This colorful homemade funfetti cake is a twist on the classic funfetti cake! It’s a fluffy, buttery white cake topped with a creamy butter meringue frosting. Make it as a sheet cake or round cake layers!
This recipe makes the best funfetti cake and it’s one of our favorite desserts. The perfect cake for a birthday party or any celebration!
You can also make confetti cupcakes too!
There is something so nostalgic about funfetti cake and conjures up wonderful memories of birthdays and celebrations. Funfetti cake was my absolute favorite growing up. I would often call it confetti cake or sprinkle cake as the beautiful colorful sprinkles dot the inside and look like confetti!
As I got older and started to make homemade cakes, I wanted to create a homemade version of a funfetti cake. I created this recipe for homemade funfetti cake so you don’t have to use a boxed cake. You have more options when making homemade cakes like using organic ingredients and natural sprinkles if you prefer.
If you’re looking for more fun sprinkle recipes try our homemade vanilla brownies and our no-bake cheesecake! Both are just as colorful as this cake!
I also love my fluffy, yellow birthday cake recipe for celebrations too!
Homemade Funfetti Cake Ingredient Notes
The full recipe and measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Unsalted Butter – Use organic, grass-fed butter if possible. Make sure it’s room-temperature butter.
- Whole Milk – Moistens the batter and adds protein and structure to the cake.
- Vegetable Oil – Makes it incredibly moist. Any neutral oil will work, such as vegetable or canola oil.
- Vanilla and Almond Extract – Enhances the flavors in the cake and adds extra flavor.
- Granulated Sugar – If you have super fine sugar, it works best in a white cake recipe. However, regular white granulated sugar will also work fine too.
- Large Eggs – Use organic whole eggs work to moisten and stabilize a cake.
- All-Purpose Flour – Flour provides the structure of baked goods.
- Baking Powder and Salt
- Sprinkles – Rainbow sprinkles or rainbow jimmies.
How To Make a Funfetti Sheet Cake
There are eight simple steps to make this cake.
Combine Dry Ingredients – In a large bowl add the dry ingredients together.
Cream Butter and Sugar – In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the sugar and butter with the paddle attachment.
Add in Eggs – Beat each egg in one at a time and use a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Combine Liquid Ingredients – In a measuring cup add all of the liquid ingredients.
Alternate Dry and Wet Ingredients – Turn the mixer to low speed and alternate the wet and flour mixture with the butter mixture.
Fold in Sprinkles – This is what makes it a funfetti cake!
Prepare Baking Pans – Use a rectangular cake pan or two 8-inch cake pans. If you’re using round cake pans and making a layered cake, grease the pan and line it with parchment paper.
Bake – Make sure the oven is preheated to 350 degrees. Baking times will vary depending on the pan you use, true oven temperature, and location.
What Is A Sheet Cake?
A sheet cake is traditionally baked on a flat rectangular pan like a sheet pan (with sides) or a jelly roll pan. However, we use a 9×13 rectangular cake pan and since it’s a single-layer rectangular pan we call it a sheet cake.
These single-layer cakes are almost always frosted, with decorations and ornamental frosting along the borders and the flat top surface.
Tips for Making Confetti Cake
- Use Quality Ingredients. We always use organic, whole ingredients for the most part. For this recipe, we also used all grass-fed dairy products. We truly notice a positive difference in the end result. Using high-quality ingredients always makes a big difference.
- When measuring flour for a cake, lightly spoon it over the measuring cup, then swipe the top using the back of a knife.
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- When mixing on low, alternate the dry and wet ingredients.
- Butter the cake pan or sheet pan well.
- Don’t over-mix once the flour is added.
- Remember, all oven temperatures are different, and cooking times vary. You have to know when your cake is made. Check on it and use the toothpick in the center method.
Funfetti Buttercream Frosting
The buttercream meringue frosting recipe is absolutely amazing with this cake. It’s soft, fluffy, creamy, and not too sweet. It only has 1 cup of organic sugar, 4 egg whites, and grass-fed butter. It’s so soft and creamy and pretty much perfect!
You can also top it with classic buttercream or even chocolate frosting if you prefer.
How to Store Confetti Cake
Store this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Trust us, there won’t be any left after 5 days!
If the cake is not frosted you can make it ahead of time and freeze it. We recommend not freezing the cake with frosting as the buttercream meringue doesn’t freeze well. It will freeze well unfrosted for up to 3 months.
Let it sit in the refrigerator overnight to defrost.
When to Serve a Funfetti Sheet Cake
This sprinkle cake is great for several occasions! Here are some ideas:
Birthday Party or Carnival Party
Garden Party or Tropical Party
Baby Shower or Wedding Shower
Frequently Asked Questions
Funfetti cake is a fluffy vanilla cake batter with colorful sprinkles which add dots of color throughout the cake.
You can! This is a great way to add fun and color to a white or yellow cake. The sprinkles will melt, leaving a beautiful spot of color!
Funfetti cake is a moist, fluffy white cake with sprinkles. It has a vanilla flavor but it’s made with less egg yolk, so the color is white, not yellow.
The best sprinkles to use in a cake are jimmies. These are long skinny, colorful sprinkles that you can buy at the grocery store. We buy the rainbow blend and they work great.
More Cake Recipes You’ll Love
Any of these cake recipes would be perfect for a party!
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Homemade Funfetti Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter , room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, super fine sugar is best, but regular white sugar will work.
- 4 large eggs whites
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 cup colorful sprinkles
Buttercream Meringue Frosting
- 2 cups buttercream frosting
- 1/2 cup sprinkles, more for the top
Instructions
Cake
- Combine all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
- In a mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in each egg white one at a time and continue beating.
- Add in the whole egg.
- Combine the milk, oil and extracts together in a bowl with a spout.
- With the mixer on low, alternate the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, beating until combined each time.
- Fold in the sprinkles and pour into a 9×13, buttered sheet pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees. This will vary depending on the cake pan you use, true oven temperature and location.
Notes
- Use organic ingredients, grass-fed when possible. The taste is so much more balanced and rich.
- When measuring flour for a cake, lightly spoon it over the measuring cup, then swipe the top using the back of a knife.
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- When mixing on low, alternate the dry and wet ingredients.
- Butter the cake pan or sheet pan well.
- Don’t over-mix once the flour is added.
- Store cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Trust us, there won’t be any left after 5 days.
- Bake this cake in 8×8 round cake pans or a rectangular cake pan.
Nutrition
Hi! I need to make this for a large group- would you say I should 1.5 or double the recipe to make it in an actual sheet pan?
Thanks!
I would always double, the measurements can get messed up when you try to cut it again.
I make this every year for my girls! It’s a family favorite.
Yay!! Love you Jenya!!
Great recipe! Cant wait to make it again!
Just looking at this cake makes me happy!
Love funfetti cake! I feel like it is it the quintessential birthday cake – you just can’t go wrong with it!
Why does funfetti make everything better?! This cake is pretty & seems so soft! It’s the perfect celebration cake!
I made this last week and LOVED it! I want to make it again for my co-workers, but the frosting recipe seems to have disappeared. Any chance you could add that back in?? Thank you!
Oh yay!! So good to hear! Okay, let us work on that. We switched our site over and we’re having some glitches!! Thank you for letting me know 🙂
I can’t seem to find the frosting recipe, where is it posted?
It’s fixed now 🙂
Wanting to make for my kiddos [ages 22 and 20] today…please tell me how much lemon juice and vanilla bean extract to add to the frosting. I do not see the measurements for this in the recipe [frosting].
The recipe is updated!! No lemon juice just vanilla extract. Sorry about that!
Hi there! Your cake is beautiful! What kind of sprinkles did you use? The colors are lovely!
Hi! Thank you so much!! I got them at Sur La Table. Just regular party sprinkles, but maybe a little chigger end? Haha!