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
Melissa Smith
When you say butter for the cake batter, should I use salted butter or unsalted?
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Melissa! Either would work. I recommend using unsalted butter for the cake batter. If you use salted, I would just back on the additional salt added. Let me know how your Funfetti Cake turns out! Enjoy! ๐
Gaby
Hi! Is there a specific brand of sprinkles you would recommend?
Thanks so much ๐
Sam
Hi Gaby! Make sure you don’t use nonpareils. Use jimmies, and generally as long as they aren’t generic brand they shouldn’t bleed. ๐
Gaby
Great! Thanks so much!!
Gwen Benson
Is this correct: 1lb butter for the frosting? Looking forward to making this cake and just want to make sure about the amount.
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Gwen! Yes, you want to use 1 lb of butter for the frosting. Let me know how your Funfetti Cake turns out! ๐
Danielle
Hi!!
How many people does this cake serve? Thank you ๐
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Danielle! The suggested number of servings is 14. ๐
Autumn
Is the funfetti cake recipe dense enough to use for a wedding cake? I worry about stacking a cake that’s too fluffy.
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Autumn! The cake itself is very fluffy. How tall do you plan to make the wedding cake?
Melissa Smith
Hi there! This looks so yummy! Iโm planning on doing mini cupcakes and a smaller (5โ round, 3 tiered cake) for my daughters first rainbow themed birthday. Can you give recommendations on timing for mini cupcakes and how many with the cake I can expect to get. Iโm a little nervous doubling the recipe because I think itโll yield way too much batter. Also, should I be filling the tins/mini cups 3/4 of the way full? I really donโt want to mess this up!
Sam
This recipe will make a LOT of mini cupcakes, probably around 100+ and they’ll need to be filled about 2/3-3/4 of the way full and will bake about 14-15 minutes. If you aren’t looking to make close to 100 you might want to check out my confetti cupcakes instead. It’s essentially the same recipe, only scaled down (would make about 35 mini cupcakes) and it includes notes for baking the cupcakes as minis. I hope that helps!
Melissa
Thanks! This is so helpful
Olivia Clark
Hi!
I made this cake and it was delicious! I did fold the egg whites in as well however two of my big 8″ cakes I made dipped in the middle, but they were cooked because I put a tooth pick through and it was as dry as a bone, could you tell me where you think I went wrong with the recipe??
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Olivia! Sometimes if you overbeat the batter it will incorporate too much air โ the air can then cause the center of the cake to collapse. Also, if you open the oven door to check on the cakes before the batter sets this can also happen. I am sorry your cakes dipped but happy that they tasted delicious! ๐
Lauren
Hello! This is now my go-to white cake recipe. ๐
About how much flour by weight do you end up using for this recipe? Iโm thinking I may be a bit heavy-handed in my measurements.
Sugar Spun Run
Lauren, most often than not, it’s because of the heavy hand. You will want a total of 512g of flour for this recipe. ๐
Wendy
Hi Sam, I live at high altitude. Do you recommend any adjustments to the recipe? Also, what do you think of substituting part of the AP flour with cake flour? Thank you – I can’t wait to try this for my daughter’s birthday!
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Wendy! I don’t recommend any adjustments to the Funfetti Cake Recipe, I would stick to the AP flour. I hope that your daughter has a wonderful birthday celebration and enjoys her birthday cake! ๐
Virginia
Will the confetti cake made according to the directions also work if making Whoopiโs pies?
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Virginia! I haven’t tried it. If you do, please let me know how it turns out! ๐
Rachel R. Cumming
Made this for my husband’s birthday this weekend. I only had two 8 inch pans so I did the rest in cupcakes. Lots of compliments from the family but I felt it was a bit too dense. I’m thinking the mistake I made was that I overfilled the pans and therefore they took longer to cook (every time I inserted a toothpick in the middle, it was still wet, even past 30 minutes in the oven). Maybe add a line about how full the pan should be (1/2 full? 3/4?) I haven’t made a cake from scratch before. Thanks for this recipe!
Sugar Spun Run
Sorry to hear it that it came out dense. Sometimes if the batter is mixed too long it could cause this to happen, or there was too much batter in the pan. I appreciate your recommendation and happy you tried the recipe. If you try it again, let me know how it turns out! ๐
Miranda Jones
How do you keep the sprinkles from turning the cake brown? I did not over fold them in but had to get all the eggs whites folded. By the end all the color had ran. Should I fold the sprinkles in after the egg whites have been fully folded in?
Sam
Hi Miranda! Did you use nonpareils? They will bleed pretty easily. You want to use confetti or quin type sprinkles. Also if you buy a store brand they may bleed as well. I hope this helps. ๐
Cheri
If you make the icing the day before and keep it in the refrigerator, will the cake still turn out good?
Sam
Hi Cheri! Yes it will turn out just fine. You will need to let the frosting warm back up to room temperature and give it a little stir before adding it to the cake. ๐
Kristy
Iโm looking for a super moist funfetti cake. Will this one fit the bill?
Sam
Hi Kristy! This one won’t disappoint! ๐
M
The cake was easier to make than I expected, thanks! I wrapped them and put into the freezer. I was wondering if I could make the frosting tonight and put it in the fridge and frost the cake tommorow afternoon, when cakes will be defrosted?
Thanks so much!
Sam
That will work fine. You will need to let the frosting come to room temperature and then give it a quick stir before using. ๐
Alice
How many cupcakes will this recipe make thanking you in advance.
Sam
Hi Alice! It will make about 45 cupcakes. ๐
Michelle Rogers
Hi! Your site is my go-to for cake recipes because the recipes are simple to follow and the end-products are reliably perfect in texture and flavor. This funfetti recipe is my favorite and I will try the hot milk cake later this week for a birthday celebration. Thanks so much for all of your hard work in the kitchen and sharing your recipes with us.
Sugar Spun Run
What a sweet comment, Michelle! Thank you so much! I am happy that you enjoy my cake recipes. Thank you for your continued support, I appreciate it! Let me know what you think of the Hot Milk Cake once you try it! ๐