It’s time to celebrate with this ultra fluffy homemade funfetti cake! It’s bursting with sprinkles and topped with a fluffy vanilla buttercream. Bring on the birthdays!!
This delish cake is definitely kid approved, and really, who can pass up this colorful concoction?! You can even mix up the color scheme by changing the sprinkles. This will surely become a yearly request 🙂 Try serving this party pleaser with Easy No Churn Ice Cream or Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.
The Best Birthday Cake!
Ever since I was little I can remember always requesting a funfetti cake for my birthday. It’s colorful, has a great texture, and for some reason sprinkles always made it taste so much better.
It was & still is one of my favorites! It’s been a few years since I’ve had it, so this time I decided it was time to make a homemade version- 100% from scratch. And guess what? It’s even better than the boxed kind! It was oh SO good indeed.
Bonus? I can control the ingredients inside, and add any little flares I’d like to…such as extra sprinkles or a variety of sprinkle shapes!
How to Make Funfetti Cake
Making cake from scratch can sometimes be intimidating, but throw it into a 9×13-inch pan and somehow it’s a breeze. Am I right? Seriously though, you’ve totally got this! You’ll need a handful of sprinkles, nothing fancy, just colorful jimmies, along with cake flour, and high quality vanilla extract. Grab a large mixing bowl and a hand mixer (or a stand mixer) and you’re set!
MIX. For the base, you’ll want to start by beating the sugar, butter, vanilla extract and almond until they’re light and fluffy. Then add the eggs and egg white, and mix until combined. In a small mixing bowl sift the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
COMBINE. With mixing speed on low, gradually alternate adding the dry ingredients along with the buttermilk. Mix just until combined, then fold a half cup of sprinkles by hand.
BAKE. Pour into a lightly greased baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.
FROSTING. While the cake is cooling whip up the frosting. It’s really quick, easy and sooo fluffy!! Start by creaming the butter, then add the vanilla extract, salt and powdered sugar. Mix until large crumbs form, then add the heavy cream and beat until light and extremely fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Buttermilk Substitute: Buttermilk helps to produce a really tender crumb, but If you don’t have any on hand, you can create a substitute. Combine 1 TB of either white vinegar or lemon juice with 1 cup of milk, and let it set for at least 5 minutes. Make sure you use the 1:1 ratio, even though this recipe doesn’t require a full cup of buttermilk!
The Frosting & Sprinkles
I absolutely LOVE using Sweetapolita Sprinkle mixes, which is what I used for these photos. Aren’t they gorgeous?! Of course, you can use simple Rainbow Jimmy Sprinkles, or switch up the color for different occasions!
Just stay away from nonpareils (the little balls) because the color will bleed into the batter and not be very pretty!
I love to use these sprinkles in other “funfetti” recipes, like:
- Funfetti Birthday Cake Blondies
- Funfetti Sugar Cookies
- Patriotic Funfetti Cupcakes
- Vanilla Funfetti Cupcakes
- Soft Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
Making Ahead and Storing
Make ahead? You can make your frosting up to a day ahead time and keep tightly covered in the fridge. In terms of the cake you will want to make it during the day before frosting and serving it that night. Let the cake cool completely before frosting!
Store: We recommend that you store this cake covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Freeze: To freeze the cake, let it cool completely out of the pan(consider baking extra cakes in round pans, they’re easier to get out than a 9×13 pan) and then double wrap it in plastic. Then wrap the cake in foil to assure that you don’t get freezer burn on your cakes! Leave it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge for at least 8 hours to thaw completely before decorating and serving.
For more cake recipes, try:
Funfetti Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter - softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs - room temperature
- 1 egg white - room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 1/2 cup cake flour
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher sea salt
- 3/4 cup +2 tbsp buttermilk - room temperature
- 1/2 cup rainbow jimmy sprinkles
For the Frosting
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter - room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 3 tbsp heavy cream
- 3 1/2-4 cup powdered sugar
- sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter and flour (or spray) a 9x13-inch pan.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and extracts light and creamy, about 3-4 minutes. With mixing speed on low, add the eggs and egg white, beating after each addition.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- With mixing speed on low, alternate adding the dry ingredients with the buttermilk, taking care not to overmix. Using a rubber spatula, fold the sprinkles.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, spreading into an even, smooth layer. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cake is golden brown on top and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before frosting.
- To prepare the frosting, in a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the butter until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, salt and powdered sugar, mix until large crumbs form, then slowly pour in the heavy cream. Gradually turn speed up to medium-high and beat for 2-3 minutes or until fluffy.
- Scoop the frosting into the center of the cake, then using a offset spatula, spread over the cake into an even layer. Garnish with sprinkles if desired. Cut and serve, enjoy for up to 3 days at room temperature.
This has been my daughter’s birthday cake since she was 2 and we just celebrated her 5th birthday. We’re trying to avoid lactose for my son so I subbed in vegan butter (Earth Balance buttery sticks) and homemade oat milk “buttermilk”. No matter how slowly you add the eggs it ends up curdling. I’m assuming due to the Earth Balance. To fix it I poured it into a microwave safe bowl then put it at power 4 (800 W) for 2 min and stirred every 15 seconds (didn’t go the whole 2 min). That gets it to come back together. The cake doesn’t rise as much with those subs and I might consider adding more baking powder and baking soda next time but the flavor is still good. Just FYI for those who need to make this dairy free.
How great that you adapted it to your son’s needs!
What a great and easy way to make a funfetti cake! Perfect for my son’s upcoming birthday. Everyone is going to love this cake! Excited to have my daughter help me!
Love this fun celebration cake! Both delicious AND fun! The kids love it. They think we’re celebrating whenever I pull out the rainbow sprinkles. Makes ANY day a special day!
This is the perfect easy and fun dessert! We made one to share with our neighbors!
Can I just use all all purpose flour?
If using all purpose flour instead of cake flour, I’d do this trick: For every 1 cup of cake flour, use 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Then sift together and proceed with the recipe as written. This will help the cake to be light, delicate and airy!