A beautiful, two layer, from scratch vanilla Funfetti Cake! Topped with our homemade vanilla frosting recipe, this is a fun and festive treat.
If you love cake, be sure to try our reader favorite vanilla layer cake recipe or our vanilla sheet cake! Top them with sour cream frosting for a tangy sweet treat.
Why this Recipe is Best
Funfetti conjures images of kids birthday parties. Balloons everywhere, tables piled with gifts and frosting-covered faces.
Our homemade version the classic Funfetti dessert is based on my go-to White Cake Recipe. It’s fluffy and sweet with a rich vanilla flavor. Best of all, it goes with just about any kind of frosting!
- Soft crumb with moist texture
- Fresh vanilla flavor
- Colorful and bright
Just fold in sprinkles and voila! Vanilla Funfetti Cake! This dessert is bright, cheery and pretty much guaranteed to make you smile.
Be sure to try our funfetti cheesecake or no bake funfetti cheesecake next!
Ingredient Notes
- Vanilla extract. Because vanilla is the central flavor in this cake, a good quality vanilla is important. Use a pure extract (not imitation) such as Rodelle. You can also learn how to make your own vanilla extract for this cake!
- Granulated sugar. For an even deeper vanilla taste, try Vanilla Sugar instead.
- Egg Whites. Keeps the cake tender, without adding color to the layers, letting the sprinkles show! Save the yolks for our lemon curd recipe!
- Cake flour. With less protein than other wheat flours and a finer grain, cake flour gives this cake a delicate, light crumb.
- Sprinkles. Jimmies sprinkles or confetti sprinkles work best in this recipe. Do not use sugar sprinkles (sanding sugar).
Frosting Suggestions
This recipe includes instructions for making a fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting. It looks beautiful with the colorful sprinkles all over it and you can’t beat the classic taste.
Want to mix it up?
- Try this vanilla funfetti cake with chocolate buttercream instead.
- Double Fudge Frosting or Lemon Buttercream are delicious ideas too.
- Vanilla Sour cream frosting is also a delicious option!
Of course, if you’re pressed for time, go ahead and use a canned frosting. Your Funfetti cake will still be a hit. . . and we won’t tell.
Tips and Tricks
- How to add sprinkles. Once frosted, put the cake over a baking sheet. Fill your hand with sprinkles and press your palm gently to the side of the cake. Repeat until the whole diameter of the cake is covered.
- Store leftover cake tightly covered in a cake saver or airtight container. Enjoy within 3 days.
- Don’t discard those egg yolks! They come in handy for making Homemade Lemon Curd. (You know you wany to try it).
- Use my Homemade Cake Release to make it easier to slide baked cakes out of the pan.
Recipe FAQs
While the sprinkles release moisture and bleed color into the white cake as it thaws, the taste will still be amazing. So yes, you can freeze funfetti cake.
You can but the cake will not be as light. If you don’t have cake flour, it’s easy to make a substitute with all purpose flour and cornstarch. Measure out 2 1/2 cups of cake flour. Remove 5 tablespoons of the flour. Replace with 5 tablespoons of cornstarch. Use this mixture in the recipe in place of the cake flour.
More Funfetti Recipes
- Frosted Funfetti Blondies!! Chewy blondies loaded with colorful sprinkles and topped with a creamy vanilla frosting (with more sprinkles of course)! A fun treat that can be made festive with any color sprinkle.
- Soft and chewy Sugar cookies with SPRINKLES! Happy baking with these Funfetti Cookies!
- I’m pretty sure it’s a well known fact that sprinkles make everything taste better. These Funfetti Shortbread Cookie Sandwiches are no exception to that rule! Filled with sprinkles, these are sure to go fast!
- Delicious Vanilla Funfetti Cake Roll with homemade Funfetti Whipped Cream filling. Perfect summer dessert!
More Easy Cake Recipes
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Funfetti Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 5 large egg whites room temperature
- ¾ cup milk
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 ½ cups cake flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup sprinkles
For the frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup sprinkles
Instructions
For the cake:
- Whisk together the egg whites and 1/4 cup of the milk in a small bowl until slightly combined. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla for 2 minutes on medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Beat in egg white mixture until fully blended. Add in remaining milk and beat for 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Fold in sprinkles.
- Spray two 9-inch cake pans with baking spray. Pour batter into pans and bake in a 350 degree oven for 26-28 minutes. Remove and cool completely on wire rack.
For the frosting:
- Beat butter for 3 minutes using whisk attachment on an electric mixer. Add in powdered sugar, heavy cream and vanilla. Beat an additional 4-5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- To assemble, place one layer of cake on a cake stand. Add a large amount of frosting to top and smooth with an offset spatula. Top with second layer of cake. Apply frosting to entire cake.
- To add the sprinkles to sides of cake, place cake on a baking sheet (to help catch excess sprinkles). Fill hand with sprinkles and press gently into sides of cake. Repeat until desired amount of sprinkles are applied.
Notes
Nutrition
Who needs a boxed mix when you can make it better from scratch? This easy, cheerful Vanilla Funfetti Cake is perfect for birthdays, graduations and anytime you’re in the mood to celebrate!
Did what it said by every word, baked it for 28mins and it was still under cooked and very wobbly in the middle :/
I made this for my better half for his 39th birthday. Everyone loves the cake and it was gone with no left overs!! Can you use this batter for cupcakes also, what temp and how long? They would be perfect for the daughters 2nd birthday this weekend! Hope to hear from you!!
Is it possible to use ultra fine granulated sugar? Would I need to change anything?
Just made this! The icing is to die for! But the cake turned out dry for me and I just could not eat it. Had to throw it away even though it broke my heart! Any suggestions as to what I might have done wrong? Thanks.
Oh how weird! I’m not sure. Maybe overmixing after adding the flour? We have a guide on how to measure flour correctly too! https://www.shugarysweets.com/how-to-measure-flour/
it says to add egg white mixture in step 2