Funfetti Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream
Funfetti cake is the most nostalgic cake flavor out there and everyone loves it. I have never met someone who doesn’t like funfetti. As a kid, our funfetti cake always came out of a box, and that’s still a tasty option. But homemade funfetti cake is even better! I covered mine in white chocolate buttercream and rainbow sprinkles for the classic look.
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This recipe was originally published on July 25, 2019. It was republished on September 4, 2025 with updates.
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Years in the Making
This classic funfetti cake recipe has been on my website for over six years, and it’s been driving me crazy the entire time. See, it was a decent recipe, but I’d made it as a three tier cake, one layer per tier. Not a great look, plus who the heck wants to make a cake with those dimensions?
But it got worse. I decorated each tier with a different style of fondant ruffles. It was for a baking challenge and my first time working with that much fondant. The ruffles weren’t as tragic as you’d expect (though I’d hardly praise them). No, the true tragedy was the gaudy colors of blue, white, pink, and yellow fondant that I used.
Why did it take me so long to revisit this cake? I update old recipes all the time, but I kept avoiding this one because of the fondant aspect. Finally I decided to just nix the fondant all together and make the classic funfetti cake that I wanted to make.
Problems Solved
This time around, the cake and buttercream stayed mostly the same, just a bit improved with the five plus years of experience I’d gained. I posted a poll about cake pan sizes on my YouTube channel and an overwhelming number voted for 8 inch, so that’s what I used. Honestly, I’m kinda vibin’ with the 8 inch 3 layer aesthetic at the moment.
For the decoration, I kept it simple and nostalgic. A classic funfetti cake deserves to let the rainbow sprinkles shine and requires nothing extra to jazz it up. Sprinkles and buttercream swirls. Done and done.
Classic Funfetti Cake
Leave me a comment and tell me, do you think funfetti cake should be a white cake or a yellow cake? I think it could go either way, but I opted to go for my classic vanilla cake recipe and copious amounts of rainbow sprinkles.
If you have strong feelings about this, just use the white cake recipe from my almond raspberry fault line cake. Use vanilla instead of almond extract and throw in those sprinkles. It will turn out beautifully!
Top Tips for Cakes
- Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature. This will help everything blend nicely and give your cake a nice texture.
- Scrape down your bowl often. Butter and sugar can hide out at the bottom of your bowl. Make sure everything gets blended!
- Do NOT over mix. Once you add the wet and dry ingredients, keep the speed on stir and only mix to combine.
- Wilton baking strips will give you a flat top and prevent the edges from caramelizing.
- Use an electronic scale to divide your cake batter into the pans.
Related Reading: FREE Cake Baking Course for Beginners
White Chocolate Buttercream
To be honest, white chocolate buttercream is basically vanilla frosting. White chocolate isn’t chocolate, it’s cocoa solids flavored vanilla (more or less). But, it’s got a slightly different texture and flavor, so I wanted to make some buttercream with it.
I made a small batch of white chocolate ganache and let that cool for several hours. This ganache had more cream than I would normally use for a pipeable ganache, but we want that liquidity to loosen up our frosting. Just beat that cooled ganache into the buttercream at the end.
Filling & Frosting
When I made my three layer 8 inch coconut cake, I didn’t have acrylic cake discs in the right size. But that was totes fine because I planned on cover the cake in shredded coconut. For this funfetti cake, I did buy the 8.25 inch cake discs because I wanted those smooth sharp edges and sides.
I topped each cake layer with buttercream and even more rainbow jimmies because there is no such thing as too many sprinkles in a funfetti cake. Frosting and smoothing the sides with the white chocolate buttercream was a dream. It was thick, but creamy and smooth. So dang easy to work with and it tastes incredible. Watch my full decorating tutorial on the Bakes & Blunders YouTube channel.
Rainbow Sprinkles
I was pretty worried that the sprinkles would bleed into the buttercream and create a disaster. That didn’t happen! It’s been a few days now and it still looks amazing. Whatever you do, do not use nonpareils because they will bleed.
Want a few more funfetti recipes to bake up? I like to make funfetti pancakes for my son’s birthday breakfast most years. And for the weirdo who doesn’t like cake (I tease, friend), make funfetti cookies with a funfetti crumble.
Enjoy!
Dig into this classic funfetti cake with white chocolate buttercream for a taste of nostalgia. This cake is all about classic flavors and simple decoration. Give it a go and let me know how it turns out!
And don’t forget to like the Bakes & Blunders Facebook page!
Funfetti Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream
Ingredients
Funfetti Cake
- 8 oz all- purpose flour
- 3 oz cake flour
- 1.25 oz dried buttermilk
- 2 1/2 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 13 oz sugar
- 7 oz unsalted butter softened
- 2 Tbsps cake enhancer optional
- 2 tsps vanilla
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 8 fl oz water
- 3 Tbsps canola oil
- 5 oz rainbow sprinkles plus more for decorating
White Chocolate American Buttercream
- 4 oz white chocolate chopped
- 2 oz heavy cream
- 20 oz unsalted butter softened
- 40 oz powdered sugar sifted
- 1 tsp clear vanilla*
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
Funfetti Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly coat three 8 inch cake pans with baking spray and line with parchment paper rounds. Wrap with wet baking strips, if using. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, dried buttermilk, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Add the sugar, butter, and cake enhancer (if using) to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on a medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl down as needed. This will take about 5- 8 minutes.
- Add the vanilla and beat to combine. Add the eggs one at a time, more or less, mixing until combined after each addition. Scrape down the bowl. While the eggs incorporate, combine the water and oil in a measuring glass.
- Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the mixer and beat until just combined. Add half of the water mixture and beat until just combined. Scrape the bowl down. Repeat with another third of the dry ingredients, the remainder of the liquids, and finally the remainder of the dry. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
- Divide the batter among the prepared pans, about 17- 18 ounces in each. Bake for 43- 45 minutes. The cakes should spring back when touched and a skewer should come out clean.
- Cool cakes in their pans for 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
White Chocolate American Buttercream
- Place the chopped white chocolate in a small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds on 50%. Place the heavy cream in another small bowl and microwave for 10- 15 seconds. It should be hot, but not boiling.
- Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate and stir. Microwave the mixture for 20 seconds on 50% power, then stir until smooth. If there are still lumps, microwave in 5- 10 second increments on 50% power. Stir well after each burst and be careful not to overheat the ganache.
- Once the ganache is smooth, place cling wrap onto the surface and set aside to cool for at least an hour.
- Beat the butter on a medium- high speed until pale and light. This will take about 5- 10 minutes. Scrape down the bowl once or twice.
- Add the sifted powdered sugar in 3- 5 additions. After each addition, beat on low until combined, then bump the speed just slightly until smooth, about 30 more seconds. Scrape down the bowl and repeat until all of the powdered sugar has been added. The frosting will be very thick.
- Add the vanilla and a pinch of salt. Beat on low until combined, then bump the speed slightly until smooth. Scrape down the bowl.
- Add the room temperature white chocolate ganache to the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix on the lowest speed until combined. Bump the speed up slightly and beat until you have a perfectly smooth consistency. Taste and adjust flavors if needed.
Cake Assembly
- Trim the tops off of your chilled cakes, place a layer on your cake board and top with white chocolate buttercream. Smooth until flat and even, then top with more rainbow sprinkles. Repeat with the next cake layer.
- Place the final cake layer upside down on top of the other two. Cover the stacked cake in a thin crumb coat and chill until set, about 20- 30 minutes.
- Apply a final coat of frosting to the crumb coated cake. If desired, press sprinkles into the sides of the cake while the buttercream is still soft. Chill in the fridge until firm, about one hour.
- Transfer the cold cake to your cake stand or serving platter. Top with swirls of buttercream and more rainbow sprinkles. The cake is ready! It is best served at room temperature.
Notes
- You will have more than enough buttercream to fill, frost, and decorate the cake.
Colleen
Hi there! I’m Colleen, a novice baker with a passion for learning and improving my bakes… and blunders. On Bakes and Blunders, you can find all sorts of tasty recipes that range in difficulty, but most importantly, I’ll try to explain the reason behind important steps. If you know why a recipe works, you can tweak and adapt it to suit your unique tastes, and you’ll be able to reliably produce some very delicious treats. If you love baking and want to expand and grow your skills, or if you are a casual baker and just need some pointers, my blog is right up your alley! Join me on my baking journey and we’ll learn how to make more impressive recipes together.
10 Comments
Treat and Trick
You need a lot patience and talent to come up with this beautiful cake! Thanks for sharing your recipe and useful tips,,
Colleen
Thanks! It took a hot minute to put together, but it was a lot of fun to try out a new skill 🙂
Morgan
I think this looks super fun! You did a great job and I bet it tastes amazing!
Colleen
Thanks! It was yummy 🙂
Angel Greven | Mean Green Chef
This is literally the perfect little girls birthday cake, you’re so talented it came out lovely! 😍
Colleen
It would be absolutely adorable at a little girl’s birthday party. Or even a baby shower for a little girl.
Beth
Your posts are always so much fun to read. I liked the vertical ruffles and the idea that you could hide gaps with fondant pearls. Is it possible to cut a slice of cake that includes all three layers?
Colleen
Thanks Beth! Unfortunately, you can’t get a slice with all three layers. The cakes are small, but I put each layer on a cake board with smoothie straw supports to hold up the weight of all that fondant. But that would be a pretty awesome slice!
Erika
I love Funfetti cake, and your cake decorations are so cute!
Colleen
Thank you! It’s a pretty fun cake 🙂