Celebrate your birthday with this homemade funfetti cake! It consists of three layers of white, fluffy cake studded with rainbow sprinkles all enrobed in a silky swiss meringue buttercream with even more sprinkles.
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Why you'll love this birthday funfetti cake
- Soft & Moist Cake Layers: This recipe uses the reverse creaming method, a butter-oil combination, and buttermilk to create the most tender crumb that stays moist for days!
- Silky, Smooth Buttercream: This Swiss meringue buttercream is silky yet sturdy, making it perfect for holding up cake layers and piping into designs.
- Classic Vanilla with Sprinkles: There's no better way to celebrate a birthday than with a nostalgic vanilla cake with rainbow sprinkles!
For more birthday cake recipes, try my small vanilla cake recipe, sheet pan chocolate birthday cake, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and chocolate fudge cake.
Ingredient Notes
- Flour: Use a high quality, unbleached all-purpose flour.
- Fat: To make this cake super moist while maintaining that classic buttery flavor, this recipe uses a butter-oil combo. I prefer to use light tasting olive oil, but you can also use canola or vegetable oil. For both the cake and the frosting, use a high quality European-style butter, as it has a higher fat content than American-style butter, and fat equals flavor!
- Eggs: This cake needs egg whites only! Whipped egg whites folded into the batter create a velvety texture, as well as keep the color of the crumb white. The frosting has a meringue base, so it also requires egg whites.
- Vanilla: It isn't a classic birthday cake without a strong vanilla flavor!
- Sprinkles: Use your favorite rainbow jimmy sprinkles!
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this homemade funfetti cake recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.
Make the cake batter
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix the butter in on low speed until it resembles wet sand. Add the oil, milk, and vanilla, and mix until just combined. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites to medium peaks. Gently fold it into the batter with a rubber spatula until just combined. Lastly, add the sprinkles and mix until evenly distributed. Divide the cake batter between the prepared pans. Wrap the outsides of the pans with the cake strips. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
Make the Swiss meringue buttercream
Make the meringue base and mix on low speed until it cools down to at least 85 degrees F. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the meringue a few pieces at a time, allowing them to fully incorporate before adding more. Once the buttercream has mostly come together, change the whisk attachment to the paddle and keep mixing on low speed until homogenous and smooth.
Decorate!
Place the first cake layer on a cake stand. Add three 3 tablespoon scoops of buttercream and spread into an even layer. Place the second cake layer on top and repeat. Spread an even layer of buttercream on the sides (crumb coat), then chill in the fridge for at least 10 minutes. To the remaining buttercream, mix in 2 tablespoons of jimmy sprinkles until evenly distributed. Remove the cake from the fridge and apply a thicker layer of buttercream to the sides. Lastly, pipe buttercream along the edges of the cake as desired.
Expert Baking Tips
- Use cake strips to create flat cake layers. Soak these wilton cake strips in ice water before starting the cake batter. Just before baking, wrap the cake strips around the pan. The cold temperature on the outside of the cake will prevent the edges from baking faster than the center, resulting in an evenly baked flat cake.
- Wait until meringue cools down before adding butter. It is SO important to wait until the meringue drops down to at least 85 degrees F or you will risk the butter melting and the whole thing turning into a big soupy mess.
- Use a cookie scoop to assemble the cake. Use a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop to add an equal amount of frosting to each layer.
Recipe FAQs
The reverse creaming method is the process of beating room temperature butter into the dry ingredients. The fat coats the flour and inhibits the gluten from developing. With this method, the cake is sure to bake up flat without becoming too golden around the edges or on top. In contrast, the creaming method involves beating the sugar and butter together, which adds a lot of extra air into the batter. This is a great method for other bakes, but not with a white cake. With the reverse creaming method, the cake will bake up with an ultra fine, velvety crumb.Â
Cakes may dome in the middle when they bake because the outside bakes faster than the center, so the center has more time to rise. This is not ideal for layer cakes, because it is a pain to have to trim away the top of the cake. The best way to ensure your cake layers bake up flat rather than doming is to use cake strips. Soak the cake strips in cold water before wrapping around the outside of the cake pan. This will ensure that the outside of the cake does not bake faster than the center, resulting in an evenly baked, flat cake.
If you don't have cake strips on hand, you can make a DIY version! Dip a few paper towels in ice water and squeeze out some of the water so it isn't dripping. Fold them up so they're the same width as your cake pan, then wrap them in aluminum foil. Wrap your DIY cake strips around the sides of the pan just before baking.
Store this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can also wrap individual slices with plastic wrap, place in a freezer bag, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.Â
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Other birthday recipes to try
📖 Recipe
Birthday Funfetti Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
For the funfetti cake layers:
- 270 g (2 ¼ cups) all-purpose flour
- 250 g (1 ¼ cups) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 113 g (8 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temp
- 100 g (½ cup) neutral oil
- 340 g (1 ½ cups) whole milk, room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 egg whites
- 85 g (½ cup) rainbow jimmy sprinkles
For the swiss meringue buttercream:
- 210 g (about 6) egg whites
- 450 g (2 ¼ cups) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 510 g (2 ¼ blocks) unsalted butter, room temp, but on the cooler side
- 22 g (2 tablespoon) rainbow jimmy sprinkles
Instructions
For the funfetti cake layers:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees F).
- Grease and line three 6 inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- Soak cake strips in ice cold water.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Cut up the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until it resembles wet sand.
- Add the oil, milk, and vanilla, and mix until just combined.
- In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites to medium peaks. Gently fold it into the batter with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- Lastly, add the sprinkles and mix until evenly distributed.
- Divide the cake batter between the prepared pans. Wrap the outsides of the pans with the cake strips.
- Bake the cake layers for 40-45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
- Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, wrap in plastic wrap and leave at room temperature or in the freezer until ready to decorate.
For the swiss meringue buttercream:
- Wipe the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk attachment down with white vinegar.
- Add the egg whites and sugar to the bowl and whisk until fully combined.
- Place over a small saucepan of simmering water, and whisk frequently until it reaches 160 degrees F or until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture no longer feels grainy.
- Move the bowl over to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-high speed until medium peaks form.
- Add the vanilla and continue whisking until stiff peaks form.
- Turn the mixer down to low speed, and wait until the meringue cools down to at least 85 degrees F.
- Cut the butter into cubes and add to the meringue a few pieces at a time, allowing them to fully incorporate before adding more.
- Once all of the butter is added, it may look curdled, but keep beating for a few more minutes and it will come together.
- Once the buttercream has mostly come together, change the whisk attachment to the paddle and keep mixing on low speed until homogenous and smooth.
For assembly:
- Place the first cake layer on the cake stand. Add three 3 tablespoon scoops of buttercream and spread into an even layer. Place the second cake layer on top and repeat.
- Spread an even layer of buttercream on the sides (crumb coat), then chill in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.
- To the remaining buttercream, mix in 2 tablespoon of jimmy sprinkles until evenly distributed.
- Remove the cake from the fridge and apply a thicker layer of buttercream to the sides.
- Lastly, pipe buttercream along the edges of the cake as desired.
Notes
- Use cake strips to create flat cake layers. Soak these wilton cake strips in ice water before starting the cake batter. Just before baking, wrap the cake strips around the pan. The cold temperature on the outside of the cake will prevent the edges from baking faster than the center, resulting in an evenly baked flat cake.
- Wait until meringue cools down before adding butter. It is SO important to wait until the meringue drops down to at least 85 degrees F or you will risk the butter melting and the whole thing turning into a big soupy mess.
- Use a cookie scoop to assemble the cake. Use a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop to add an equal amount of frosting to each layer.
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