It’s officially a party with this homemade funfetti cake recipe! It tastes even better than the cake mix and makes the PERFECT festive birthday cake!
Funfetti Cake
Happy Wednesday angels! Get excited, because you’re about to feast on the best homemade funfetti cake you’ll ever have. Like ever. If you’re looking for a fun and festive treat that also happens to be moist, tender, perfectly sweet and unbelievably delicious, look no further.
Funfetti has always been one of my favorite cakes. I’ll admit, the one I was most used to eating growing up was the Pillsbury Funfetti Cake…but damn it was good. I know it’s technically just a vanilla cake with sprinkles in it (which doesn’t really add anything except maybe a little extra sugar), but there’s something so much more exciting about it than a plain old vanilla cake.
I grew up in a party household. Not in the sense that anyone really partied (my mom thinks one glass of wine is a huge night), but in that life was fun. Nothing was so serious we couldn’t make it through it and sprinkles were always present. I mean we had ice cream for dinner at least once a week. One of my favorite things that my mom does is whenever we spill something, break a crystal glass, drop the cake, etc. instead of freaking out, she goes “It’s officially a party!”
Most of the time it’s definitely not a party, but this mentality has gotten me through so many oops moments.
When something goes awry, I’ve been taught to celebrate it and go with the flow. To make it “a party.”
And if there’s anything that’s a party, it’s this funfetti cake.
How to make homemade funfetti cake:
So, let’s talk about this funfetti cake recipe.
You’ve probably had funfetti cake from a cake mix in your youth and you’ve probably seen it all over social media, made super trendy by Milk Bar. But just in case anyone’s living under a rock here…funfetti cake is a standard vanilla cake with sprinkles folded into the batter. Tender, moist, fluffy and light (but not too airy), perfectly sweet, and so pretty to look at. It’s pretty much the perfect festive birthday cake.
And it’s that easy. Frost with your favorite vanilla buttercream, drizzle with pink ganache, top with more sprinkles, or keep it plain on the outside, party on the inside for a fun surprise.
The first time we tried out this homemade funfetti cake recipe we added 1 and half cups of sprinkles. Because we’re sprinkle people and reckless. I wish we’d taken a photo of the first try because it looked like a unicorn died. As my mom would say, “It was officially a party.” And it was an absolutely delicious mess.
I won’t judge you if you still use the Funfetti cake mix, but I will say you won’t regret making the homemade version. It’s really something special. So go ahead, make today a party with this funfetti birthday cake.
Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch cake pans. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the softened butter and oil together until they become homogenous, about 3 minutes. This will not work if your butter is not completely room temperature.
Slowly add the granulated sugar to the oil and butter, beating on high until the mixture is light and fluffy and turns a very pale yellow, about 3 minutes.
Add the eggs in one at time, scraping down the bowl in between each addition. Add the vanilla extract. Beat the mixture on high for 3 minutes more to incorporate as much air as possible.
In separate bowl sift together the cake flour, salt, and baking powder. Alternate mixing in the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in 4 batches, starting with the buttermilk and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold in the sprinkles until well mixed. It’s okay if the batter still has a few lumps in it–you don’t want to over mix it.
Split the batter evenly into the prepared pans and back for 20 minutes or until the cake is a lightly golden brown and springs back when pressed. Take out of the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Let the cakes cool completely and frost with your favorite frosting.
for the frosting
In a stand mixer, beat the softened butter and powdered sugar together until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in the vanilla, salt and a tablespoon of milk one at a time. If the frosting seems to be getting too runny, stop adding milk. Beat for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy
Assemble the Cake
Place first cake on a cake stand, then top with generous amount of frosting. Layer second (and additional layers if you decided to make a large cake) and repeat, dragging the frosting down the sides of the cake to finish frosting.
If you’d like make a 3 layer cake you can make 3 6 inch layers (that’s what you see in the photos!) or time the recipe by 1.5 to get a 3 layer 8 inch cake!
Hi there, it says to use two cake pans, 8 or 9 inches but your pictures all show and have 3 layers? Can you please clarify if you meant to say 3 cake pans?
Hi Simona! The photos we took are of a 3 layer 6 inch cake. This recipe will make a 2 8 or 9 inch cakes or 3 6 inch cakes or 1 9 x 13 sheetcake! I hope this helps!
Hi there, just wondering how much plain all purpose flour I would use instead of 3 cups of cake flour? I’ve tried this recipe before and its delicious I just can’t find the comment that asked this question anymore. Thanks heaps!
I was also looking at your best vanilla cake recipe and it says to make for 30 minutes but this recipe says to bake for 20 minutes. They appear identical except for bake time. Which is more accurate?
Hi I would love to make this cake for a birthday but I would like to frost the outside completely instead of having a naked cake like the picture you posted. Will the frosting in this recipe be enough to completely frost the outside? If not, how should I increase the frosting recipe?
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Hi there, it says to use two cake pans, 8 or 9 inches but your pictures all show and have 3 layers? Can you please clarify if you meant to say 3 cake pans?
Hi Simona! The photos we took are of a 3 layer 6 inch cake. This recipe will make a 2 8 or 9 inch cakes or 3 6 inch cakes or 1 9 x 13 sheetcake! I hope this helps!
Hi there, just wondering how much plain all purpose flour I would use instead of 3 cups of cake flour? I’ve tried this recipe before and its delicious I just can’t find the comment that asked this question anymore. Thanks heaps!
Hi Kate! You should use 2 2/3 cup all purpose in place of the cake flour!
Could you tell me how long this recipe would need to bake for cupcakes?
Hi Candace! You can find all our tricks for baking this recipe as cupcakes on this funfetti cupcakes post! Happy baking!
I was also looking at your best vanilla cake recipe and it says to make for 30 minutes but this recipe says to bake for 20 minutes. They appear identical except for bake time. Which is more accurate?
Hi I would love to make this cake for a birthday but I would like to frost the outside completely instead of having a naked cake like the picture you posted. Will the frosting in this recipe be enough to completely frost the outside? If not, how should I increase the frosting recipe?