My light and fluffy, completely from scratch Funfetti cake recipe has over 600 five-star reviews and has even been featured on TV! ⭐️ It’s a soft white cake speckled with sprinkles and iced with buttercream frosting, perfect for beginners and advanced bakers alike. Makes the perfect homemade birthday cake! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Homemade Funfetti Cake Recipe
My fluffy Funfetti cake (also known as confetti cake) has been one of my most popular recipes for years (right up there with my “worst” chocolate chip cookies). Flecked with sprinkles, a plush, super soft texture, and a buttery, caramelized vanilla flavor–what’s not to love?
Developing this cake took me weeks and is still one of my proudest accomplishments (right there with my French macaron recipe). When I finally nailed it, I found that there were a few key ingredients that really made a difference, namely, whipped egg whites.
For maximum, fluffy softness (and snow-white color), this recipe calls for plenty of egg whites (and no egg yolks–save those for your tiramisu!). You’ll whip these separately with an electric mixer until they reach stiff peaks and then fold them (gently!) into the cake batter. This is easy and quick to do, and it’s critical for a light and fluffy white cake (don’t get me started on yellow Funfetti cakes–there should be no such thing!).
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Perfect taste, perfect texture. Largely thanks to the afore-mentioned whipped egg whites and a combo of butter and oil in the cake batter. Oil adds moisture, while butter adds flavor, so by mixing the two you achieve perfect balance. This is how I’ve designed so many of my cake recipes, and once you try it you’ll see why.
- Bright white color. This serves as the perfect backdrop to colorful sprinkles. This Funfetti cake gets its pristine color from using egg whites only, clear vanilla (instead of regular vanilla), and a neutral oil.
- So soft and fluffy. This gorgeous texture comes from a critical ingredient: whipped egg whites. I’ve repeated this technique in several recipes since, including my lemon cake, strawberry cake, and Oreo cake. All have a plush, light-as-air texture!
- Frosted with an easy peasy classic buttercream, though you could technically use any frosting you like. Fruity pebbles frosting, strawberry frosting, and cream cheese frosting are all nice alternatives!
What You Need
For the Cake Layers
- Flour. Back when I was first developing this recipe, cake flour was difficult for me to find and when I could, it was pricey. I developed this recipe specifically with the intention of achieving a light fluffy texture with regular ol’ all-purpose flour (and it worked *perfectly* if I do say so).
- Egg whites. It’s important that you separate your own eggs (do not use eggs from a carton) and make sure not to get even a drop of yolk in the whites. Room temperature eggs work best, so try to remember to set yours out ahead of time if you can. If you forget, use my trick to quickly bring eggs to room temperature (just make sure to thoroughly dry the eggs before cracking them).
- Milk. Whole milk is my preference, but I suspect a milk substitute (like almond milk) would work just fine. Whatever you use, ideally let it come to room temperature before adding it.
- Butter & oil. As mentioned above and used in my white cake and vanilla cake, a blend of the two balances flavor and texture of this Funfetti cake perfectly. For the oil, opt for a neutral cooking oil like canola, vegetable, or avocado oil (I like avocado oil, but it’s a bit more yellow and so colors the cake slightly). Using a particularly yellow butter or oil can affect the color of your cake.
- Baking powder. Not baking soda! It will seem like a lot, but it’s not (we’re making a big cake!). There is no baking soda in my Funfetti cake recipe, and that’s intentional. While this isn’t the main reason I don’t use baking soda, baking soda encourages browning and adding it would actually make the cake more golden inside.
- Vanilla. To maintain that pristine white color, I use clear vanilla in the cake layers. If you would rather opt for natural vanilla flavoring it will work perfectly well, just know your cake may be tinted a bit more golden.
- Sprinkles. Your sprinkle choice matters! Nonpareils can bleed into your batter and ruin that pristine white color. Stick with jimmies or quins–they add color without any bleeding.
SAM’S TIP: If you want to use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour, you must substitute properly. If you are using weights, the weight is the same; if you are using cups, you will need 4 ½ cups of cake flour.
Frosting
This is a big three-layer cake, so you will need quite a bit of frosting to cover and decorate it. Just giving you a fair warning before anyone is alarmed by the amount of butter you’re about to see 😉.
- Butter. Yes, we are using a full pound (or four sticks) of butter here. Remember, this is a big Funfetti cake! I use unsalted butter and add salt separately, but if you use salted butter you likely won’t need to add any salt (taste-test the frosting and add a inch if needed — salt helps cut the sweetness and deepen the flavor).
- Powdered sugar. I highly recommend measuring your ingredients with a kitchen scale for the most accurate results (I link to the one I use in the recipe card, it’s inexpensive). It can be very easy to over-measure powdered sugar, much like measuring flour!
- Heavy cream. We’ll whip this into the frosting for a light and fluffy texture. Whipping cream or double cream would also work.
- Flavoring. For the frosting, I sometimes like to use Princess emulsion instead of vanilla (I also use this in my frosted animal cookies–another fun recipe). It accents the buttercream with notes of citrus and almond and keeps it from being overbearingly sweet. If you don’t have any or can’t find it, regular vanilla extract works perfectly.
SAM’S TIP: For that popular Milk Bar birthday cake look, frost your funfetti cake scantly on the outside and top with my confetti crumbs!
This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Funfetti Cake
Make the batter
When making the batter, you’ll want to start with an electric mixer or a stand mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment) to combine all of your ingredients thoroughly and properly. Creaming the butter in the beginning is actually important for the best texture.
You want to make sure everything is well-combined, but also be careful not to over-mix (this comes into play when adding the milk and then again adding the egg-whites). Over-mixing the batter can cause dense, dry, or sunken results.
Whip the egg whites
Before you begin, make sure your bowl and beaters are completely clean, dry, and grease-free. Even a tiny bit of grease can prevent your egg whites from whipping properly!
Stiff peaks are our aim here! This means your egg whites will have greatly increased in volume, they’ll be bright white in color, and they’ll be fluffy. To test that you’ve reached stiff peaks, lift your beaters straight out of the whites. The peaks should hold firm without folding over or falling back in on themselves.
Fold in the egg whites and sprinkles
Gently is the way to go! Gently stir in all of the egg whites at once along with your sprinkles.
Use a spatula for this step and not your mixer. Your aim is to NOT over-mix. Instead, the goal is to combine everything without deflating those egg whites we just spent all that time whipping. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure everything is well combined.
You will lose some of the volume as you fold the batter, but try your hardest to incorporate the egg whites gently without totally deflating them.
Bake
Use the toothpick to test your cakes for doneness; a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake should come out clean or have a few crumbs when inserted in the center of each cake.
It’s important to keep a close eye on your Funfetti cakes as they near the end of the bake time; underbaking your cake can cause it to sink, while over-baking can dry it out (even just a minute or two too long can do this).
The outsides of the cake bake into a pretty golden color, but don’t panic! The insides will still be snow white.
Decorate
Let the cake layers cool completely before you decorate the cakes. I recommend using my buttercream frosting (in the recipe card below) as it’s a classic Funfetti cake pairing, but I have a whole catalog of frosting recipes that would work well here. Just note that most of those recipes are for 2 layer cakes so you will have to scale up by at least 50%.
I also recommend doing a crumb coating on the cake before decorating. This mean applying a thin layer to the outside of the cake then freezing it for 15 minutes before continuing to decorate. This will catch any crumbs and help your frosting apply more smoothly.
SAM’S TIP: New to cake decorating? I have a guide on how to decorate a cake that’s perfect for for beginner cake decorators! You’ll learn everything from what equipment you need to how to do crumb coat.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe makes about 12 cups of batter.
For a two layer Funfetti cake: I recommend you make my white cake recipe and add ⅓ cup of sprinkles. That recipe is actually the same as this one, but scaled down to fit two pans (and doesn’t have sprinkles, obviously!).
For a 9×13″ pan: you would technically need to reduce the recipe by ⅓. This can get tricky, so I usually recommend making the recipe as-is and using the excess batter for cupcakes (though they won’t have nice rounded tops–see below).
If you are looking for a good Funfetti cupcake recipe, I recommend making my confetti cupcakes or white cupcakes (add sprinkles) instead, as those form nice round tops. This recipe makes tasty cupcakes, but they bake up flat.
I do not recommend it, as they provide inconsistent results (and most say they are not meant for whipping). Instead, separate your own eggs and repurpose the yolks in another recipe like my pastry cream, crème brûlée, lemon crumb bars, lemon curd, key lime pie, or chocolate pie.
Yes! To do this, stir the food coloring into the batter before adding the egg whites. Gel food coloring is best for most vibrant color.
A big thank you to every one of you who has already tried my Funfetti cake recipe and reviewed it 💕 I appreciate you!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
Funfetti Cake from Scratch
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 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons table salt
- 1 ½ cup (355 ml) milk
- 9 (315 ml) large egg whites room temperature preferred
- ½ cup (80 g) sprinkles see note
Buttercream
- 1 lb (453 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar
- 6 Tbsp (89 ml) heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons LorAnn Princess emulsion or vanilla extract
Recommended Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (recommended)
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) and lining the bottoms of each pan with a round of parchment paper.
- In stand mixer (or using an electric hand 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 extract.4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, and salt.4 cups+ 2 Tbsp (516 g) all-purpose flour, 4 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 ½ teaspoons table salt
- Measure out your 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.1 ½ cup (355 ml) milk
- In separate mixing bowl (use a clean, dry, and grease-free bowl, use glass or metal), combine your egg whites and stir with an electric mixer, gradually increasing speed from low to high and continuing to beat on high-speed until stiff peaks form.9 (315 ml) large egg whites
- Add egg whites and sprinkles to the batter. 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.½ 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 butter knife around the inside rim of each pan and carefully invert each onto a cooling rack.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Use the paddle attachment or an electric mixer to beat butter on medium-speed until smooth and creamy.1 lb (453 g) unsalted butter
- Add salt and beat again for about 20 seconds.¼ 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
- One Tablespoon 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 (89 ml) heavy cream
- Add flavoring (vanilla extract or emulsion). and stir on medium-high for 30 seconds. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula to ensure all ingredients are well-combined.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. For more detailed decorating instructions, see my post on how to decorate a cake.
Notes
Sprinkles
Use sprinkles/jimmies or round sequin “quin” sprinkles, do NOT use nonpareils or they may bleed through your batter and ruin the coloring of your cake.Using 9″ pans
This cake may also be made in three 9″ pans, just decrease the baking time. Start checking the cakes for doneness at 25 minutes.Storing
Store this cake tightly covered at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This cake may also be frozen, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap then foil, for up to 3 months.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.
Recipe originally published 4/13/16 — text and photos updated Feb 2025
Chelsey
Do you recommend regular or pure vanilla extract in this recipe? Thanks!
Sam
I always prefer to use pure vanilla. I have found that Baker’s brand imitation actually does work pretty well too. 🙂
Chelsey Stultz
Thanks! I could not get my egg whites to come to a stiff peak. I tried several ideas I saw online but no luck. Will my cake taste remotely good at this point? So frustrating. 🙁
Sam
Did you use egg whites from a carton? If you don’t have that fluffiness from the egg whites your texture will not be right. 🙁 Sometimes it can take a good while to get the egg whites whipped. You need to make sure everything touching the egg whites (bowl, beaters, etc.) is COMPLETELY dry and COMPLETELY grease free.
Teresa
Love this recipe! Such a fun and delicious cake!
I wish I could post a picture!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much Teresa! You can tag me on Instagram @Sugarspun_Sam or join my facebook group to share pictures. 🙂
Vee Loya
So excited to try this recipe! I was just wondering if half of the recipe would be enough for 3 6-inch pans? I was hoping to not have so much batter left over with the full recipe.
Sam
You would need about 2/3 of this recipe to make it in 3 6 inch pans. 🙂
M
This cake has been a success for my daughter’s first birthday …
next week is my husbands birthday and I wanted to do a chocolate chip cake … do you think it would work to swap the funfetti with chocolate chips ? And then to use chocolate frosting
Sam
Hi! A chocolate frosting would work very well with it. I might recommend mini chocolate chips because I would worry that the larger ones might sink to the bottom of the pan. Enjoy!
Julie
Can this recipe be used for a sheet cake? I want to make it two layers and make one recipe per layer
Sam
Hi Julie! The batter should fill an 11 x 15 pan. I’m not sure what your baking time will be but it will work as a sheet cake. 🙂
Amy
Would cake flour work in this recipe?
Sam
Hi Amy! You can use cake flour here but make sure you use the proper substitution. It’s not a 1 for 1 substitute here unless you use weights. If using cups. you need 1 c + 2 TBSP of cake flour for every cup of all purpose flour. 🙂
Kali Taylor
Excellent cake recipe and best icing recipe I’ve ever made for frosting anything! I followed it exactly and it came out perfect. I used three 9″ round cake pans. In my oven they took 35 minutes. This was my first time ever making a three-layer cake. I used the blunt end of a large knife to apply the final icing layer and it almost appeared to have been bought at a bakery.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Kali! 🙂
Shelby
Have you made this cake with the carton egg whites? I definitely use fresh egg whites for swiss buttercream, but looking for a quick shortcut 😉
Sam
Hi Shelby! I have not and generally I don’t recommend it. While some people HAVE reported using carton egg whites with success, unfortunately they don’t always whip to stiff peaks and that’s critical for the cake to turn out properly. So really it’s a gamble. Fingers crossed if you try it!
Kali Taylor
I used carton egg whites, Food Lion brand (grocery store). It turned out great. I don’t know if every brand would whip up correctly, though.
Niki
I just made this yesterday for my daughter’s birthday. It was SO good!! I had a box of confetti cake in my pantry that I *almost* used instead. So glad I didn’t though! I filled mine with whipped cream frosting and used a modified version of your buttercream to frost/decorate (only 4 cups of powdered sugar and I added a dash of lemon juice. Definitely changed the texture and maybe zest would’ve worked better but my 2 year old baking assistant and I were winging it 😄.) My whole family raved about it!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Niki! 🙂
NoviceBaker
Hi Sam, is it possible to make this recipe without a stand mixer?
Sam
You can definitely use a hand mixer here. 🙂
Kat
Hello I have made this recipe once and it was delicious. Next week I’m going to try and make a 3D train cake. I have the Wilton pans and they recommend about 6 cups of batter for it. Would you have any idea if this recipe would work? If not do you have another one in mind? Thanks! I
Sam
Hi Kat! This will make about 12 cups of batter so you would have enough for 2 pans. 🙂
Leslie
Hello!
Just want to say thank you for the great recipe! I needed to make a white cake today and all my recipes called for cake flour. I didn’t want to face the crowds on Christmas Eve so went looking for a recipe using all purpose flour and came across your recipe. This cake has a delicious flavor, is not overly sweet, and has a great texture. I made it in three 9 inch pans and added a layer of lemon curd and a layer of raspberry preserves. It was topped with a cream cheese frosting with fresh lemon. We loved it! I will definitely make again.
Thanks again for this recipe! It’s a keeper!
Karen
Hi! I’m planning to make this cake for my daughter’s birthday, but was wondering if it will work out fine if I cut the quantities in half. I need a small cake. Any advice?
Thanks!
Sam
You can cut all of the ingredients in half. 🙂
Tasha
Are there any changes you should make for baking at a high altitude?
Sam
Unfortunately I’m not really familiar with high altitude baking. Maybe someone else can chime in with some tips.
Yamelis
Hi ! I would like to know how many grams are 9 tablespoons of butter. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Yamelis! 9 tablespoons of butter will be 127g. 🙂
CarCar01
I was wondering how long this cake is good for. Not really a comment, but I just pulled mine out of the oven and they look and smell amazing.
Sam
This is typically good for about 5 days in an air tight container.
Joanna Inman
I just made this cake yesterday for my daughter’s 10th birthday which is today, December 20th. We saw it on your website months ago and couldn’t wait to make it. I followed your directions exactly as written, even using a digital scale for my dry ingredients, and it turned out perfect. It was just the right amount of sweetness. I used your white chocolate buttercream recipe, as written but doubled, for the frosting, and the combination was perfect. Also, I appreciate you taking the time to put the ingredient amounts in grams and the suggestion of using a kitchen scale for measuring. I’ve never measured this way but it was actually much easier and a better method for sure. I will definitely do this in the future. We had a small family party and everyone raved about this cake. Several people had a second slice, including myself. Not only was it delicious, but it was bright, colorful, and happy (we attempted the frosting design in the picture posted with the recipe) which was what we needed, especially in these times. I will definitely make this again and will try the confetti cupcakes as well. I can’t wait to try more recipes from your site. This was definitely not a fake recipe and you obviously put a lot of time and effort into creating it. It makes me sad to see the very negative comment the reviewer, Amy, left you which was why I wanted to let you know how the recipe turned out for me. I do think there are bogus recipe websites out there but yours is definitely not one of them. I very much appreciate your site, recipes and inspiration. I pray you and your family have a wonderful Christmas, happy holiday season, and a very blessed New Year.
Sam
Thank you so much, Joanna! I really appreciate that you took the time to tell me how much you enjoyed the cake and it’s very nice to hear that you can tell I care about my recipes. I test these recipes SO much. You can’t always please everyone though. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year. 🙂
Amy
Ok, so I’m not sure if you’re going through and deleting all of the negative comments on here or if people really didn’t make this recipe and are commenting nice things anyway. This cake contains so much sugar that it was gritty in texture, and overly sweet to the point that my husband took one bite, and we had to throw the whole cake away. I only used 2 cups of sugar vs the 3 you suggested, and it was still too sweet. Also, I only cooked it for 28 minutes and it still came out too crispy and almost burnt. What is up with the 9 egg whites? This honestly feels like a joke recipe. I feel like I’ve been pranked. If you’re deleting negative comments, then shame on you. This recipe ruined my husband’s birthday and has made me never want to bake again. It’s not my intention to make you feel bad with this rating, but I didn’t want anyone to go through all of the hard work, use of ingredients, and getting their hopes up only to feel completely awful about themselves after. This shattered my cake making confidence.
Sam
Hi Amy, it definitely sounds like something went wrong here and I’m disappointed to hear it. As per my comment policy, I only delete comments that are spam, profane, or name-calling, so no, I am certainly not deleting comments and yes, over 600 people have positively rated this recipe and the 5 star rating that is there is accurate. I make it frequently myself, and in fact, Daphne Oz just made it last week on her Instagram and shared it with everyone because she loved it so much 😁. I’m quite proud of this recipe and am disappointed that you didn’t have the soft and fluffy, perfectly sweetened results that I have in my own kitchen.
Which leads me to believe that something must have gone quite wrong in the kitchen, unfortunately. While I don’t have a video for this recipe yet, I would recommend you take a look at the video that I have for my white cake recipe. These two cakes are essentially the same only the white cake has been scaled down, and I think it might be helpful to watch that video. The fact that the cake was gritty also strongly suggests that something went wrong or was mis-measured; with three cups of sugar the cake does not come out gritty in the least (the sugar melts in the oven). Did you make any other substitutions? Did you whip the egg whites fully to stiff peaks? I’m happy to help troubleshoot further but this is a very well-tested recipe that many others have had success with, and I’d like for you to have the same results.
Lala
Just because you suck at baking, don’t need to be so harsh on the baker herself. I made this recipe twice, first time it didn’t work out at all. Probably because I didn’t fully read the recipe and made my own errors/mistakes. The second time, it was delicious and turned out exactly the way she instructed to in her recipe to the tee. My kids loved it.
ShannonB
I think I like this cake better than the regular vanilla one. Just finished making the frosting so yummy not to sweet. It seems I have just made this cake 5 times in the last month or so this is my go 2 cake with or without sprinkles
Sam
Holy smokes that’s a lot of cakes in a month! I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂