Celebrate in style with this Funfetti Birthday Cake made from scratch. It’s moist, and sturdy, and covered in sprinkle goodness for a beautiful cake perfect for any celebration or birthday.
We are well known for made from scratch three layer cakes, and this newest one is no exception. People have gone positively crazy over The Most Amazing Chocolate Cake, and lately have been gobbling up The Most Amazing White Cake. Now it’s time to party in style with this Funfetti Birthday Cake. It is moist, flavorful, and will brighten anyone’s day with rainbow sprinkles. It is certainly one of the happiest cakes we’ve ever made, we dare you to try to eat this with a frown!
Lining Pans:
When making this particular cake, we highly recommend lining the bottom of the cake pan with parchment paper. This will ensure that your cake will come out of the pan in one piece. We have also used both butter and nonstick cooking spray to grease the pan on this, and both worked out just fine.
Can this recipe be made into cupcakes?
Why yes it can! They are baked at 325 degrees for 20-22 minutes and this recipe makes about 36 cupcakes.
Can I make this recipe into only two layers?
Yes you can, you’ll need to divide the recipe by 2/3rds. But no, I won’t do the math for you. I truly believe that the best cakes with the ideal frosting to cake ratio must be 3 layers.
Egg Substitute:
There are numerous options for substituting eggs in baking recipes. You can always try using one of those.
Buttermilk:
Buttermilk reacts with the baking powder in this recipe to give the cake volume. To learn all about buttermilk, as well as learn how to make a quick and easy buttermilk substitute, please read this post.
Can I use a different pan size?
You are certainly welcome to try, but you’ll need to adjust cooking times and be careful as to how much you fill the pan. This recipe is written for 9-inch round pans, which is a standard size. A three tiered cake produces the ideal cake to frosting ratio.
Can I use a different frosting?
You certainly can! Feel free to frost this cake with your preferred frosting.
Gluten Free:
Use gluten free flours at your own risk. Not all gluten free flours are equal and most don’t work as a straight forward substitute for all-purpose flour. We have not tested any gluten free flours in this recipe.
Do I have to coat the outside with sprinkles?
Nope! You can decorate the cake however you would like.
Can I add sprinkles to the frosting for a funfetti frosting?
Yes! Once your frosting is made, simply fold in your sprinkles gently. This will keep the sprinkles from bleeding out their colors into the frosting.
Can I use non-pareil sprinkles?
No, I don’t recommend it as they bleed out their colors and won’t produce the ideal result for a funfetti cake.
How do I know when the cake is done?
Do not over bake this cake. Over baking a white or vanilla cake is the fastest way to dry it out. You can test your cake for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean your cake is done. I prefer to tap the top of my cake. I can feel whether or not the cake is done by seeing if it jiggles at all. If it jiggles, there is still liquid in the center.
How do I decorate my cake like the pictures?
In the photos and video we have covered my cake completely with sprinkles. This required almost 2 cups of additional sprinkles. Warning: it can get downright messy, so have a vacuum or broom handy. It’s a beautiful result, but it can get a bit crazy.
Storage Instructions:
Store your cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious cake recipes:
- The Most Amazing Strawberry Cake
- The Most Amazing Carrot Cake
- Luscious Lemon Cake
- The Most Amazing Chocolate Cake
Watch the video below where we will walk you through every step of the recipe with a video demonstration.
Will this hold up well with buttercream icing? I am making a Trolls cake that requires one round cake pan and cupcakes for the hair. If I make one 9 in round cake, could I make 24 cupcakes for the hair as well? I would make it the night before and put it in the fridge overnight.
Yes, it should hold up!
How long will the cake stay. I noticed there is no preservative in the recipe.
Sugar acts as a preservative by itself. As with most white and vanilla cakes, this cake is best eaten within 3 days.
Can I substitute 6 egg whites for the 3 eggs to get a whiter cake? Or without the yokes will the texture of the cake change?
Yes, that should work.
Would i be able to freeze the cake?
Yes 🙂
Awesome recipe! Easy to make. I used one cup less of powered sugar than the recipe called for. My 9-year old loved it as his birthday cake. @NicoleRovig
Made it today, was delicious! But I didn’t use the milk at all, the frosting was already liquid enough (guess that’s because the cream cheese in Germany is already quite liquid in comparison to yours). Unfortunately I didn’t have 9 inch pans, so I had to use one pan and made the cake in one peace, afterwards I cut it into three layers. But each layer looked more flat than yours, guess that’s because of you using three pans and me only one? Also I guess next time I won’t use 6 cups of powdered sugar, that’s quite a lot and makes it too sweet for our taste. I know you americans like everything extremely sweet. 😉 It’s a pitty that you don’t go to much into detail in the video, I would have liked to see more of the handwork. I had some problems attaching the sprinkles at the side, because the frosting was still quite liquid and I accidently removed some of it while putting the sprinkles on it…
Thanks for the recipe and greetings from Germany!
Wow, I had no idea you had this recipe! Last weekend I ended up using your white cake recipe and adding sprinkles to it, lol! Still delicious, but if I had known about it, I would have used this recipe.
If I’m making the cake the night before, could I frost it with the sprinkles and keep it in the fridge? Or would the color from the sprinkles bleed out?
The color from the sprinkles holds up pretty well.
Will it still work without sprinkles?
Yes it will.
My daughter is allergic to cows milk. Can I substitute with almond milk?
Worth a try.
Why Salted Butter? Can I use Unsalted Butter?
I design my recipes with salted butter whenever possible, because that is what most people tend to have on hand.