Funfetti Cake

Funfetti cake recipe (also called confetti cake) is a soft, delicious vanilla cake layers with brightly colored rainbow sprinkles mixed in and frosted with a sweet vanilla American buttercream frosting.

I have spent nearly 10 years perfecting this recipe! Tweaking it and updating it every time I make a change. The last time I developed this recipe, my daughter Avalon was only four years old! Now my she is almost 11 and my son is 5 and this funfetti recipe is still one of our favorites to make with a couple of changes.

I truly believe that buttermilk and clear vanilla extract make all the difference and recreates that perfect nostalgic funfetti flavor from a box but 100% from scratch. 

The other secret to moist funfetti cake is a small amount of corn syrup. This invert sugar is hygroscopic and absorbs moisture from the air, keeping this cake SUPER moist.

Pro-tip: You can add 1 ounce of corn syrup to your cake recipes to make them super moist.

Be sure to watch the video in the recipe card for a full visual example on how to create this cake from start to finish including how to bake the funfetti cake layers, how to make the buttercream frosting, color frosting pink, how to make a gold drip and how to decorate it all together.

You won't need any fancy tools or ingredients for this cake but let's go over everything so we can set ourselves up for success. 

Ingredients

Pro-tip: Always bring your cold ingredients (egg whites, buttermilk, butter, etc) to room temperature (roughly 70ºF). Baking is a science and essentially an emulsion of water and oil-based ingredients. If everything is not the same temperature, your cake batter will split and not rise properly. 

Buttermilk is a magical ingredient when it comes to baking. The acid breaks down the gluten that develops while mixing, making this funfetti cake EXTRA tender and moist. If you don't have buttermilk on hand, don't worry, you can easily make your own or even use sour cream or yogurt instead. This recipe is very forgiving.

All-purpose flour is needed for this recipe. Usually, I use cake flour for my cake recipes and the reverse creaming method, but I have noticed that this cake needs a little more structure to suspend those sprinkles properly.

Unsalted butter is used in this recipe and most baking recipes because salted butter can taste TOO salty. If all you have is salted butter on hand, just leave the salt out in this recipe.

Egg whites are used in this cake recipe instead of whole eggs so that the cake batter is nice and white. You can use fresh or boxed egg whites. If you use egg yolks, save them for the next time you want to make some yummy lemon curd.

Clear vanilla extract (imitation vanilla) is used because of its distinct flavor profile. If all you have is pure vanilla extract, no worries! Your cake will still be delicious.

Gold powder is used to do this gold drip. I like a very bright gold. You can use any gold powder you like or you can omit this step completely. You can find gold powder online or at most cake decorating stores. 

Corn Syrup is used in this recipe to keep the cake ultra moist. Because corn syrup is an invert sugar and is hygroscopic (attracts moisture) this cake stays super moist just like the boxed mix version. You can replace corn syrup with honey or agave syrup if you want or leave it out completely.

How To Make Funfetti Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF. (176ºC).
2. Coat your three cake pans with cake goop or your preferred brand of pan release.
3. Combine your flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set it aside for now.
4. Combine your warmed buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract together and set aside. 
5. Place the softened butter into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment attached and cream it on medium speed until smooth its smooth. 
6. While mixing on low speed, sprinkle your sugar into the butter and then bump the speed up to medium. Allow the butter and sugar to mix until it has lightened in color and looks fluffy.
7. Next, add in the room temperature egg whites one at a time (roughly), letting them fully combine into the butter mixture before adding the next egg white. The final mixture will be light and airy.
8. While mixing on low, add in ⅓ of your flour mixture to the butter and egg mixture and mix until combined.
9. Add in ½ of your milk mixture to the bowl of the stand mixer (still mixing on low) and mix until combined. 
10. Repeat this process again. Flour mixture, milk mixture, then flour mixture.
11. Fold in your rainbow sprinkles by hand just until everything is combined together.
12. Divide your cake batter evenly between your three prepared pans.  
13. Bake your cakes for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center. 
14. Let the cake layers cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes, then flip them out of the cake pans onto the wire rack. 
15. Wrap the cake layers while they are still warm and place into the freezer to freeze for an hour. This rapid cooling locks in the moisture.
16. Once the cake layers are cool but not frozen, you can then trim off the brown edges of your cakes and frost them as desired. See more instructions in the video tutorial. 

How To Make The Buttercream Frosting

1. Next, let's make the vanilla buttercream frosting.
2. On low speed, whip your softened unsalted butter until it's smooth and lump-free with the whisk attachment.
3. Add in the clear vanilla extract and the salt and mix until combined.
4. While mixing on low, add in your sifted powdered sugar. Stop to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed to make sure everything mixes properly.
5. Add in the heavy cream and mix until super smooth. Don't over-mix.

Cake Assembly & Decorating

Watch this video on how to decorate your first cake if you want more details.

1. Trim the brown sides and bottom from your cake layers with a serrated knife. You can also level the cake so it's flat by trimming off the dome if needed (makes a great snack!)
2. Place your first cake layer onto the cake plate.
3. Spread an even layer of the frosting onto the top of the cake layer using your offset spatula.
4. Repeat the process with the other two cake layers.
5. Cover the top and the sides of the cake with a thin layer of frosting. This is called a crumb coat and helps lock in all the crumbs so the final layer of frosting is beautiful and pristine.
6. Place the cake into the fridge fo 20 minutes or until the frosting feels firm to the touch.
7. Apply another layer of frosting to the entire cake in an even layer. Use a bench scraper to make the sides straight and even.
8. Place the cake into the fridge to chill while you make the gold drip (optional).

Making The Gold Drip

1. This is totally optional but I LOVE a gold drip and think it looks so pretty on this cake. All you need is to melt 6 ounces of candy melts with 1 ounce of hot water in the microwave. The color of the candy melts doesn't really matter. You won't see the color.
2. Combine your gold dust and oil together to make a thick paste (see recipe video).
3. Paint the inside of your piping bag with the gold dust mixture.
4. Allow the drip mixture to cool to about 90ºF before filling your piping bag.
5. Pipe the drip around the edge of the cake.

Finishing The Cake

1. Color your leftover buttercream with some food coloring. I used electric pink from americolor. Protip: Mix your buttercream with an immersion blender to get a bright and vivid color.
2. Place the buttercream into the piping bag with a 1M star piping tip.
3. Pipe a border around the base of your cake.
4. Add some sprinkles on top of the border.
5. Add another border around the top of the cake and some more sprinkles.
6. Your funfetti cake is now complete!

This really is the ULTIMATE birthday cake! Soft, fluffy, moist, and delicious! You'll never need another funfetti cake recipe.

If you loved this recipe don't forget to leave me a review and check out some of my other popular cake flavors!

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