This is a tall, towering confetti layer cake filled to the brim with rainbow sprinkles and finished off with sweet vanilla buttercream frosting. It’s classic and party-perfect in every way! The recipe has lived on my website since 2014 and has become a popular favorite, even scoring #1 (out of 9!) in a sprinkle cake bake-off. Below you’ll find my detailed recipe, video, and best success tips.
I originally published this recipe in 2014 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips. I’ve also made a few changes to the recipe, which you can read about in the post below and in the recipe notes following the printable recipe.
Just Like Box Funfetti Cake
This thick, plush confetti birthday cake is filled with the flavors of childhood party nostalgia: butter, vanilla, sugar, and rainbow sprinkles. Close your eyes and you can practically hear the sound of balloons being blown up and smell the extinguished birthday candles. But this cake shouldn’t be limited to birthday parties—or to childhood! This happy cake is a joy to serve and eat at any celebration. It’s like the boxed Funfetti cake, but better.
One reader, Christina, commented: “You have never steered me wrong, and this cake is no exception! I first found your website on my daughter’s first birthday (4 years ago), and I swore it was the best cake I’ve ever made! Since then, I have used recipes from your website for every family birthday cake I’ve made! This one is another hit and possibly my daughter’s (now her fifth birthday cake) new favorite! ★★★★★“
Why You’ll Love This Confetti Layer Cake
- From-scratch and loaded with happy colorful sprinkles
- Topped with sweet & creamy classic vanilla buttercream
- Soft crumb from cake flour
- Fluffy from extra egg whites
- Buttery & cakey from creamed butter & sugar
- Stick-to-your-fork moist (without tasting greasy!) from eggs, oil, & buttermilk
- Extra flavor from pure vanilla extract
This towering rainbow dessert has been on my site for a number of years, and during that time, I’ve made a couple small updates. This was a great confetti birthday cake recipe before; in fact, it was rated No. 1 (of 9) in the Pancake Princess’ best sprinkle cake bake-off, and came in a close 2nd in the Kitchn’s Funfetti cake bake-off. But with 3 small updates, the cake is now even greater.
From the Kitchn’s review: “This cake was seriously delicious. It had a nice light texture but was still super moist. The vanilla flavor was bold without being overpowering, and the cake was sweet without being cloying. I loved how easy the frosting was to make and appreciated how smoothly it went onto the cake. My only critique is that you have to whip the egg whites in a separate bowl, so it’s a bit tedious, but that’s the only negative I can think of.”
I have some egg-cellent news: that egg-stra step is gone. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
What’s New in This Birthday Cake Recipe?
- Add the egg whites at the same time as the whole eggs: 4 whole eggs provide structure, moisture, and richness. 2 extra egg whites keep the cake lighter. Though whipping the whites separately does assist in preventing a dense cake, in recent testing, I discovered that removing this whipping step can be offset by 2 other changes to keep the batter light. (Both are next.)
- Decrease the butter and add oil: Previously, the recipe called for 1.5 cups of butter (3 sticks, about 345g), but using all creamed butter in a cake can certainly weigh down the crumb. I love using oil in cake recipes because it adds moisture and a delicate texture. And I love using butter in cake recipes because of its unparalleled flavor. Finding the right proportion of each? Now that’s the sweet spot, and I found it by reducing the butter by ¼ cup and adding in ⅓ cup oil in its place.
- Use cake flour: If you want a fluffy and soft bakery-style cake, use cake flour.
After years of testing cake recipes, I’m more confident than ever in this updated version. The cake closely resembles my vanilla cake, but uses a bit less sugar because we’re adding sweet sprinkles.
These Step Photos Will Help
Here is the butter, sugar, and oil mixture. You’ll cream butter and sugar together first, and then mix in the oil. Mixture will be creamy and mostly smooth:
Jimmies-type sprinkles are best for this Funfetti-style homemade cake. Expect a thick batter:
Divide the batter between 3 9-inch cake pans. You can squeeze the cake batter in 3 8-inch cake pans if needed, but be sure to extend the bake time as noted in the recipe. Always line your round pans with parchment paper rounds before adding the batter. Cool baked cakes for 20 minutes in the cake pans, and then remove the warm cakes and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Sprinkle Success Tips
I’ve been baking sprinkles into cake & cupcake batters for years and have learned exactly which sprinkles work, and which don’t. Happy to share my best advice:
- My top sprinkle tip: Do not use nonpareils (the little balls) in cake batter. They will bleed their color as you fold them in, result in a less-than-appetizing-color cake.
- Rainbow sprinkles (aka “jimmies”) sold in the U.S. are intensely colored, but sprinkles sold in other countries may lose their color when baked. “Sugar strands” may be the same shape as jimmies, but they dissolve in the wet batter. For best results, try to use American-style rainbow sprinkles. The pictured cake uses Betty Crocker “Parlor Perfect” rainbow sprinkles. I also really like Canadian-brand Sweetapolita sprinkles.
- Confetti quins (the little discs) are also great to use in a sprinkle birthday cakes & cupcakes. They rarely bleed their color in batter.
- Naturally colored sprinkles are wonderful as decoration, but—depending on the brand—can lose their color in cake batter.
Buttercream Frosting
I use the same frosting as my 3-layer vanilla cake, but add a little more vanilla. It’s basically my vanilla buttercream recipe, only scaled up to yield enough for a tall layer cake. If you prefer chocolate frosting, use the chocolate fudge frosting from my piñata cake recipe. (It’s enough for this size cake.)
For a less sweet frosting option, use this recipe for Swiss meringue buttercream.
Can I tint this frosting? Yes! Feel free to add gel food coloring to the frosting to change its color.
Decorating Success Tip: Add a Crumb Coat
Because it’s so moist, the confetti cake can be a little crumbly when you’re decorating it. I recommend applying a thin crumb coat, which is a layer of frosting around the exterior of the cake to catch any crumbs. The frosting recipe below includes enough frosting for that thin crumb coat, then another thin layer of frosting on top of that. Note that I applied a slightly thicker crumb coat in the video tutorial below. Doesn’t matter either way; you’ll just have less or more frosting for that final frosting layer.
Use a flat icing spatula to spread on the frosting. Icing spatulas are handy if you decorate cakes and cupcakes often. Then you can run a bench scraper around the sides of the cake to smooth out the crumb coat as well as the top layer of frosting. You can watch me use both in the video tutorial below.
Chill the crumb-coated cake for 30 minutes, and then apply the final frosting layer.
Looking for a fun sprinkle cake that requires less effort than a 3-layer cake? Try these recipes:
- 1-Layer Sprinkle Cake
- 6-Inch Birthday Cake
- 12×17-inch Sprinkle Sheet Cake
- Super-soft Confetti Cupcakes
- Buttery Funfetti Cupcakes
- Prefer cheesecake? Try confetti sprinkle cheesecake
- How about a giant birthday cookie? Here’s my confetti sugar cookie cake.
- Or for breakfast try birthday cake pancakes or birthday cake cinnamon rolls
And here are the 10 best cake decorating tools.
Confetti Birthday Cake (Funfetti)
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours (includes chilling & cooling)
- Yield: serves 12-14
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Buttery vanilla layer cake filled to the brim with rainbow sprinkles and finished off with sweet vanilla frosting. Pictured cake is 9 inches; for thicker cakes, use 8-inch pans. Review the recipe notes and bring all ingredients to room temperature before you begin.
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 and 3/4 cups (443g) cake flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/4 cups (282g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature*
- 2 large egg whites, at room temperature*
- 3 teaspoons (15ml) pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*
- 3/4 cup (135g) rainbow sprinkles*
Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 5 and 1/2 cups (650g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream, at room temperature
- 3 teaspoons (15ml) pure vanilla extract (or use clear imitation vanilla extract for stark white frosting)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- optional: additional sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease three 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it’s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post.)
- Make the cake: Whisk the cake 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 and sugar together on high speed for 5 full minutes until completely creamed together and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the oil and beat for 1 minute until combined. Add the eggs, egg whites, and vanilla extract and beat on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed.
- Add dry ingredients and buttermilk in three additions, mixing after each addition just until incorporated. Do not over-mix this batter. The batter will be velvety and thick. Gently fold in the sprinkles. Pour and spread the batter evenly into each cake pan.
- Bake for around 25–26 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. (8-inch cakes may take about 27–28 minutes.) Tent the cakes with foil after about 15 minutes to prevent the sides and top from over-browning. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done.
- Allow cakes to cool in the pans set on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and then remove cakes from pans. Place cakes directly on wire racks to cool completely. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds and then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Add more confectioners’ sugar if frosting seems too thin; more cream if frosting is too thick; or an extra pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet.
- Assemble cake + apply crumb coat: 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 one cake layer on your cake stand, cake turntable, or serving plate. Using a flat icing spatula or small offset spatula, evenly cover the top with about 1 cup (about 250g) of frosting. Repeat with second cake layer, 1 more cup of frosting, and then the top cake layer. Spread a thin layer of frosting on the top and around the sides as a crumb coat. Run a bench scraper around the cake to smooth out crumb coat. Chill uncovered in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours to set the crumb coat.
- Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides. Garnish with extra sprinkles, if desired.
- Serve cake immediately, or if you need to store it for a few hours, place it in a cake carrier at room temperature for up to 4 hours. For longer storage, refrigerate covered cake for up to 1 day. Cake is best served at room temperature, though, so if it’s been refrigerated, let it sit out at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store it in the refrigerator for 5 days. Again, I like using a cake carrier for storing and transporting.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The cake layers can be baked, cooled, and covered tightly at room temperature overnight. Likewise, the frosting can be prepared and then covered and refrigerated overnight. When ready to decorate, let the frosting sit at room temperature to slightly soften for 15 minutes, then give it one more mix with the mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute before frosting cake. (Add a splash of cream to thin out frosting if needed.) See step 10 if you want to store the frosted/decorated cake before serving it. Frosted cake or unfrosted cake layers can be frozen for up to 2–3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before decorating/serving. See how to freeze cakes for detailed instructions.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Round Cake Pans or 9-inch Round Cake Pans | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack | Cake Turntable | Flat Icing Spatula or Small Offset Spatula | Bench Scraper | Cake Carrier (for storage)
- 2022 Update: Recipe above was slightly updated in 2022. Old version used to call for 3 sticks (about 345g) of butter and no oil. The slight reduction of butter and added oil makes a moister cake, but feel free to use the old version. Also, the extra egg whites are now added when you add the whole eggs. You used to have to whip them separately until soft peaks form and then fold them in before adding the sprinkles. This step isn’t really necessary because we’re using a little oil and cake flour now. (See next Note.)
- Eggs: 4 whole eggs provide structure, moisture, and richness. 2 extra egg whites keep the cake light. I don’t recommend using 5 whole eggs as a replacement; stick to the 4 eggs + 2 egg whites combination.
- Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a DIY buttermilk substitute. Add 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 1 and 1/2 cups. (In a pinch, lower-fat or nondairy milks work for this soured milk, but the cake won’t taste as moist or rich.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
- Sprinkles: Avoid using sprinkles that will dye your batter. Steer clear of nonpareils, which are the little balls. The pictured cake uses Betty Crocker “Parlor Perfect” rainbow sprinkles, which I find in my regular grocery store. I also like to use these rainbow jimmies or confetti quins. Note that naturally colored sprinkles may lose their color in cake batter.
- Chocolate Frosting: Use the frosting from this piñata cake recipe. It makes enough for this size cake.
- Amount of Cake Batter & Other Size Cakes: This recipe yields nearly 8 cups of batter, which is helpful if you need it for different Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions. For a 1-layer cake, 12×17-inch sheet cake, or 6-inch layer cake, see the list of recipe links in the post, above the recipe card. For a 2-layer cake, divide batter between 2 9-inch cake pans instead of 3. (This is too much batter for 2 8-inch pans.) Increase bake time to about 30 minutes; it may take even longer than this—use a toothpick to test for doneness. For a Bundt cake, use a 10–12-cup generously greased Bundt pan and bake for about 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. There is too much batter for a 9×13-inch quarter sheet cake. I have 2 recipes on my website that would work for a 9×13-inch sprinkle cake. You could use this light and fluffy white cake recipe and fold 1/2 cup (about 90g) sprinkles into the batter before pouring into the pan. See those recipe Notes for a 9×13-inch cake. Or you can use this buttery sprinkle sheet cake recipe. See those recipe Notes for a 9×13-inch cake.
- Cupcakes: Here is my recipe for confetti sprinkle cupcakes.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I think this recipe needs a revision in the directions. When do you add the buttermilk? I added the buttermilk to the flour and received a pastry type mix. Then attempted to add my wets to this and now I’m left with a lumpy gross batter. Please be more descriptive in directions.
Hi Madeline, you add it in step 4. The first sentence includes it.
This is my favorite cake recipe ever. I make it all the time. It’s such a crowd pleaser. I’m wanting to make it for a celebration of life this weekend without adding sprinkles. Would the flavor be as sweet?
Hi Chelsea, we’re so glad to hear you enjoy this recipe! You could certainly make this one without sprinkles—it will still be plenty sweet. Or you could make our vanilla cake instead—it closely resembles this confetti cake, but the confetti cake has a little less sugar to accommodate the sugary sprinkles.
Hi Sally!
I’m looking to make this as a 3 layer 6″ cake. Should I cut the recipe in half??
Thank you!
Hi Lynda! Here is everything you need to know about converting recipes to different Cake Pan Sizes. And here’s more information on baking 6 inch cakes.
Whenever I bake something, I check Sally’s for her recipe – love them! But wanted you to know if I search on this site for “funfetti” or even “sprinkles” this recipe does not show up – you can only find it if you search “confetti”. I found it because I searched Google for funfetti and found the link there to Sally’s Baking Addiction. Going to make this today and I’m sure it will be delicious – Sally hasn’t failed me yet!
Hi! Is this enough frosting if I make a four layer cake using cut 2 9inch cakes?
Hi Cheryl, we would scale up the frosting a bit (1.5x) to ensure you have enough for a 4 layer cake.
Hello, how long am I able to keep the batter at room temp while I bake 2 of the three layers? Do you have any tips on cooling down the pan quickly for the third layer? Thanks
Hi Joel, it is fine to leave the batter covered at room temperature while you bake and cool the first two layers. There’s no real trick to helping the cake cool quickly, but let is cool on a rack and you’ll find it cools down sooner than you may think!
Sally would i be able to use self riding cake flour ?? i bought presto cake flour not reading that it includes baking powder and salt. should i leave out the baking powder and salt ??
Hi Julia Ann, we don’t recommend self-raising cake flour, as the cup for cup measurement may have different amounts of baking powder and salt than called for in our recipe. For best results, we’d recommend grabbing a new box of cake flour (or using our cake flour substitute) with the separate baking soda, baking powder, and salt called for in the recipe.
I want to make this a second time. I could have sworn the recipe stated to fold in whipped egg whites. Did that change?
Hi Shelly! You’re correct–we recently updated this recipe and with a few other changes, we find it’s no longer necessary to whip the egg whites separately. You can read more about it under the section titled “What’s New in This Birthday Cake Recipe?”
Hi! I need to make this cake gluten free and we don’t have gluten free cake flour that I’ve been able to find (UK) – should I use self rasing flour and omit some of the raising agents in the recipe or straight swap it for plain flour/add something like corn flour? Really looking forward to making this for my daughters birthday next week
Hi Danni, We haven’t tested making a gluten free cake flour substitute. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
Hi! I only have two 9-inch pans, and am hoping to not have to buy another for the recipe! Am I able to leave the batter at room temp for the cooking and cooling time of the other two cakes, and reuse one of them for the third layer? Thanks!
Hi Sarah, you certainly can. Hope you enjoy this cake!
Thanks so much! Just so I’m sure, how long am I able to keep the batter at room temp with Saran Wrap? Just want to make sure it’ll come out ok while the other two bake! Also, would it be ok to leave the finished cake at room temp for 5 hours?
I made this cake for my daughters 3rd birthday as a girly dinosaur cake and OMG it was amazing! Everyone raved how great the flavor was (both cake and frosting). I used a double batch of frosting to crumb coat and pipe decorations. I’ve tried all your vanilla and funfetti cake/cupcake recipes and this one “takes the cake” lol it’s a keeper for sure!
I want to make this cake for my grandson’s birthday in a 9 x 13 pan. How long does it need to bake?
Hi Deb, there is too much batter for a 9×13-inch sheet cake. We have 2 recipes on the website that would work for a 9×13-inch sprinkle cake. You could use this light and fluffy white cake recipe and fold 1/2 cup (about 90g) sprinkles into the batter before pouring into the pan. See those recipe Notes for a 9×13-inch cake. Or you can use this buttery sprinkle sheet cake recipe. See those recipe Notes for a 9×13-inch cake.
Hi, I was asking do you use Butter or spray oil to grease the pans. Thanks
We use a baking spray to grease pans (like Pam).
Love your recipes! Just wondering, do you grease the pans with butter or spray oil before adding the parchment rounds?
Hi Alta! We grease the pans both before and after adding the parchment rounds.
Hi, I made this for my daughter’s bday recently and we all loved it. Could I simply sub in some cocoa powder to make a chocolate version of this cake? My other daughter is requesting a chocolate cake, and rather than find a new recipe, I’d love to just use a recipe we already know we like a lot. Thank you!
Hi Jay! Cocoa powder is a tricky ingredient and we would recommend using our reader favorite chocolate cake recipe instead. Hope your family loves them both!
Agreed on the frosting! I usually double but for once I trusted the recipe and just about didn’t make it to my kids party! I couldn’t figure out how an expert baker could have covered the cake let alone those using online recipes! I thought the crumb coat was a good suggestion but realized that just wasted more and I should have made it clean the first time.
I made this recipe as regular cupcakes (yielded 45 for me) for my daughter’s first birthday, and they were amazing. I looked at a lot of recipes and settled on Sally’s after reading the Pancake Princess’s comparison post of confetti cakes (Sally’s won). They were soft, flavorful, and delicious. I was worried I had overmixed but they were great. I used nuts.com sprinkles and they were evenly distributed after baking and didn’t bleed. Will definitely keep this recipe and make again.
Hi. I didn’t read through 564 comments so sorry if this question has already been asked answered! I would like to make this cake in 6″ pans. How many pans should I use and how much batter in each?
Thanks!
Hi Deb, Here is everything you need to know about converting recipes to different Cake Pan Sizes. And here’s more information on baking 6 inch cakes.
I loved this recipe. Came out moist not dense . so happy with the result thanks so much .
Hi! Me again, I live at 7,000+ altitude, do you have any additional baking recommendations or modifications to prevent sinking? Thank you!!!
Hi Tessa, we wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Can you use buttermilk in the frosting instead of heavy cream?
Hi Ashley, buttermilk will change the flavor of the frosting quite a bit, but some people like that!
How would you recommend decorating a Bundt cake with this?
Hi Tessa! You can just spread frosting over the whole cake and decorate with sprinkles, or even cover the cake with rosettes. We recommend searching for confetti bundt cakes on Pinterest (or even just google) for some decorating inspiration 🙂
Thank you so much for the reply! Can’t wait to try this!
This cake tasted delicious! The only issue I had was with all of my sprinkles sinking. I’m sure this is due to the quality/type of sprinkles I used, but I was wondering if there were any additional tips or advice that could help avoid this in the future.(For reference I used Great Value Sprinkles, https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Rainbow-Sprinkles-10-5-oz/642059820)
Hi Tara! How strange, this cake batter should be plenty thick to support the sprinkles. It must be the specific ones you used. We recommend our favorite brands and link to some sprinkles in the recipe Notes!
Interesting. I just made this cake today and used great value sprinkles without issue…
Is there a link to the old recipe? Would like to try that one!
Hi Kaela, see recipe Notes!
This looks so yummy! I’m making it tomorrow for a birthday party. My toddler can’t have raw dairy so I’ll need to make a vegan buttercream recipe to go with this cake. Will this be ok?
I can’t see why not! Enjoy!
I’d like to use sprinkles that are free from artificial dyes. Do you think they would work ok?
Hi Jo, we haven’t tested the recipe with them but they should work just fine. Let us know how the cake turns out if you do try!
So my cake tasted so amazing but it was very crumbly. For instance, when cutting the cake the open space gets filled with very fine (and delicious) crumbs that have no structure and can only be picked up my mashing them all together into a ball. Any tips to avoid this in the future or is it just supposed to be this way. I followed the recipe exactly. We’re my “large” eggs too small? Thanks!
Usually dry cakes are caused by a couple things. First, be very careful not to over-bake. Always keep an eye on your cake in the oven and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Even an extra minute or two can lead to a dry cake. Second, how did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try!
This was my exact experience. There needs to be about 25%-40% more icing to properly ice this cake.
I always double the frosting if I’m doing a crumb coat anyway. I loveeee her frosting recipes always perfect!
I made this using 1 1/2 t vanilla and 1 1/2 t almond extract. Next time I might use 2 t almond extract and 1 t vanilla extract.
Honestly, if you set enough time aside to bake, take notes and, walk into it with a good mindset the cake will turn out fine. Mine looked just like the picture. And for the cake decorators out there including myself I have learned a LONG time ago you will need to make at least double or triple times the amount of frosting on recipe.
What would be the bake time for cupcakes?
Hi Alyssa! About 20 minutes.