Funfetti Cake Recipe from Scratch (2024)

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Last Updated On: April 29, 2023 | Published: March 22, 2018 by Melissa Diamond | 56 Comments

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There are few recipes as cheerful as a delicious funfetti cake, speckled with all of the colors of the rainbow! There's happiness in every slice.

Funfetti Cake Recipe from Scratch (1)

You can find funfetti cake mixes at the grocery store, but we love to make it from scratch.

Every delicious funfetti (or confetti) cake recipe has two things in common... you need a delicious white or yellow cake recipe, and lots of colorful sprinkles.

Rainbow jimmies have never let me down for this recipe (or ever, haha). Theycan easily be folded and distributed throughout the batter without a lot of color bleeding.

Funfetti Cake Recipe from Scratch (2)

Table of Contents

A Quick History of Funfetti Cake

Funfetti Cakes were first introduced in the late 1980's as a Pillsbury Cake mix.

While it's often thought of as a kids cake, I'm here to tell you that funfetti-loving kids grow into funfetti-loving adults!

This cake is popular with my whole family. A scoop of sprinkleshas a way of making any dessert more festive!

Let's Make Funfetti Cake!

Today's funfetti cake recipe is based on our White Almond Sour Cream Cake....minus the almond.

As you'll see in our recipe, we're using the conventional method of mixing (rather than the reverse creaming) for nice, fluffy layers. This recipe works great for cupcakes also!

After folding our sprinkles into our cake batter, we divided the batter between three greased and floured pans (lined with parchment).

Funfetti Cake Recipe from Scratch (3)

Freshly baked! I love that this cake makes three layers. After baking, I allow the cake layers to cool (still in their pans) for about 5 minutes before flipping them out.

Funfetti Cake Recipe from Scratch (4)

You can see in the photo that I flipped each cake layer onto its own (wrapped) cake board. This is optional, but I like to freeze my cake layers individually, wrapping the layers while still warm in a layer of plastic wrap followed by foil.

I then pop them into the freezer. Freezing is optional, but we do find that it makes the cakes even more moist!(I wrap the cake boards in foil so that they can be unwrapped and reused)!

Funfetti Cake Recipe from Scratch (5)

Funfetti Unicorn Cake!

I recently made a funfetti cake for our free Unicorn Cake Topper Video Tutorial from our Free Cake Video Tutorials section. Unicorn cakes call for a little extra color!

Funfetti Cake Recipe from Scratch (6)

Ahhh...the Perfect Slice of Sprinkle Goodness

And here is a closeup of our slice in all of it's speckled funfetti glory!

I like using the colorful jimmies as our sprinkles because they leave nice, large dots of color after baking. This is such a cheerful slice of cake!

Funfetti Cake Recipe from Scratch (7)

Enjoy the Recipe!

We hope that you enjoy this delicious Funfetti Cake! If you give it a try, we would love for you to leave a comment and photo below!

Don't miss our full collection of tried and true favorite cake and frosting recipes in our Recipes Section! There are so many wonderful recipes to try!

Funfetti Cake Recipe from Scratch (8)

Funfetti Cake Recipe from Scratch

Funfetti Cake Recipe from Scratch (9)

This homemade Funfetti Cake is moist, delicious and so colorful!

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ sticks (12 T) (170g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
  • 1 ½ c (300g) granulated sugar
  • 3 Large eggs
  • 2 tsp. (8g) vanilla extract
  • ⅓ c (73g) milk
  • 1 cup (242g) sour cream
  • 2 ½ c (285g) cake flour
  • 2 ½ teaspoons (12g) baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
  • 1 cup (or less if you prefer) Rainbow Colored Jimmies

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Grease and flour three 8 inch round baking pans
  2. In medium bowl whisk for 30 seconds the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside
  3. In a separate bowl, combine milk, sour cream, vanilla. Stir with a fork to blend. Set Aside
  4. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter until softened. Add the sugar and beat 3 to 4 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy. Scrape the bottom and sides of bowl midway through.
  5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one until yellow streaks disappear.
  6. Add dry ingredients alternately with wet ingredients, mixing until dry ingredients are blended in. Begin and end with dry ingredients (3 additions of dry and 2 of wet).
  7. Fold in sprinkles just until evenly distributed.
  8. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with only a few crumbs attached. Let cool in pans 10 - 15 minutes then turn out. Makes 7 cups batter Will hold up to fondant. Works well for cupcakes - cupcakes bake without dome

Related Recipes

White Almond Sour Cream CakeYellow Cake RecipePink Champagne Cake {Scratch Recipe}

Leave a Reply

  1. Hello. My daughter wants a confetti cake with strawberry icing for her birthday. I’m hoping this cake turns out. I’m wanting to do 2 - 9 in rounds then two 6 in rounds stacked on top. Should I make the recipe 1.5 times for those pan sizes? Also cook time?
    Also does this cake stack ok? Just making sure I won’t have any problems putting the 2 six in cakes on the 2 nine inch cakes.
    Thank you.

    Reply

  2. Hi Whitney, The confetti cake always makes a cute birthday cake. The recipe makes 7 cups batter. You will need to double the recipe for the size cake layers you are using. Cups of batter suggested for 6x2 inch rounds is 3 cups per pan and 5 cups per pan for 9x2 inch rounds. These are suggested amounts, you could increase the recipe by 1/2 giving you 10 1/2 cups, your cake layers would not be quite as tall, but I think the finished cake would still look good.

    You could bake your cake layers in advance, wrap individually in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze. Layers can be frozen for 2 months. This recipe is good for stacking. The 6 inch top tier will be on its own cake board and resting on dowels or bubble T straws, they will be supporting the weight of the top tier. Below I will link you to a cake batter amounts chart and also to Melissa's video on Tier Stacking. You might find them helpful. Let us know if you have other questions.

    https://www.mycakeschool.com/video-tutorials/simple-stacked-tiers

    Reply

  3. Hi! Do you bake all 3 cakes in the same oven at the same time? If so do you bake confection? Do you have to rotate during baking?

    Reply

  4. Hi Liz, I do bake all 3 cakes in the oven at the same time, all on one rack without rotating. If you have the convection bake option on your oven you should be able to bake on two racks with the circulating heat. Convection temp would be lowered 25 degrees. With some recipes rotating the pans too early can cause the cake to sink in the center so be careful with that. If you do not have room for 3 pans, you could bake 2 layers, keeping the 3rd pan filled with batter in the refrigerator until the first 2 layers have baked.

    Reply

  5. This recipe looks great! Can't wait to use it for my nieces birthday soon! Instead of doing 3, 8" cakes, would these proportions work for a 6" and a 4" cake to stack? Or would I need to revise the recipe amounts? Thanks!

    Reply

  6. Hi Kassie This recipe makes 7 cups of batter so you will definitely have enough cake batter for 6" and 4" cakes. A six inch round pan can hold 2 cups of batter and a 4 inch round pan will only need 1/2 to 3/4 cup .

    Reply

  7. Hi!
    This recipe looks great! Would I be able to make these into cupcakes as well? How many cupcakes would this recipe make?

    Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Hi Laura- these should work fine for cupcakes! (Our scratch cupcakes usually bake up with very little dome) - Each cupcake is about 1/4 cup of batter, so this recipe should make approximately 28 cupcakes. I would check them after 15 minutes in the oven, and then adjust time as needed.

      Reply

Funfetti Cake Recipe from Scratch (2024)

FAQs

What are the ingredients in Funfetti cake mix? ›

Enriched Bleached Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Sugar, Candy Bits (Sugar, Corn Starch, Vegetable Oil [Palm and Palm Kernel], Soy Lecithin, Confectioner's Glaze, Red 40 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Blue 1 Lake, Carnauba Wax, Yellow 6 Lake), ...

What gives Funfetti its flavor? ›

Funfetti cake is typically a vanilla buttercream flavor with hints of waxy sweetness from the sprinkles in the batter. It is partnered with vanilla buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting. Decorate it with frosting, sprinkles, and whatever you like!

Is Funfetti just vanilla? ›

Yes, Funfetti is vanilla cake with sprinkles, but it's so much more. Funfetti cake is a festive confetti cake filled with nostalgia. It was invented in 1989 by Pillsbury. Funfetti is a vanilla-flavored white cake stuffed with colorful candy bits that, when baked, look like confetti or colorful dots.

Is birthday cake just vanilla with sprinkles? ›

If you've ever wondered about what exactly birthday cake flavor is, you're not alone. The short answer is vanilla and sugar; a longer answer involves Proustian memory, white cake, butter, and rainbow sprinkles. It's important to note that there is no industry standard birthday cake flavor.

Can I use milk instead of water in Funfetti cake mix? ›

Baking tip #2: adding milk to your box cake mix in place of water adds a dense texture to your dessert leaving it moist and flavorful like a homemade cake. Or, if you prefer, you can add buttermilk, giving your cake a tangy flavor to balance out the sweetness.

What are the ingredients in Pillsbury cake mix? ›

Enriched Bleached Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Sugar, Leavening (Baking Soda, Calcium Phosphate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate), Contains 2% Or Less Of: Canola Oil, Dextrose, Salt, Cellulose, Propylene Glycol Esters Of Fatty Acids, Corn Starch, Monoglycerides, Xanthan Gum, ...

What is the difference between Funfetti and confetti cake? ›

Although the cake is generally served with a plain frosting, Pillsbury also offers "Funfetti" frosting, with rainbow sprinkles added. Pillsbury owns the trademark to "Funfetti" so the cake is generally called confetti cake, or can also be referred to as a sprinkle cake.

Is confetti cake the same as Funfetti cake? ›

In fact, the only difference is that “Funfetti” is a name trademarked by Pillsbury. Confetti cake is traditionally a white or vanilla cake filled with rainbow sprinkles that look a lot like a shower of confetti.

Is it safe to eat Funfetti cake mix? ›

Most boxed cake mixes have changed their ingredients so that most of them are safe to eat raw. If you are concerned make sure that you read the back of the box to start, you can also place it in a bowl and microwave it to heat-treat it.

Why is it called Funfetti? ›

The cake was created in 1989 when the Pillsbury Company introduced a new type of cake called "Funfetti" cake, a portmanteau of fun and confetti. This was a white cake mix with multicolored sprinkles mixed into the batter. The cake's unique look was meant to target the demographic of children.

What are the dots on cakes called? ›

Dots (polka dots, swiss dots): polka dots are larger round cut circles, usually used to help fill in large cake surfaces. Swiss dots are very small piped raised dots in a consistent repeated pattern.

Who invented Funfetti? ›

Funfetti cake was originally created in 1989 by the Pillsbury Company who also own the trademark to 'Funfetti'. For over 30 years they've fed generations on funfetti icing, brownie mix and even seasonal funfetti mixes.

What flavor is birthday? ›

What Flavor is Birthday Cake? Flavor-wise, it's basically vanilla, with added notes of sugar and butter, making it just about the sweetest flavor on the market.

Why does birthday cake taste different? ›

Birthday cake flavor has a colorful composition

A common ingredient found in a number of artificial birthday cake-flavored products is diacetyl, which is a chemical that is naturally produced during the fermentation process of alcoholic beverages such as beer and wine.

What does box cake mix contain? ›

Ingredients: Enriched Flour Bleached (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Sugar, Corn Syrup, Leavening (baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate).

What are the ingredients in Duncan Hines birthday cake mix? ›

Sugar, Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Emulsified Palm Shortening (Palm Oil, Propylene Glycol Mono- and Diesters of Fats and Fatty Acids, Mono- and Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate), Leavening (Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate ...

What boxed cake mixes are vegan? ›

A Short List of Vegan Cake Mix Options
  • Duncan Hines Decadent Carrot.
  • Duncan Hines Red Velvet.
  • Betty Crocker Super Moist French Vanilla.
  • Betty Crocker German Chocolate.

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