina
Thank you so much for pointing out that this is a CAKE! I honestly can’t understand why someone would comment on the fat & cholesterol content of a cake…. They probably shouldn’t be reading the recipe to begin with… it might be dangerous to make the cake to begin with and they might get burned putting it in the oven or worse yet, they could get hurt using a mixer!
Can’t wait to make this recipe for my son’s birthday this weekend! Hope I don’t hurt myself making it! ๐
Sam
Can’t wait to hear how it turns out! I hope everyone loves it. ๐
Anna
Hi! This looks amazing! Im planning on making it for a work celebration but need to make a two tier (9 and 6 inch) cake.. fo you think this would hold up or should I choose a denser recipe and save this for another time? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Anna! I think this cake will hold up just fine for you. ๐
Bobby
I got up at 2 am to make my wife a Funfetti Cake and settled on this recipe. Itโs her favorite kind of cake and she says this was the best she had tasted. Iโm now making it again for a little girl themed 30 year old mans birthday party (as a joke). Thank you so much for sharing this recipe
Sam
You’re very welcome, I’m so happy to hear the cake was such a hit! Thank you for commenting! ๐
Dolph
When do you add the sugar/butter/oil mixture??? I see you blend those ingredients and then you blend flour and milk, but when do you add back the butter-sugar mixture?
Sam
Refer to step 7 for combination of all of the ingredients. ๐
Kristen M
When making it in 2 layers with cupcakes, how many cupcakes dues the extra make? And how many cupcakes would 1 batch make if i was just to do cupcakes? Doing 2 parties (cake for party #1, cupcakes for party #2)
Kristen M
Also, how long to bake the cupcakes?
Sam
Hi Kristen! If you make 2 layers you will get about 15 cupcakes and if you just make them as cupcakes, you will get about 45 cupcakes. They will need to bake for about 18 minutes. ๐