Phenomenal and Festive Funfetti Birthday Cake

You're definitely going to want to make this Funfetti Birthday Cake for your next birthday celebration. This cake has only 2 elements, but the look and the taste will take your party to the next level. 

This Funfetti recipe is the cake version of confetti. It has rainbow sprinkles in a light and fluffy vanilla cake base and it's topped with a vanilla rainbow sprinkle buttercream. If you are a beginner at cake making, this is a great place to start! 

For more recipes with sprinkles, here are some below: 

Golden Oreo Birthday Cake

The Best Birthday Golden Oreo Blondies 

Cookie Dough Brownies

Why this recipe works: 

• Funfetti cake layers-This cake has three 8 inch layers, but can also be made into four 6 inch cake layers.
• Rainbow sprinkles- Even as an adult, rainbow sprinkles still make me incredibly happy! 
• Perfect for birthdays - I know with summer in full swing, you'll want an easy cake for those summer birthdays. This is it! It's so colorful and festive.
• Soft and moist cake- I use oil and cake flour to give you the most incredible texture of cake you'll ever make!
  

Ingredient notes

I have listed some of the ingredients here, but for a full list of ingredients, check out the recipe card below.

• Unsalted butter- You will want room temperature butter for this cake. 
• Cooking spray- This might not be in the ingredient list, but you will use it to spray your cake pans. 
• Eggs- You need 6 eggs for the cake batter, and they need to be at room temperature.
• Cake flour- This helps make your cakes light, fluffy, and delicious. 
• Clear vanilla extract- Any brand from your local grocery store will work.
• Buttermilk- This will also need to be at room temperature. Make sure to pull it out 2-4 hours before you start baking.
• Rainbow sprinkles- Any brand will work.
• Heavy cream- You will need a heavy whipping cream for the batter.

Step by step instructions- cake layers 

Step 1: Prep your cake pans. Spray three 8-inch or four 6-inch round cake pans with cooking spray. Spray the bottom of the pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.

Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Step 3: Cream the butter and sugar. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on high until fluffy and smooth, about 4 minutes.

Step 4: Add the eggs and sour cream. With the mixer on medium speed, start adding the whole egg and the egg whites, one at a time, to the bowl, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl between each addition. After all the eggs have been added, beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the sour cream and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.

Step 5: Alternate the dry ingredients with the buttermilk. Turn the mixer on low and add half of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk to the butter mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Add the rest of the flour mixture and the rest of the buttermilk while mixing on low. 

Step 6: Fold in the sprinkles. With a rubber spatula, fold in the sprinkles.

Step 7: Divide and bake. Using a kitchen scale, evenly distribute the cake batter among the three 8-inch or four 6-inch pans (about 18 ounces in the 8 inch, and 12 ounces in the 12 inch) and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it, or until it starts to get a little golden brown on top.

Step 8: Let the cakes cool. Remove cakes from the oven and let them cool in their pans for 15 minutes before taking them out of the pans and placing them on cooling racks.

Step by step- Sprinkle buttercream

Step 1: Beat the butter. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter for about 2 minutes on medium speed. Scape down the sides with a rubber spatula.

Step 2: Add the powdered sugar. Add the sifted powdered sugar and mix on low, just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. 

Step 3: Add the rest of the ingredients. Turn the mixer to medium speed and add the whipping cream, vanilla, and salt.

Step 4: Beat the mixture. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for an additional 5 minutes. The frosting will become lighter in color and texture. 

Step 5: Add the rainbow sprinkles. With a rubber spatula, stir in the rainbow sprinkles. 

Step 6: Beat out the air pockets. Before spreading the frosting on your cake, spend a couple of minutes mixing the buttercream by hand with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula to push out the air pockets.

Assembly 

• If the cakes need to be leveled, level each cake layer with a knife or cake leveler. 
• Place the first cake layer on a cake board top side down and top with ½ or ⅓ of the frosting (depending on whether it's an 8-inch or 6-inch cake). 
• Repeat step two with the remaining cake layers, top side up, but place the final cake layer top-side down.
• Apply a thin crumb coat around the cake and chill for 15 minutes in the freezer to set.
• Finish frosting the cake with the remaining funfetti frosting.

Expert baking tips

1. When you are making the cake batter, make sure to really cream the butter and the sugar. I can't stress this enough! This helps create air pockets in your cake layers that also helps it rise. 
2. Use high quality cake pans. This helps prevent your cake layers from browning on the sides. I always use Fat Daddios cake pans. You can find the ones I use here.
3. I say this a lot because I think it's really important… USE ROOM TEMP ingredients! Making sure all of your ingredients are the same temp is a must!
4. To get a creamy and smooth buttercream, add a Tablespoon of whipping cream once you done mixing the buttercream. Then beat by hand with a rubber spatula to get all of the air bubbles out. 
5. Do a crumb coat. Don't skip this step. It helps secure the crumbs onto the cake and makes decorating easier.
6. Use a turn table to help decorate your cake. You can find the one I use here.
7. I love using an offset spatula to help spread the buttercream on the sides of the cake. You can find mine here.

Storing

How to store this Funfetti Birthday Cake 

If I am dividing my cake making into multiple days, I bake my cake layers, cool them, and wrap them with plastic wrap and store them in the fridge or freezer. This help reduce crumbs and makes it so the layers don't slide around when decorating. They can be stored in the fridge for 3-5 days. 

For the filling, make it the same day you are stacking and assembling. It doesn't hold well. Once you are done making the filling, place it in the fridge to keep cold, and make it stable. 

For more cake recipes here are some:

The Finest and Ultimate Cookies And Cream Cake

Delightful Lemon Blueberry Cake 

Ultimate Biscoff Cake

Recipe

Funfetti Birthday Cake

Molly Murphy

This Funfetti recipe is the cake version of confetti. It has rainbow sprinkles in a light and fluffy vanilla cake base and it's topped with a vanilla rainbow sprinkle buttercream.

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  

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For the cake

• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 1¾ cups granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large whole egg room temperature
• 4 large egg whites room temperature
• ¼ cup sour cream room temperature
• 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
• 3 cups cake flour spooned and leveled
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1¼ cups buttermilk room temperature
• ⅓ cup rainbow sprinkles

For the buttercream

• 2 cups unsalted butter slightly chilled
• 5 ½ cups powdered sugar measured and then sifted
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ cup rainbow sprinkles
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

 

For the cake

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch or four 6-inch round cake pans with cooking spray. Spray the bottom of the pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
• In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on high until fluffy and smooth, about 4 minutes.
• With the mixer on medium speed, start adding the whole egg and the egg whites, one at a time, to the bowl, scraping the bottom and the sides of the bowl between each addition. After all the eggs have been added, beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the sour cream and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.
• Turn the mixer on low and add half of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk to the butter mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Finally, add the rest of the flour mixture and the rest of the buttermilk, while mixing on low.
• With a rubber spatula, fold in the sprinkles.
• Using a kitchen scale, evenly distribute the cake batter among the three 8-inch or four 6-inch pans (about 18 ounces in the 8 inch, and 12 ounces in the 12 inch) and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it or until it starts to get a little golden brown on top.
• Remove cakes from the oven and let them cool in their pans for 15 minutes before taking them out of the pans and placing them on cooling racks.
• When the cakes are completely cooled, wrap each cake layer individually with plastic wrap and stick it in the refrigerator or freezer until you're ready to frost.
• If your cakes have a small dome, level them when they are cool, but before you place them in the fridge.

For the Sprinkle Buttercream

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter for about 2 minutes on medium speed. Scape down the sides with a rubber spatula.
• Add the sifted powdered sugar and mix on low just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• Turn the mixer to medium speed and add whipping cream, vanilla, and salt.
• Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for an additional 5 minutes. The frosting will become lighter in color and texture.
• With a rubber spatula, stir in the rainbow sprinkles.
• Before spreading the frosting on your cake, spend a couple of minutes mixing the buttercream by hand with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula to push out the air pockets.

Assembly

• If the cakes need to be leveled, level each cake layer with a knife or cake leveler.
• Place the first cake layer on a cake board top side down and top with ½ or ⅓ of the frosting (depending on whether it's an 8-inch or 6-inch cake).
• Repeat step two with the remaining cake layers, top side up, but place the final cake layer top-side down.
• Apply a thin crumb coat around the cake and chill for 15 minutes in the freezer to set.
• Finish frosting the cake with the remaining funfetti frosting.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!