Funfetti Cake: Perfectly moist white cake topped with whipped vanilla buttercream. Invite this cake, and it’ll be a party in your mouth! One bite of this, and you’ll never use boxed mix again!
Looking for a delicious, moist cake that looks beautiful too? This Funfetti Cake is a must try. It features a tender white cake, plenty of sprinkles, and the best buttercream ever! It tastes amazing, and is perfect for holidays or birthdays.
Skip the boxed version of this cake and make your own delicious from homemade Funfetti Cake.
I used rainbow sprinkles, but you can make this cake fit any occasion:
New Baby: Pink and blue
Patriotic: Red and blue
Christmas: red and green
Valentines Day: Use red and pink
This Funfetti Cake recipe is a fun cake that has the most amazing flavor. This tender airy cake is perfect for a simple weeknight dessert or for a festive party. Everyone will love this beautifully layered cake.
More FUNfetti Ideas
What Is Funfetti Cake?
Funfetti Cake is a white cake with sprinkles in the batter It has been a staple at birthday parties for decades. Sprinkles are usually add into the frosting as well. The sprinkles add a bit a bit of color to the batter. Keep reading to learn how to make the best funfetti cake ever!
Funfetti Cake Ingredients
For the Cake
- Butter: There is nothing like a cake made with real butter. I use un-salted so that I can control the amount of salt in the recipe. Different brands have different amounts which can lead to variations in the final taste of your baked goods.
- Sugar
- Egg Whites: Using egg whites leads to a light fluffy batter, and a stark white color. I like to separate egg whites using a slotted spoon. Place a bowl on your counter. Break egg onto slotted spoon. The white will go through the slots, while the yolk sits on top. Save the yolks for scrambled eggs, or homemade ice cream.
- Vanilla: I use McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract.
- Milk: Use whole milk for the best results.
- Flour: be sure to measure your flour correctly by spooning NOT scooping into your measuring cups.
- Salt
- Baking Powder: Make sure your baking powder is less than a year old, as it can lose its potency.
- Sprinkles: These rainbow sprinkle dissolve slightly and it creates little pockets of color in the white cake batter.
For the Frosting
- Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Heavy Cream
How To Make Funfetti Cake
For the Cake
- Prep Work: Preheat oven and grease pans. Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- Dry and Wet Ingredients: Combine milk and vanilla in one bowl. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients.
- Cream Butter: Cream butter until light and fluffy. Stir in sugar.
- Add flour mixture, and milk mixture a little at a time until just combined.
- Fold in egg whites, and then egg whites.
- Bake for 23-26 minutes.
For the Frosting
- Cream butter until light and fluff, Stir in vanilla and salt.
- Stir in powdered sugar a little at a time until just combined. Add heavy cream as needed to reach your desired consistency. Whip until stiff peaks form.
- Spread the first layer of cake with frosting. Top with the second layer and repeat.
- Spread frosting down the sites of the cake. Press in sprinkles.
- Pipe remaining frosting onto the top of the cake if desired, and top with more sprinkles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Freeze It?
Once you have made this Funfetti Birthday Cake you can freeze it. You can freeze the cake if you want to make the cake ahead or you want to freeze slices of cake before you can enjoy it all It is best to freeze the cake on a plate before you wrap it in plastic wrap. By freezing the cake first, you ensure the plastic wrap doesn’t stick to your beautiful frosting.
Can You Make It Ahead?
I actually suggest making it the day or night before. This cake will last for about 5 days as long as it is wrapped well. If you want to make this cake ahead, you can make it up to 2 days in advance. You can also freeze the cake if you want to make it more than a day or two ahead of time.
How Long Does It Last?
It will last about 5 days. It is important to keep the cake covered so that it lasts as long as possible.
How To Store
This homemade Funfetti cake should be stored at room temperature. You want to make sure it is covered well with plastic wrap or is covered with a cake lid. You do not want to store the cake in the refrigerator. The refrigerator tends to dry a cake out. I only suggest keeping cakes using cream cheese, or ganache in the fridge.
Homemade Funfetti Cake Tips
- Do not over mix the batter. Mix until the flour is just combined into the batter. Over mixing will lead to tough and dense cake.
- Use Rainbow Sprinkles/Jimmies: Non Nonpareils tend to melt and release their color into the batter. You could also use a specific color or combination such as pink/blue for a new baby, or red and blue for a patriotic holiday.
- Egg Whites: I like to separate my egg whites using a slotted spoon. Break egg onto slotted spoon. The white will go through the slots, while the yolk sits on top. You could also separate them by pouring them back and forth between the shells, or even by using a water bottle to “suck” the yolk out.
- Do not over bake. Bake just until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. A few moist crumbs are okay, but we don’t want to see any batter. Over baking leads to a dry cake.
- Assemble and build your cake using a disposable cake board. If you don’t have one you can use a cutting board instead.
- Make this cake into cupcakes by following the instructions here.
More Cakes I Love
Reeses Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Funfetti Cake
Ingredients
For the Funfetti Cake
- 1 Cup Whole Milk
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter Softened
- 2 Cups White Sugar
- 3 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1 Pinch Salt
- 5 Egg Whites
- 2 Cups Rainbow Sprinkles
For the Vanilla Buttercream
- 3 Cups Unsalted Butter softened
- 6 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 5 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
- 3 Drops Pink Gel Food Coloring
- 1 ½ Cups Funfetti Sprinkles
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray (3) 9 inch round cake pans with non stick baking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the milk and vanilla. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt ,and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Gradually alternate pouring milk mixture, and flour mixture into butter mixture until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Using another large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until stiff peaks form
- Fold eggs into batter, and then fold in sprinkles.
- Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared cake pans. Bake for 23-26 or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely before removing from cake pans.
For the Frosting
- In a large bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Stir in salt and vanilla. Add powdered sugar a little a time. Add heavy cream as needed until you reach your desired consistency. Beat for 5-7 minutes until stiff peaks form.
Decorating
- Scoop ~1 cup of frosting into a bowl and mix in a few drops of pink gel food coloring. Set aside.
- Scoop ~1 cup of frosting into a large piping bag fitted with a star tip.
- Next, use ~1 cup of frosting to frost the top of your first cake layer using an angled spatula.
- Place the second layer of cake onto the first layer of frosting, and repeat. Top with final cake layer.
- Frost the top of that layer, and down the sides. Press sprinkles into the bottom of the cake.
- Place the pink frosting into the microwave for 5-8 seconds or until slightly soft
- Spoon pink frosting into the disposable piping bag. Pipe drips of the pink frosting along the top of the cake.
- Pipe dollops of frosting around the top using the reserved white frosting. Top with sprinkles.
- Place into the fridge overnight before cutting into slices, and enjoy with a large glass of cold milk, or hot coffee.
Nutrition
What do you think of this funfetti cake recipe? What is your birthday cake of choice?
My daughter requested a “sprinkles cake” for her birthday but I didn’t have any mix. Found this recipe and it was SO much better than the box! Will totally make it again.
Perfect for my kids birthday! They loved it!