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
Yannet Soto
This may be a silly question, but can I use this recipe for cupcakes?
Jen
Hi! Iโm making this cake for my husbands birthday tonigt and I wanted to try and make half the recipe as regular funfetti and the other half a chocolate funfetti. Do you think adding plain cocoa powder would work or do you suggest something else?
Thanks!
Sam
Hi Jen! Honestly it’s hard for me to answer for sure as I haven’t tried it myself, cocoa powder might do the trick, but generally I like to bloom my cocoa powder with a hot liquid (hot water or coffee) to really bring out the chocolate flavor, which this recipe doesn’t have so I’m not sure you’d get the best chocolate flavor, and I’m hesitant to suggest adding melted chocolate since I haven’t tried it myself and it may weigh down the egg whites and the batter too much.
If you’re just going for appearances then I think adding some cocoa powder would be fine, those layers may just be a bit dryer from the extra powder and from the extra mixing required to incorporate it at the end.
I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful with this! It’s just tricky for me to say for certain without having tried it out myself. Alternatively I do have a chocolate cake recipe and you could halve that recipe and add sprinkles for a chocolate layer.
Rochelle
Hello!
Curious if you have used cake flour for this receipe? What would be the conversion from AP flour to cake?
Thank you!
London
I loved this recipe!! It took me 10 hours to make in total (this is including decoration), but I have never made cake from scratch before. It tasted wonderful!!!! It was a little less sweet than a boxed cake, but once it’s put together with frosting, it is DELICIOUS! It was a big hit at my 16th birthday party!! Thank you!
Phylicia
Hello! Im planning on making this recipe for an upcoming party. Do I need to use 3 cups of sugar in the batter or can I use less?
Amanda
Hey! Iโm making this for my sisters bachelorette party! She has issues with lactose and was wondering if I could use lactaid instead of whole milk and coconut milk instead of heavy cream? I would really love for her to be able to have a piece.
Sam
Hi Amanda! While I’ve never used Lactaid before myself, I did some online researching and it looks like using lactaid instead of whole milk would be just fine! As for the coconut milk, that would be fine, too!
You may need less of it than you would need of the heavy cream, though, so start with 2-3 Tbsp and just add more as needed until the desired consistency is reached. I hope that helps, and I hope everyone loves the cake! ๐
Amanda
Great! I am going to try the recipe with those addictions! I will let you know how it turns out.
Sam
Thank you, I hope it turns out great! ๐
Lise
Hi, can I use the funfetti โdiscsโ instead? Little flat round circles that I just bought..
Tara
Are the 2 Tbs of flour for greasing and flouring the pans or is it supposed to go in with the 4 cups?
Sam
It goes with the 4 cups, the greasing and flouring would be additional ๐
Julie
I’m planning to make a small cake for my niece’s 5th birthday. What temperature and length do you think I should bake this at with two 6inch pans?
Michelle
Hi! I recently read an article about decreasing temperature and increasing bake time to make sure that your cakes come out flat on top. Should I do that for this recipe or are the directions already set to avoid dome shaped rising in the oven? Thank you!
Megan
Omg this recipe was a life saver . I used the same white/vanilla cake recipe for years and the last cake i just came out way too dense and I was super unhappy with it. I looked for a new recipe I read about 12 before I got to yours and I tweaked a few things. I added a 1/2 tsp more vanilla and used cake flour plus 2 extra tbls of it. And I was making a big squared cake so I started off at 350 and then decreased the temp. And literally came out perfect I can’t thank you enough you really have no idea how happy I am right now!!
Keala
Hi! I am making a trolls cake and it requires a round 9in cake pan for the face and 20-29 cupcakes (depending on how many I do) for the hair! I believe this will be enough but if I make a homemade buttercream icing, will it look alright on the cake? I don’t think I will be using fondant, so I will be icing the round cake (face) light pink and using different colored icings to make the facial features.
Bobbie
I tried this cake today. I followed the directions exactly and the cakes were golden brown (maybe a little darker) on top. When I took them out and after they cooled and I removed them from the pans they were raw in the middle. Any ideas as to what I did wrong?
Sam
Hi Bobbie! I’d check your oven temperature, it sounds like the oven may have been running hotter than it was saying, is that possible? That would cause the outside to cook faster than the inside and could result in what you just described. I do always recommend the toothpick test to test for doneness, they may have also just needed more time.
Bobbie
I think Iโll get my oven checked. Iโve never messed up a cake before so I thought I might have done something wrong. Thatโs what confused me. The toothpick was clean in all 3 cakes. They cooked perfectly in a ring; just the middle circle was still raw. The outside of the cake tasted delicious though!
Judith Cave
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made it for my grand-daughters 5th birthday yesterday and it was a hit both with the adults and kids, they loved the flavour. I will definitely be making it again.
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you for commenting to let me know how it turned out for you, Judith!! ๐
Sol
Such an amazing recipe!! Iยดll be doing it for my birthday next week.
Just a quick question: what is “crumb coating”? Iยดm not familiar with the term.
Again, thanks for the recipe, and congrats on your incredible website!
Kisses from Argentina