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
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Recipe originally published 4/13/16 — text updated 4/13/17
Jennifer Carey says
I made the cake exactly as written. It turned out perfectly.
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed the cake, Jennifer! Thank you for commenting. 🙂
Tee says
I have made your recipe few months ago and everyone loved it. My daughter requested for her birthday next week
I have 2 questions: I’m making 3-10”, how many recipes do I need?
Next: can I use the pasteurized egg whites? I have those at home. I don’t know what to do with the leftover egg yolks
Thanks you
Sam says
Hi Tee! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the Funfetti cake! I haven’t made this in 10″ pans, You could either use the amount indicated and have thin layers (make sure to reduce the bake time!) or I might recommend increasing the recipe by 25%.
I’ve had people have mixed reviews with pasteurized egg whites, sometimes they don’t whip to stiff peaks which is critical to the texture of the cake. Here are a few recipes that are great for egg yolks if you decide to go that route: Creme Brulee, Cream Puffs, Chocolate Pie, Key Lime Pie.
Katy says
Hi There! I’m excited to make this cake for my son’s fourth birthday next weekend. I’ll be making two cakes – a 9in layered cake which I’ll decorate nicely… and a sheet cake (12×18) which will be more basic – I’m not planning to layer. I’m trying to figure out how to much batter to make for a 12×18 pan and how long to bake for.
Do you have any advice?
Thanks!
Sam says
Hi Katy! This recipe will make approximately 15 cups of batter. It looks like a 12 x 18 pan typically uses about 16 cups of batter, so you would probably be ok to make the recipe as is for the 12 x 18. As far as how long to bake it, I am not quite sure as I haven’t tried it. I hope this helps. 🙂
Carlene says
If I just bake cupcakes, can you tell me the temperature and length of time to bake? Thank you!!!
Shelly P. says
Hello! I think I tried this recipe a while back as a cake and it was awesome!!
Any recommendations for me if I wanted to take the cupcake route with this for my kiddo’s birthday party?
Thanks!
Jess Wess says
I noticed you’re using all purpose flour as opposed to cake flour. Do you not recommend using cake flour? Why or why not?
Sam says
Hi Jess! I specifically developed this recipe to made with all purpose flour since it’s what I always kept on hand and I didn’t want anyone to have to run out and buy a different kind of flour. So far it has worked flawlessly for me and yields a sturdy but also light, moist cake and I have never tried it with cake flour. Other people have with success though, and if you try it out I’d love to hear how it works for you!
Emily says
Hi!
I made this cake last year for my daughter’s second birthday and I’d love to make it this year to establish a tradition ☺️ I’ve got to travel for work and would like to make the cakes ahead of time before decorating the day of. Do you know if these cakes freeze well? Thanks so much for an awesome recipe 💕
Sam says
They do freeze well! Make sure to wrap them tightly! I’m so happy to hear this recipe is going to be part of your daughter’s birthday tradition 🙂 <3
Emily says
Fantastic! Thanks for the quick reply 🥳🎂
Diana Dsouza Udani says
Hi Sam,
Would like to try and bake the Funfetti cake. Could you please give the ingredient quantities measured in grams, since cup measurements get a little tricky.
Thank you so very much.
Regards,
Diana
Sam says
Hi Diana! These would be the measurements based off the standards I use in my kitchen:
3 cups sugar = 600g
1 cup oil = 236ml
4 cups + 2 Tbsp flour = 515g
1 1/2 cups milk = 355ml
6 cups powdered sugar = 750g
I hope that helps! This funfetti cake is an older recipe from before I was using grams which is why it isn’t (yet) updated to include grams as most of my other recipes are.
Diana Dsouza Udani says
Thank you so very much Sam for your very prompt response.
Regards, Diana
Sindhu Joseph says
I haven’t made this one yet, but I’m planning to make it for my daughter’s birthday party in a few days. This recipe makes a 3-layer cake, but I’m planning on making a 4-layer cake. Do you know what I should do to the ingredients, so it can make 4 layers?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hello, Sindhu! 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. I hope that your daughter enjoys her birthday cake! 🙂
Crystal Carpenter says
Hi Sam! Everything you make looks so good!
I am going to do a practice round for my daughters 4th bday. Have you tried buttercream instead of milk? I saw this in other recipes, and was just wondering why you chose milk… does it taste better? I also saw sour cream being used…. why would others choose those ingredients? I’m still learning the ups and downs and ins and outs of baking! newbiebaker!
Sam says
Hi Crystal! Thank you! Do you mean buttermilk instead of milk? I love using buttermilk in a lot of recipes, but without getting too far into the chemistry of the ingredients it just isn’t necessary in this one, though I think if you did want to substitute it in this recipe it should still work. Usually the ingredients chosen have to do a lot with chemistry; their reactions with the other ingredients such as the baking powder or baking soda. For example, in my Gender Reveal cupcakes I use sour cream instead of milk for flavor and texture but I also had to adjust the leaveners and other ingredients (like flour) in that recipe as well in order to make it work properly (it makes for a great, denser but still very soft and moist cake, too!). My Buttermilk Substitute post might also be helpful in explaining a little bit about the chemistry of baking with buttermilk if you’d like to check that out!
Crystal Carpenter says
Thank you so much! Yes I meant buttermilk… I just followed your recipe exactly this time round. I had fun with this practice run. My 4 year old who doesn’t like things to taste too sweet happens to love this recipe! So thank you!! My husband who does like sweet loves it with the buttercream icing! Big hit! 🙂
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that the Funfetti Cake was a hit, Crystal! I am so happy that it turned out well for you. I hope that you give my other recipes a try. 🙂
Marena says
I’m so excited to try this recipe!! I’m making a two tiered cake for my niece’s 1st Birthday. Is this cake a good stacking cake? Can it handle being covered in fondant?
Sam says
Hi Marena! I haven’t stacked mine higher than 3 layers, but it should hold up. I also haven’t tried using fondant on it, but I think that will work as well. Enjoy! 🙂
Yasmin says
Hi could you make this cake recipe for a letter cake
Sugar Spun Run says
Hello, Yasmin! If you’re asking if you can bake this cake in a letter baking pan, the answer is yes. Given that the size of the pan will be different, you will just need to keep an eye on the bake time. I hope that you enjoy the funfetti cake. 🙂
Cara says
Hi ! Can I substitute whole milk with almond milk ?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hello, Cara! I have not tried it, however, I don’t recommend it. I’d be too worried that the cake would end up too dry, unfortunately. 🙁
Bernadette Giacslone says
Can this recipe be doubled. One batter was no enough to fill a12 inch square tops turvy Pan. Thanks, Bernadette
Sugar Spun Run says
Hello, Bernadette! Yes, the funfetti cake recipe can be doubled. I hope that you enjoy it! 🙂
Miranda says
I haven’t made this one yet but I want to. But is it possible to make it really red, blood-red, firetruck red with food coloring? My niece wants a really red cake for her birthday. Not red velvet, not really red enough.
Sugar Spun Run says
Hello, Miranda! I haven’t tried to see how “red” the cake batter can get. Gel food coloring is more concentrated so this will be the best bet to try to achieve a fire truck red. Let me know how it works out. I hope you enjoy the funfetti cake. 🙂
Miranda says
It turned out great. I used Red-red from Wilton and red velvet coloring without the cacao and is was really red, soft, moist but not too much and very good taste also. Really impressed and happy.
Thanks for the recipe, this is going to be a favorite in various flavours/colors.
Sugar Spun Run says
YEAH! I am so happy that it turned out so well. Thanks for the feedback. Enjoy! 🙂