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
Caitlin
Can’t wait to try this! How are you measuring the flour, by scooping or spooning/leveling?
Sam
Hi Caitlin! It’s always more accurate to weigh your flour, but you can see my article on how to properly measure flour for best practices. 🙂
Kristin
How many cups of batter does this make? I plan to make 2 9×13 pans to make a large sheet cake, and I’m not sure if I should 1.5 times your recipe for that?
Sam
Hi Kristin! It should make about 12 cups of batter so I would recommend increasing it by 50% to fill the 2 9 x 13s. 🙂
Aditi
I made this cake with whipped cream icing. I also added lightly sweetened sugar syrup. The cake was a hit. Very age group loved it. And my kids asked me to make it again.
Thank you so much for sharing full proof recipes.
Brittany S.
This is the best funfetti recipe I have come across, even better than some Food Network chefs recipes. I have tried them all and this was by far the best. I have made it several times for my kids birthdays. Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
Michelle D.
I made this for my daughter’s First birthday party a couple of weeks ago and it was a hit! I love baking but I’ve probably made only four cakes in my entire life because I’m not really a cake person (cake is just a vessel for the frosting and even then, I’ll just eat the frosting by the spoonful out of the container 🥰🥳). However, I wanted to make a special cake for Isla’s party and I’m so proud of myself and how it turned out! Absolutely delicious and cute as can be! It was a little time consuming but worth it. A mild vanilla flavor with a soft, moist crumb. I actually made the Sugar Spun Run recipe for cream cheese frosting and it worked out great! I was concerned the cake would get crumbly while applying the frosting but not at all.
I dusted the top with pink “luster dust” and then applied extra funfetti sprinkles to the sides (by hand because throwing them at the sides of the cake did not actually make them stick 😂🤦♀️).
Thank you for a wonderful recipe to make a special first ever birthday cake 💕
Pam
Could this recipe be doubled and made in a large sheet pan (11 x 13 x 2)? Am really excited to try it!
Sam
Hi Pam! This could be doubled, but you will want to be careful to not over-mix your egg whites. You may not need to increase the recipe much to fill an 11 x 13 as this is cake makes a good bit of batter. 🙂
Amanda
Have you used coconut oil for this recipe?
Sam
Hi Amanda! I have not tried coconut oil, but I know avocado oil works well. 🙂
Mary Moore
Love this recipe! I’ve made it perfectly a few times, but lately my layers have been sinking in the middle when I take them out of the oven. They are fully baked, but still sinking like a bowl! What am I doing wrong?
Sam
Oh no! I’m so sorry this is happening! Are you using the toothpick test to make sure the cakes are completely baked before removing? Another thing that can cause this issue are the egg whites in this recipe. If they are over-mixed or not beaten all the way to stiff peaks you could have issues with sinking. I hope this helps. 🙂
Amy
I get 557g flour for spooned in and leveled off flour for 4c + 2tbsp. Should I go by your gram amount? I’m worried my scale is off because this is a big difference.
Sam
Hi Amy! I would recommend using the gram weight that I have listed. 🙂
Laura
Hi hoping you might see this before I have to bake! I only have 2 tins… if I completely bake the first 2 and then bake the third with he same batter later in the same pan, will the batter still be okay? Thanks so much!
Sam
Hi Laura! I’m so sorry I missed this! That should work fine. I’m sure you’ve already tried it so I hope it went well. 🙂
Anna Marshall
Hello, this cake looks delicious and very pretty also. Perfect for a Birthday celebration. Can this cake be made a couple of days in advance? Should it be store in the refrigerator if yes. Thanks for your help.
Sam
Hi Anna! This cake can be made several days in advance. It’s typically good at room temperature for 2 days before it needs to be refrigerated. 🙂
Jen
Turned out great!
Ct mom
made this for granddaughters first birthday. bought the sprinkles you suggested. no bleeding. i used 3 6 inch rounds. had enough to make three mini loafs additionally. making funfetti frosting with a pink ganache drip. cake tastes amazing.
Megh
Kiddo asked for fun-fetti unicorn cake for her birthday, and who am I to deny her?
Some notes for others:
As far as the sprinkles, I thought I had jimmies (spoiler: I did not), and I figured ‘How Bad Can It Be?’ The colour DID bleed, but it ended up being a kind of muted pink with some pops of other colour throughout. Not exactly perfect, but not a crisis.
If you’re used to yellow cake as opposed to white, please note that a quick touch test on the top will deceive you! Use the toothpick!
In any case, recipe was clear, worked like a charm, tasted amazing, and Ms. 6 was so so happy!
Kathleen
What would the baking time be for a 13×9 cake?
Sam
Hi Kathleen! I haven’t personally tried it so I can’t say for sure. Make sure to not overfill your pan and keep an eye on it as it bakes. 🙂
Trisha Cooper
What is the cooking time for cupcakes? With egg whites adding lightness to the recipe and how full should the liners be?
Sam
Fill liners 2/3-3/4 full and bake about 17 minutes. Note that due to the egg whites the cupcakes may shrink in on themselves after baking.
Jen
Ohmygoodness this cake was so yummy!! It made a triple cake plus a mini one for the birthday boy. I usually dont like white cakes because they always seem so dry but this one is chefs kiss!!
Ive been requested to make more cupcakes and another personal mini cake for his birthday party. Am I able to use this recipe for cupcakes too? I’m thinking they may cave in a bit bc of the egg whites.
Sam
Hi Jen! I am so happy you enjoyed the cake! Unfortunately I’m afraid they may cave in as cupcakes, too (but on the plus side they’ll still be delicious!). I am working on perfecting a white cupcake recipe that I hope to share soon, though!
Kat
hi! just wondering if I would be able to use carton eggwhites instead of separating the whole eggs. thanks!!
Sam
Hi Kat! Generally I don’t recommend it as most carton egg whites say they won’t whip to stiff peaks successfully. Readers have had mixed results using carton egg whites. So while it may work, there’s just no guarantee and I recommend separating eggs. I Hope that helps!
Katie P.
I plan on making this for my daughter’s 3rd birthday, however I was hoping to make it smaller and use 3 5-inch cake tins instead. If I half the recipe will there be enough batter, and how do you think this will effect the bake time?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Katie! You will have excess batter if you halve the recipe, but you can always use what is leftover for cupcakes. The bake time will be different, but we can’t say for sure what it would be without trying it ourselves. We hope your daughter loves her cake!