Homemade Funfetti Cake with Funfetti Frosting — 🎂🎉🍰 This cake is as close to store-bought funfetti cake mix that I’ve been able to replicate at home. I have no shame in admitting my love for that stuff, but it’s nice to be able to pronounce all the ingredients and prep a cake from scratch in literally 5 minutes!
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I’ve always loved Funfetti. Who can resist all those sprinkles buried in soft, fluffy cake? None of us in my house can.
This homemade funfetti cake has sprinkles in the batter and also has a wall of sprinkles in the funfetti frosting. Sprinkle overload, such a beautiful thing.
The cake and funfetti frosting are both fast and easy to make, and the cake always turn out supremely moist, springy, and fluffy thanks to buttermilk, sour cream, and oil. That trifecta of moisturizing and tenderizing ingredients makes it impossible to have a dry cake!
Funfetti Cake Ingredients
This is such an easy funfetti cake recipe! You’ll need the following basic ingredients:
Cake:
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Egg
- Buttermilk
- Sour cream
- Canola oil
- Vanilla extract
- Sprinkles
Funfetti frosting:
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Confectioners’ sugar
- More sprinkles!
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Funfetti Cake from Scratch
Here’s how this easy homemade funfetti cake recipe comes together:
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another.
- Gently stir in the sprinkles.
- Turn the batter into a greased 8×8-inch baking dish and bake until the center is set and not jiggly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
- Once the funfetti cake comes out of the oven, let it cool completely before frosting. The homemade funfetti frosting is as simple to make as whipping the ingredients together until light and fluffy!
Baking FAQs
Nope! White cake is incredibly light, fluffy, and has such a lovely in flavor thanks to the multitude of egg whites in the batter. Funfetti cake is made with a whole egg, buttermilk, sour cream, and plenty of vanilla to create a richer, moister cake that is — yes — loaded with sprinkles!
Funfetti cake tastes like a richer version of a vanilla cake. It also has a subtle tang to it from the buttermilk and sour cream in the batter.
Get your hands on real buttermilk, if possible. Otherwise, you can make a buttermilk substitute in a couple of minutes. You can also use powdered buttermilk, which has a long shelf life and comes in handy for recipes like this funfetti cake.
I used generic, store-brand sprinkles to make this funfetti cake recipe and they didn’t bleed into the batter at all. Long, skinny sprinkles work best for this recipe.
If you’re concerned with the sprinkles bleeding into the batter, I recommend being very gentle when stirring them in. If you overmix the batter after adding the sprinkles, it may change color.
I have only make this with all purpose so really can’t say if cake flour will yield the same results with the same measurement of flour or not.
I’m sure you can. You’d need to double the ingredients listed and bake the funfetti cake in a 9×13-inch pan. Note that your baking time will differ since you’re making a much larger cake.
You probably can, although I haven’t done so myself so I can’t say for sure. If baking this recipe as cupcakes, you’d likely need to bake them for around 18 to 20 minutes. Use your best judgement!
Yes, you likely can double this recipe and bake it in two 8- or 9-inch round cake tins. To be safe, Google the volume of an 8×8-inch baking dish versus an 8- or 9-inch round baking tin to see how much of a difference there is between the two. This way, you’ll know if you need to double the recipe or 2.5x it, and so forth.
If you’re looking for a funfetti bundt cake recipe, I recommend making this recipe instead. I’ve tested it multiple times and know that it works in a bundt pan.
Storage and Freezing Instructions
Cake will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days (I’m comfortable storing frosted cakes at room temp, if you’re not store in the fridge) or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Wrap the cake tightly with plastic wrap before freezing for best results.
Recipe Video
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Homemade Funfetti Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
Ingredients
Funfetti Cake
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ⅓ cup sour cream, lite is okay (plain Greek yogurt may be substituted)
- ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup sprinkles, or to taste
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- pinch salt, optional and to taste (helps offset the sweetness)
- 1 ½ to 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, I use 2 cups
- ⅓ cup sprinkles, or to taste
Instructions
Make the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, optional salt; set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, sour cream, oil, and vanilla.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry, mixing lightly with a spoon or folding with a spatula until just combined. Small lumps will be present, don’t overmix or try to stir them smooth.
- Gently stir in the sprinkles, taking care not to overmix or they could bleed.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes (start checking at 25 minutes), or until center is set and not jiggly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
- Place pan on a wire rack and allow cake to cool. While cake cools, make the frosting.
Make the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
- To a large bowl, add the butter, vanilla, optional salt, and slowly add the confectioners’ sugar while beating with a handheld electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Turn frosting out onto cooled cake, smoothing it lightly with a spatula or offset knife.
- Evenly sprinkle the sprinkles before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
- Cake will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days (I’m comfortable storing frosted cakes at room temp, if you’re not store in the fridge) or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Cake base adapted from Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Bean Browned Butter Glaze.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Desserts Using Sprinkles:
Easy Homemade Funfetti Bundt Cake — No cake mix in this 100% homemade funfetti cake that’s loaded with sprinkles and tastes amazing! Fast, easy, and the best scratch funfetti cake recipe!
Funfetti Cookies — These funfetti cookies are essentially sugar cookies from scratch that have been loaded with sprinkles. They have that nostalgic boxed cake flavor but are 100% homemade!
Oreo Chocolate Chip Funfetti Cookies — The cookies are loaded with Oreos, sprinkles, chocolate chips, and are adapted from my favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies. They’re soft, moist, buttery, and thick enough to sink your teeth into!
Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies — Jumbo, super soft, slightly chewy cake mix cookies that are loaded with rainbow and confetti sprinkles, and topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting!
Birthday Cake Cinnamon Rolls — The softest, fluffiest, most tender cinnamon rolls stuffed with cinnamon-and-sugar and rainbow sprinkles! Topped with tangy cream cheese frosting and more sprinkles!
Copycat Lofthouse Sugar Cookies — Just like real Lofthouse cookies, but with sprinkles baked in! These cookies are soft, buttery, and they just melt in your mouth!
Hi .want to try this recipe .i wanted to make a white chocolate icing to go …any idea and recipe..
I would google it and search until you come across one that sounds good to you. I don’t have one off the top of my head.
I doubled this so I could bake it in two 8” rounds. And it sunk in the middle. Why do you think that is?😖
I don’t know since I’ve only made it as an 8″ square and as a bundt and have not had problems with it at all.
Possibly you underbaked slightly or your leaveners weren’t perfectly fresh and activated.
Do you have to line the pans with foil??
No but it makes it easier to clean up.
How many servings is this cake? Never tried it, but looks great (and from all the positive comments!
It’s an 8×8, I would say 9 to 12 depending on how you cut them. 16 if you cut them very small.
Hello! How do you think this would this hold up under fondant?
I’m not sure…I haven’t tried it so I really cannot guess what would happen.
It was my daughter’s 21st and as always she asked me to bake a cake…. such a stressful job, right?
I thought of adding sprinklers but was concerned if they bleed 🤔. I thought of you Averie and then jumped to your site.
As always no fail recipe. Thank you, it’s a keep 👍🏻
Thanks for the compliments and so glad the cake turned out great! And happy 21st bday to your daughter!
Hey! This looks delicious! Would you say itll make about 12 cupcakes?
I’ve never tried it has cupcakes so I’m not quite sure but yes 12 is a good exclamation I would think.
Would you change anything in the recipe if you wanted to make cupcakes with it? (Other than shorter baking time of course…)
I wouldn’t make any changes and then I’d make a batch and see how they are and go from there for future experiments.
Kathy Taber, did you double the recipe to make a 2-layer cake in 8 inch rounds??
Oh my word Averie, you are my hero! I have searched and searched for a delicious, moist white cake for too many years (more than 25 years I’m guessing). I just made this for a second time within the week. This time I made two 8 inch round layers for a birthday cake for a coworker – who doesn’t love funfetti. I can not thank you enough for this recipe.
Thanks for the five star review and I’m so glad this recipe has ended your 25 your quest! Glad this was such a hit that you’ve made it twice in a week!
Hey Kathy,
Is doubling the recipe enough for the two 8 inch
Pans?
I made this today and love it! Super easy and quick, but so much better than a box cake. So moist, and a richer flavor than a box cake. Icing was a breeze, too. If you make the icing, you can control the sweetness; I put in less powdered sugar (about a cup and a half) and liked the final outcome. Thanks for a keeper recipe.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you loved the cake and agree that it’s quick, easy, and way better than a boxed mix!
Made this recipe into 12 delicious cupcakes! Baked for about 17 minutes. I used Ermine frosting, tinted pink, and they were amazing!! The reason I selected this was for the buttermilk/oil/sour cream mixture. It helps keep them so moist vs butter which seems to dry them out when refrigerated. Soooo easy to mix by hand. This is a keeper! *****
Thanks for the five star review and glad you love the cake! I completely agree about oil based cakes versus butter-based cakes. Oil just keeps things so much softer. It is 100% fat. Whereas butter is about 80% fat.
Can this recipe be used for a layered round cake? 8 or 9 inch if I doubled the recipe?
Probably but I haven’t tried it that way so can’t say for sure.
Could I make a cream cheese frosting for this? Any recommends for one that would work for this cakeV
Yes you can. Any basic cream cheese frosting will work. https://www.averiecooks.com/cinnamon-roll-bars-cream-cheese-frosting/ should probably be fine
Thanks! Would it be okay to make a day ahead of time or best to make day of?
A day ahead is fine.
Could this be made into cupcakes?
yes
Could this be doubled and baked in a 9×13 pan?
Yes probably although I haven’t personally tried it.
hey girl- this cake looks so yummy!
Thank you! We love it! Have a great weekend!