Funfetti Cake: the tasty recipe for a beautiful homemade birthday cake

Deliciously moist and light with plenty of decadent buttercream, there's a good reason funfetti cake is so popular – this wonderful cake is as tasty as it is lovely to look at! While funfetti cake is a favorite at birthday parties, it's fantastic for any celebration. Fans of vanilla cakes are sure to adore this recipe. Funfetti cake is perfectly fluffy and moist and you can even use the batter to make funfetti cupcakes. If you want to impress family and friends with a homemade birthday cake, this is the recipe to try.

How to Make Funfetti Cake, Step-by-Step

Preheat your oven to 340°F. Grease and lightly flour 3 6-inch cake pans.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, add the remaining dry ingredients, then stir to combine.

Pour the wet ingredients into a separate bowl, mix to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing to form a loose batter. Pour in the sprinkles, stir until just mixed in.

Pour the cake batter into the 3 cake pans, then bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The centers of the cake should be springy to touch.

For the Italian Buttercream

While the cake is baking, use a stand mixer or whisk the egg whites, cream of tartar, and 1/3 cup of sugar to form soft peaks.

In a pan, heat 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water over low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat to medium-high. Once the sugar reaches 235 to 240°F, remove the pan from heat and add the sugar syrup to the egg white mix.

Whisk or mix in your stand mixer until room temperature. If using a mixer, swap the whisk out for the paddle attachment, then add the butter in sections. Beat until the consistency is silky, then add the vanilla extract. Scoop the buttercream into a piping bag.

For the Funfetti Buttercream

Whip the butter until fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar, milk, vanilla, and a pinch of salt, mix to combine, then separate into 2 batches.

In one batch, add a drop of pink food coloring, and stir to combine. You can add more to reach your desired color.

Fold sprinkles into each batch of buttercream, then scoop 4 piping bags. Take one of the piping bags and place one pink bag and one white bag.

For the White Chocolate Ganache

Melt the candy melts, white chocolate, and cream. Once melted, let it cool slightly, then stir until lump-free.

Add one drop of pink food coloring, then pour the ganache into a piping bags.

To Assemble and Decorate the Funfetti Cake

Between each cake layer, pipe the pink and white buttercream.

Alternate between the individual pink and white buttercream along the sides of the cake. Remove excess with a spatula, then chill for 10 to 15 minutes.

Cover the outside of the cake with the Italian buttercream. Smooth with a spatula, then chill for 10 to 15 minutes.

Pipe the ganache over the top of the cake. Allow the ganache to cool.

Place dollops of the Italian buttercream along the top of the cake with a decorative piping nozzle.

Tips for Making Funfetti Cake

Be sure to break out your kitchen scales for this recipe. Measuring the flour correctly is key to making a moist, fluffy cake.

Decorating a cake can be daunting if you've never tried it before, but it's easier than you think. Using piping bags gives you good control over how much buttercream ends up on the cake. A spatula allows you to gently smooth it out for that gorgeous professional look.

While you can use a store-bought cake mix for the batter, funfetti cake tastes best when made from scratch.

If you love the taste of funfetti cake (and who doesn't?) it's easy to make a funfetti cake dip. Mix the dry ingredients with 2 cups yogurt and 1 cup Cool Whip. Voila! Instant funfetti cake dip. Serve with animal crackers or wafer cookies.

What are the Best Sprinkles for Funfetti Cake?

Pick your favorite sprinkles for a funfetti cake. While rainbow sprinkles make the cake more eye-catching, pretty much any type of sprinkle works in this recipe. The only style to avoid using when making a funfetti cake is nonpareil – they tend to dissolve and bleed their color into the batter.

Method

Preheat your oven to 340°F. Grease and lightly flour 3 6-inch cake pans. In a large bowl, sift the flour, add the remaining dry ingredients, then stir to combine.

Pour the wet ingredients into a separate bowl, mix to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing to form a loose batter. Pour in the sprinkles, stir until just mixed in.

Pour the cake batter into the 3 cake pans, then bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The centers of the cake should be springy to touch.

For the Italian Buttercream

While the cake is baking, use a stand mixer or whisk the egg whites, cream of tartar, and 1/3 cup of sugar to form soft peaks.

In a pan, heat 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water over low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat to medium-high. Once the sugar reaches 235 to 240°F, remove the pan from heat and add the sugar syrup to the egg white mix.

Whisk or mix in your stand mixer until room temperature. If using a mixer, swap the whisk out for the paddle attachment, then add the butter in sections. Beat until the consistency is silky, then add the vanilla extract. Scoop the buttercream into a piping bag.

For the Funfetti Buttercream

Whip the butter until fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar, milk, vanilla, and a pinch of salt, mix to combine, then separate into 2 batches.

In one batch, add a drop of pink food coloring, and stir to combine. You can add more to reach your desired color.

Fold sprinkles into each batch of buttercream, then scoop 4 piping bags. Take one of the piping bags and place one pink bag and one white bag.

For the White Chocolate Ganache

Melt the candy melts, white chocolate, and cream. Once melted, let it cool slightly, then stir until lump-free. Add one drop of pink food coloring, then pour the ganache into a piping bags.

To Assemble and Decorate the Funfetti Cake

Between each cake layer, pipe the pink and white buttercream. Alternate between the individual pink and white buttercream along the sides of the cake. Remove excess with a spatula, then chill for 10 to 15 minutes.

Cover the outside of the cake with the Italian buttercream. Smooth with a spatula, then chill for 10 to 15 minutes.

Pipe the ganache over the top of the cake. Allow the ganache to cool.

Place dollops of the Italian buttercream along the top of the cake with a decorative piping nozzle.

Notes

You can make the Italian buttercream ahead of time, but whip it before piping it onto the cake. Otherwise, it'll lose its consistency. For the funfetti buttercream, it's best to make it fresh.

Don't have sour cream? Use yogurt instead.

Test the consistency of the ganache before decorating the cake to make sure it isn't too runny.

Use cake strips to help your cake bake more evenly.

For the buttercream, having a candy thermometer makes it easier to know when the sugar is the right temperature to add to the egg white mix.

Don't forget to snip off the tips of your piping bags!