funfetti layer cake

Buttery vanilla layer cake filled to the brim with rainbow sprinkles and finished off with sweet vanilla frosting with piped pink and blue border.

Funfetti Layer Cake

baking powder

baking soda

salt

sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

(15 milliliters) pure vanilla extract

(360 milliliters) buttermilk, room temperature*

(142 grams) rainbow sprinkles*

6 cups (700 grams) sifted confectioners’ sugar

(80 milliliters) heavy cream

optional: additional sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease and lightly flour three 9-inch cake pans.*

Make the cake

Whisk the sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy &#8211; about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 5 full minutes until creamed together fairly well. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. On medium-high speed, add 1 whole egg at a time, beating well after each addition until all 4 whole eggs are mixed in. Set the 2 egg whites aside for now. Beat in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.

With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not overmix this batter. The batter will be smooth, velvety, and slightly thick. Vigorously whisk or beat the 2 additional egg whites until thick, foamy, and soft peaks form- about 3 minutes. Gently fold into the batter. Finally, fold the sprinkles into the batter. Spoon/pour batter evenly into each cake pan.

Bake for around 25 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.

Make the frosting

 In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy &#8211; about 2 minutes. Add confectioners&#8217; sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add more confectioners&#8217; sugar if frosting is too thin, more cream if frosting is too thick, or a pinch more of salt if frosting is way too sweet.

Assemble and frost: 

First, using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Discard (or crumble over ice cream!). Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with frosting. Top with 2nd layer and evenly cover the top with frosting. Finish with the third cake layer and spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides. I tinted extra frosting both pink (1 drop pink food coloring) and blue (1 drop blue coloring) and used a Wilton 1M tip to pipe it around the top edges. Decorate top of cake with sprinkles, if desired.

This copycat Milk Bar birthday cake has all of the flavor with none of the specialty ingredients. Light, fluffy and SO good!

Birthday Cake

unsalted butter (melted)

brown sugar

eggs (room temperature)

vanilla extract

buttermilk (substitute whole milk)

cake flour (substitute all purpose flour)

rainbow sprinkles

cream cheese (room temperature)

unsalted butter (room temperature)

milk (as needed for desired consistency)

milk

Since both the cake layers and cake crumbs need to cool completely, I recommend making them the day before you want to make the cake. 

Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly spray three 6 inch layer cake pans with pan spray.

Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla together until combined.

Stir in about half of the flour mixture. Then stir in the buttermilk and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined. The batter will be thin. Gently fold in the rainbow sprinkles.

Pour ⅓ of the batter into each cake pan (they will only be about half full).

Bake at 350°F for 20-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Place a cooling rack on top of each cake pan and invert. The pan should slide cleanly away.

Let the cakes cool completely to room temperature before trimming.

Once the cakes are fully cooled. Using a sharp bread knife, trim the cakes until the layers are even. Wrap each layer tightly in plastic wrap and place in the freezer overnight.

Combine all of then ingredients and mix together until it begins to form small clusters.Spread evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Bake at 300°F for about 15 minutes.

Let cool completely before assembling the cake. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. 

Cake Crumbs

Cream together the softened cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add in the vanilla extract and salt. 

Add in the powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time until fully combined.

Beat the frosting on high for 4-5 minutes until lightly and fluffy.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Mix together the milk soak and lightly brush 1/3 of the milk onto the bottom layer of your cake.

Spoon about 1/3 of the frosting in a nice even layer over the cake. Sprinkle on about 1/3 of the cake crumbs evenly over the frosting and then top with your second cake layer and repeat.

Add the third layer and then smooth a very light coating of frosting around the top and edges of the cake.

Then put the assembled cake back in the freezer for about 30 minutes to an hour. This is called the crumb coat. It helps trap any crumbs in that thin layer of frosting so that your final layer of frosting is perfectly smooth. The crumb coat isn't always necessary when you're working with already frozen cake layers or if you want to do a semi-naked cake like the one pictured!

Sprinkle the remaining cake crumbs and some extra rainbow sprinkles on the very top!

Assembly

This homemade Funfetti cake recipe is light, fluffy, and packed with colorful sprinkles for a burst of fun in every bite. Perfect for birthdays, celebrations, or any special occasion, this cake has a rich vanilla flavor, a soft and moist crumb, and is easy to make from scratch. With simple ingredients like cake flour, buttermilk, and real vanilla, this Funfetti cake tastes better than any boxed mix.

Funfetti Cake

cake flour

white sugar

tsp baking soda

tsp salt

tsp baking powder

salted butter (softened (unsalted will work too))

vegetable oil

eggs egg

vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

buttermilk

tbsp cake flour ((to mix with sprinkles))

Preheat

Preheat and Prepare Pans: Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease and flour three 6-inch or two 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper for easier removal.

Whisk

Whisk Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream

Cream Butter, Sugar, and Oil: In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter, sugar, and oil together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. The mixture should be pale in color and have a creamy, smooth texture.

Add Eggs and Vanilla: Add the eggs and egg white one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then add the vanilla bean paste and mix until fully incorporated.

Alternate

Alternate Adding Dry Ingredients and Buttermilk: With the mixer on low speed, add one-third of the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture, mixing until just combined. Then add half of the buttermilk and mix until combined. Repeat with another third of the dry ingredients, followed by the remaining buttermilk, and finally the last third of the dry ingredients. Mix each addition until just combined, being careful not to overmix.

Fold

Fold in the Sprinkles: Mix the rainbow sprinkles with 1 tbsp of flour and gently fold the rainbow sprinkles into the batter with a spatula, being careful not to overmix to avoid color bleeding.

Divide

Divide and Bake: Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and smooth the tops with a spatula. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Cool

Cool the Cakes: Allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes, then carefully turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

I will say, this was the best from scratch cake I've made to date (cycling through recipes trying to find "the one"). I will say, despite my coating the sprinkles in cake flour, they all still sunk to the bottom of the cake. I'm not sure if it's because I used milk instead of buttermilk (hello lazy bum... that's me. Too lazy to mix up the buttermilk) but this cake also turned out really dense for me and I did not overmix at all. Hand mixed the last bit until just incorporated to ensure I didn't over mix it. But it was still super dense 🤔 most likely user error, or it could be the box-mixes we grew up on ruined a perfectly good homemade cake for me. Not sure which. 
I still think I would make this again though and layer it as shown - I just did a 9×13 this first time - and see if the butter milk makes that big of a difference or not. We will find out. I don't normally do layered cakes but this sure makes me want to try. It's definitely firm enough to hold shape in layers - while also still being moist. It really is not a dry cake so that's great - and as stated above, it's the best one I've made being homemade as of yet 😃

Best recipe for a homemade funfetti cake! Absolutely delicious, fluffy, &amp; the perfect amount of sprinkles throughout the cake. Thank you so much!

OMG!  This was the most delicious cake!   No frosting needed!  And so easy to make!  I didn’t have vanilla bean paste but I used vanilla extract and it was still so
Delicious.  I was looking for a funfetti recipe and looked at 6 different recipes before finding this one and I’m
So glad I decided to make this one.  You will not be disappointed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvftGEbA4M8

🎉 Learn how to make the ultimate Funfetti Cake that's soft, moist, and WAY better than anything from a box! This homemade recipe is perfect for birthdays, celebrations, or just because you deserve a slice of cake. 🧁✨

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https://everythingjustbaked.com/homemade-funfetti-cake/ 

📌 In this video, you'll discover:

My secret tips for a moist and fluffy Funfetti Cake
The perfect amount of sprinkles for that classic look
Why homemade beats boxed mix every time!

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