Funfetti Cake Recipe

There's something about slicing into a tall, snowy cake and watching rainbow sprinkles tumble out of every piece. That's exactly what happens when you cut into this funfetti cake recipe, and honestly? It's been the most-requested birthday cake in our Nashville kitchen for three years running now.

I first made this one for Amy's 5th birthday, after she'd spotted a similar cake in a magazine and declared (with full 5-year-old conviction) that she NEEDED it. My cooking school training said "start simple," but my mom heart said "give her all the sprinkles." So I did both. I built a straightforward vanilla sponge base and folded in enough jimmies to make the batter look like a party.

Her face when we cut that first slice? Worth every single minute of prep.

If you've ever made my hidden heart valentine's cake, you already know I'm a sucker for a celebration layer cake. This one's even easier though, and the four-layer build looks way more impressive than the effort actually requires. Trust me on this one — if you can cream butter and fold in sprinkles, you can pull this off.

Before we dive in, a quick equipment note: you'll need four 20cm/8in sandwich tins, a turntable if you have one, a cake side scraper for smooth sides, and a piping bag with a large star nozzle. Worth every penny.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This Funfetti Cake Recipe
• Ingredients for This Homemade Funfetti Cake
• How to Make a Funfetti Cake From Scratch
• Storage and Make-Ahead Tips for Your Funfetti Cake
• Fun Variations to Try With This Funfetti Cake Recipe
• Frequently Asked Questions About Funfetti Cake
• Recipes You May Like
• Final Thoughts on This Funfetti Cake Recipe
• Funfetti Cake Recipe

Why You'll Love This Funfetti Cake Recipe

• Kid-friendly to make — Amy folds in the sprinkles every single time, and Bradley has been known to "supervise" (translation: eat batter off the spatula)
• Fluffy, buttery sponge — four tender layers that hold their shape beautifully when stacked
• Silky vanilla buttercream — smooth enough to pipe, rich without being sickly sweet
• Make-ahead friendly — bake the sponges 2 days ahead and breathe easy on party day
• Total showstopper — four layers of rainbow-flecked sponge under a cloud of pastel frosting
• No fancy techniques needed — simple creaming method, nothing fussy or intimidating

Ingredients for This Homemade Funfetti Cake

Here's everything you need for a proper four-layer celebration cake. I've tested this recipe more times than I can count, and these quantities give you generous layers plus enough buttercream for smooth sides and piped borders.

For the Sponge

• 400g/14oz salted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the tins
• 400g/14oz caster sugar
• 8 large free-range eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 400g/14oz self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting the tins
• 90g/3¼oz multi-coloured sprinkles (the more intensely coloured, the better — jimmies work best here)

For the Buttercream

• 500g/1lb 2oz salted butter, at room temperature
• 1kg/2lb 4oz icing sugar
• 3 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 dashes milk, optional

To Decorate

• 120g/4½oz pastel sprinkles
• 2 dashes pink food colouring

A quick word on sprinkles, because this matters: the long cylindrical ones called jimmies hold their colour beautifully through baking. The tiny round nonpareils will bleed into your batter and turn everything a sad grey. Ask me how I know. (Let's just say Bradley once called my first attempt "the cake of sadness" and that nickname has stuck around.)

How to Make a Funfetti Cake From Scratch

Don't let those four layers intimidate you. Each step here is genuinely simple, and the hardest part is waiting for the sponges to cool before you can assemble them.

Prepping the Tins and Oven

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4.
2. Grease all four 20cm/8in sandwich tins with butter, then dust lightly with flour and tap out the excess. Line the bases with parchment circles for good measure.

Making the Sponge Batter

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and caster sugar together until pale and fluffy — about 4 to 5 minutes with an electric mixer. This step really matters for a light sponge, so don't rush it.
4. Add the beaten eggs a little at a time, mixing well between each addition. If the mixture looks curdled, add a spoonful of flour and keep going.
5. Stir in the vanilla extract.
6. Sift the self-raising flour over the batter and fold gently with a large metal spoon until just combined.
7. Tip in the multi-coloured sprinkles and fold them through quickly. Work fast here — the longer sprinkles sit in wet batter, the more their colour leaks out.

Baking the Four Layers

8. Divide the batter evenly between the four prepared tins. A kitchen scale helps here if you want perfectly level layers.
9. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly pressed.
10. Let the cakes cool in their tins for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack and cool completely before frosting. I usually bake mine the night before a party — cooled, wrapped sponges are actually easier to work with.

Making the Vanilla Buttercream

11. Beat the softened butter in a large bowl until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes.
12. Add the icing sugar in batches, beating well between each addition. Start slow so you don't coat your whole kitchen in a sugar cloud (John laughed at me the first time that happened).
13. Pour in the vanilla extract and beat until the buttercream is light and fluffy. Add a dash or two of milk if it feels too stiff.
14. Divide the buttercream: keep about two-thirds plain white for layering and coating. Tint the remaining third pale pink with the food colouring for piping accents.

Assembling Your Funfetti Cake

15. Place your first sponge layer on a 20cm/8in cake board. Spread a generous layer of white buttercream on top, right out to the edges.
16. Stack the second layer, press gently, and repeat. Continue with the remaining two layers.
17. Apply a thin crumb coat of buttercream to the whole cake, then chill for 20 minutes to set.
18. Cover with a thicker final layer of white buttercream, smoothing the sides with your cake scraper on the turntable.
19. Pipe pink buttercream stars or rosettes around the top edge, then scatter pastel sprinkles around the base.

Storage and Make-Ahead Tips for Your Funfetti Cake

The assembled cake keeps in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. If your kitchen runs warm, pop it in the fridge — just bring slices to room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving so the buttercream softens back up properly.

Un-iced sponge layers freeze beautifully. Wrap each cooled layer tightly in cling film, then in foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature on the counter for a few hours before frosting.

Finished slices freeze too. Wrap them individually and defrost overnight in the fridge when a cake emergency strikes. (Those happen more than you'd think in a house with a teenager.)

Fun Variations to Try With This Funfetti Cake Recipe

Want to make this recipe your own? Here are the variations our family has actually tested in the last year:

• Lemon funfetti — swap 1 tablespoon of vanilla for lemon zest and a squeeze of juice for a bright twist
• Almond version — replace half the vanilla with almond extract (Bradley's pick, surprisingly)
• Chocolate sprinkle swap — use chocolate jimmies and add a tablespoon of cocoa to the buttercream
• Naked cake style — skip the outer coating and just frost between layers for a rustic, modern look
• Cupcakes instead — this batter makes about 36 standard cupcakes, baked for 18 to 20 minutes

Have you ever tried a flavoured buttercream on a sprinkle cake? A whisper of almond extract takes this from "kid birthday cake" to something you'll happily serve at a grown-up dinner party.

Frequently Asked Questions About Funfetti Cake

What's the Difference Between Funfetti Cake and Vanilla Cake?

Funfetti cake is essentially a vanilla sponge packed with multi-coloured sprinkles folded into the batter, giving it a festive, confetti-like appearance when sliced. The flavour base is the same, but those sprinkles create that signature celebratory look everyone loves.

Which Sprinkles Work Best for a Funfetti Cake?

Use intensely coloured jimmies (the long, cylindrical sprinkles) rather than nonpareils (those tiny balls). Jimmies hold their colour during baking, while nonpareils tend to bleed and turn your batter grey. Avoid sugar strands that are too soft too — they'll dissolve straight into the mix.

Can I Make This Funfetti Cake Ahead of Time?

Yes, and I actually recommend it. You can bake the sponges up to 2 days in advance and store them tightly wrapped at room temperature. The fully assembled and decorated cake keeps well in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Just bring it to room temperature before serving for the best texture.

Can I Freeze Funfetti Cake?

Absolutely. Wrap un-iced sponge layers tightly in cling film and foil, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before frosting. You can also freeze slices of the finished cake — just defrost them in the fridge overnight.

Recipes You May Like

Looking for more celebration-worthy bakes? Here are three more of ours that pair beautifully with this funfetti cake, or stand on their own as party showstoppers:

• Hidden Heart Valentine's Cake — a layer cake with a surprise inside that'll have everyone asking how you did it
• Red Velvet Cake Pops — the flavour of cake in cute, bite-sized party form
• Valentine's Day Cupcakes — soft, fluffy cupcakes topped with swirls of pretty buttercream

Final Thoughts on This Funfetti Cake Recipe

If there's one cake I'd pull out for every birthday in our house, this is it. Amy loves the sprinkles, Bradley pretends he's too cool for birthday cake and then asks for seconds, and John has already put in a request for his own birthday next month.

Give this funfetti cake recipe a try for your next celebration, and let me know how it turns out! Save this recipe on Pinterest so you can find it again later, and if you test any of the variations, drop me a comment below — I love hearing which ones your family goes wild for.

Happy baking, and here's to many more sprinkle-filled celebrations with the people you love most.

Print