Funfetti Cake!
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A three-layer funfetti cake with all the colourful sprinkles, and a vanilla buttercream frosting!
Funfetti!
It’s been a while since my blog had a little bit of colour on it, and a Funfetti Cake is 100% the best way to get that going. I love a funfetti cake, but in the UK they are much harder to come by. That’s not because people don’t want them, but because most of the sprinkles in the UK are awful!
For those of you who don’t know, a funfetti cake is essentially a basic or vanilla sponge, but with LOADS of sprinkles inside to give a confetti type of effect – but it’s all edible. Funfetti cakes are very popular in America, and they always look amazing!
Sprinkles
The problem we have over here in the UK, is that a lot of sprinkles just don’t have the same colourings or additives to make the sprinkles bright enough to bake with – a lot of the colours used in the sprinkles in America are in fact banned over here, because there are just TOO many additives!
Therefore, it makes it very difficult to get the effect you want. You can buy cake mixes in the uk, such as the Pillsbury funfetti cake mix online, which is probably the easiest way to get where you want – but its a box cake mix, and I know a lot of you aren’t a massive fan of those.
The sprinkles I use…
So, the sprinkles that I use for these recipes? These glorious funfetti sprinkles! These are the only ones I have tried so far… that work! You can try any supermarket ones, and they will either just disappear completely into the sponge, or just turn green.
I realise that buying some sprinkles online just for a cake seems a bit OTT, but if you want a good funfetti cake, and you’re in the UK like me and don’t have access to be best sprinkles ever, then it is SO worth it!
The next catch, is having enough sprinkles. To get lots and lots of colour and fun in the funfetti cake you do need to use lots of sprinkles I am afraid. The sponge itself is just a classic sponge, so it’s hard to get wrong!
Supermarket sprinkles
You can of course try supermarket sprinkles, or even branded ones that you can buy in shops, but be warned that they may not work. The really tiny sprinkle balls, and the sugar strands you can buy at supermarkets tend to be the worst as they’re already so small – so they just vanish!
Quantities
The amount you put into the cake will depend on how big you want the cake to be – as I made a three layer cake as usual, I found the two pots (120g) of sprinkles perfect for the sponges – if you were going to make a smaller version of the cake, you can easily use less sprinkles though!
As I didn’t want to take the mickey with the sprinkles, I didn’t use sprinkles in the frosting – I knew I would need a lot, and you don’t even see most of the frosting as it’s on the inside of the cake, so I just sprinkled some on top!
There are notes in the recipe on how to make a smaller two layer cake, but I hope you enjoy the recipe either way! x
Funfetti Cake!
Ingredients
Sponges
- 400 g unsalted butter (room temp)
- 400 g caster sugar
- 400 g self raising flour
- 8 medium eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 120 g funfetti sprinkles
Decoration
- 300 g unsalted butter (room temp)
- 600 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- funfetti sprinkles
Instructions
For the Cakes!
- Preheat your oven to 180ºc/160ºfan and line three 8"/20cm cake tins with parchment paper!
- Beat the unsalted butter and caster sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add in the self raising flour, eggs and vanilla extract to the mix, and beat again until smooth.
- Pour in the Funfetti Sprinkles, and fold through with a spatula!
- Split the mixture evenly between the three tins - bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until baked through! Check with a skewer (it should be clean!)
- Leave your sponges to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes, and then on a wire rack to cool fully!
For the Decoration!
- Beat your room temperature unsalted butter for a couple of minutes to loosen it and make it lighter!
- Add in the icing sugar a bit at a time and mix in fully!
- Add in the vanilla extract, and beat again. If your mixture is really stiff (and I mean, you will not be able to pipe with it - add in 1-2tbsp of boiling water to make it easier to pipe)
- Using your favourite piping tip, pipe buttercream onto your sponges, and add each layer of cake as you go!
- Once you have piped all of the buttercream on, sprinkle the cake with some more Funfetti Sprinkles and enjoy!
Notes
- I used these funfetti sprinkles!
- I would not recommend using cheap and basic sprinkles from the supermarket (if you are in the UK at least) as they don't work!
- If you are lucky enough to live elsewhere in the world with much better sprinkles - try others!
- This cake will last for 3-4 days in a cake box!
- To make a smaller version use:
- 250g butter/sugar/flour and 5 medium eggs
- 1/2tsp vanilla, and 60g sprinkles
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or so!
- Use 200g butter/400g sugar for the frosting!
ENJOY!
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J x
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Made this for my nieces 6th birthday cake it went down a storm thank you! 🎉
Hello! I was wondering whether French supermarket sprinkles would be ok? Thank you so much!
I’m afraid I have no idea!
Used this recipe for my daughter’s birthday cake but covered it in rainbow buttercream. It came out perfectly and I’ve had so many comments on how amazing it tasted! Thank you so much for the recipe Jane! xx
Hi Jane! How can I make this recipe in 6 inch tins? X
Use about 2/3 of the recipe! Baking time is less, probably 20-22 minutes?! X
Hi Jane, could I make this gluten free just by swapping the flour out and adding some Xantham Gum? Thank you x
Yes!! Obviously make sure the sprinkles you use are gluten safe and all the other ingredients, but otherwise flour switch and xantham gum is good! x
Can you use stork for the frosting or is unsalted butter best?
No, I would never use a spread for frosting – block unsalted butter only! x
Hi Jane,
I’m in the process of making this for my daughters 13th birthday. I purchased the same sprinkles from Iced Jems 🙂
Very excited to see how it turns out!
Your recipes are my go to every time I bake (and that’s ALOT) They are truly amazing!
Ahh yay!! I really hope you love it!! x
Hi Jane
Do you bake all three tins at the same time in the oven? Is is ok if two are on the top and one on the bottom shelf? Thanks
Hiya – yes I do. I have a fan oven, so using different shelves is fine – and with most other ovens it is too! x
Hi Jane, I was looking to bake this cake for my nephews birthday but I was looking to cover the whole cake with buttercream. It would be made in 9 inch cake tin so would I need to double the Ingredients for the buttercream please and would I need to stick to 400 g of ingredients for the cake in a 9 inch cake tin? Thank you xx
How many layers would you be doing in the 9″ tin? x
Hi Jane,
I plan to make this cake for my daughters 4th birthday but was going to cover the cake in buttercream and roll in sprinkles like I’ve seen on many cakes/videos online. Do you think these sprinkles and the traditional buttercream recipe would work just as well for that?
Thanks so much in advance!
Hey! Yes they would, but you will need lots and lots of sprinkles to do it!
Hi Jane
Just wondering if you could put sprinkles within the buttercream before piping? or would this just turn out looking super messy? 🙂
xxx
Hey! You certainly could do, but that will block quite a few piping tips!
This is one of the best cakes I have ever made I am making 3 of these cakes for my family for their birthday’s and I absolutely LOVE this recipe!!
Hey Jane. I’m going to make this next week but I just wanted to ask how do you get your sponges to bake flat for stacking? I seen on you tube someone making foil/cardboard things for round the tin sides.
Thanks
Hey! So my cakes just naturally bake flatter – domed, or lopsided cakes can come from oven temperature distributions not being even, or a number of other reasons! x
Hi Jane, do you still put vanilla in the buttercream if you are making the two layer cake?
Yes you can do! x
Hi jane i wanted to make this cake as a 4 layer, what measurements would i use? Thank you in advance x
Hey! I would use a 500g/10 medium egg mix (compared to the 400g/8) and split between four 8″ tins! And then I would add on probably another 1/3 of sprinkles! x