Like many cake makers do, I made my own birthday cake this year! I actually do this as a tradition every year but normally fail to document it in a blog post. This year, all I wanted was sprinkle everything with a splash of chocolate, so I made a double funfetti cake with a little chocolate ganache thrown in the mix. By double funfetti I mean funfetti cake + funfetti buttercream and there is nothing more celebratory than that combo!

This cake starts with my favorite funfetti cake recipe, which I revised for my book to yield a 3-layer 6-inch cake (this blog version yields a larger cake). The ingredients in the book version are tweaked ever so slightly to include a little almond extract and egg whites to make the cake even more light and fluffy. I’ve included the recipe below, and it’s just one of many amazing layer cake recipes you’ll find in my book, which is now available worldwide wherever books are sold! 

I made a double batch of my funfetti buttercream recipe for this cake, but reserved a few Cups of the plain vanilla buttercream before adding the sprinkles just so I could pipe some pretty pink swirls on top of the cake as a finishing touch. The funfetti buttercream is so easy to work with but it’s not the best for piping since the sprinkles tend to get stuck in piping tips. These Ultimate Unicorn Rainbow Jimmies by Sprinkle Pop are my favorite to use in the buttercream recipe and the cake recipe. They don’t bleed their color easily and I just love the cool-toned rainbow colors in the mix. 

I added a little bit of chocolate ganache as filling between the cake layers and as a drip on top. My favorite way to make the ganache recipe work for both consistencies (thick for the filling and thin for the drip) is to make it a day (or at least a few hours) ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will solidify as it cools, then you can microwave it in 5-10 second intervals to bring it back to a room temperature, peanut buttery consistency for the filling. When you’re finished filling the cake, you can microwave the leftover ganache a little more to make it slightly above room temperature, aka the perfect drip consistency. 

Those cute little sprinkle truffles on top came from a last minute idea I had about how to recycle the cake scraps that were leftover from leveling the cake layers. I crumbled the cake tops in a bowl and mixed them together with funfetti frosting until the mixture stuck together enough to form balls when rolled between my hands. This is how you make cake pops, but instead of dipping the balls in melted chocolate, I rolled them in a bowl of sprinkles and then refrigerated the sprinkle cake truffles until I was ready to top the cake with them. They tasted AMAZING and looked so cute as cake toppers that I had to make them their own separate blog post.  

I’m so excited to share this double funfetti birthday cake with friends and celebrate another trip around the sun. It’ll probably be my last hoorah before baby boy gets here in just a few weeks (give or take). We’re gonna end up being birthday buds and I can’t wait to make us both birthday cakes in the years to come! 

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Double Funfetti Birthday Cake

The most celebratory cake of all! A delicious sprinkle-studded funfetti cake with funfetti buttercream that's always perfect for anyone's birthday or celebration.

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Servings 15 slices

Ingredients

Funfetti Cake (from my book, Anyone Can Cake)

• 2 1/2 Cups (290g) sifted cake flour* DIY recipe in notes
• 2 tsp (10g) baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 Cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 Cups (300g) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs + 2 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 Cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature
• 1 Cup (240ml) whole milk, room temperature
• 1/2 Cup (100g) rainbow sprinkles**, coated in 2 tsp cake flour

Funfetti Buttercream

• 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
• 4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
• pinch of salt, or to taste
• 1/3 Cup (67g) rainbow sprinkles**

Optional Fillings & Toppings

• 1 batch chocolate ganache recipe link below
• 6 sprinkle cake truffles recipe link below

Instructions

Make the Funfetti Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/177ºC. Prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a baking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite) and fitting a wax or parchment paper circle to the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, you can grease and lightly flour the pans.
• Add the sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. 
• In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter on high for 2 minutes. Add in the sugar and continue to beat on medium-high until light and fluffy (another 2 minutes), scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs and egg whites one at a time. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, and sour cream. Mix for one minute on high speed, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more. 
• Turn the mixer off and add in the dry ingredients all at once. Mix on low speed until just combined, then slowly pour in the milk while continuing to mix on low until incorporated, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps. The batter will be slightly thick.
• Gently fold the flour-coated rainbow sprinkles into the cake batter by hand, then divide evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 32-36 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they’re entirely room temperature before applying any frosting.

Make the Funfetti Buttercream

• With a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on high until creamy and light (almost white) in color, about 7 minutes.
• Turn the mixer to low speed and add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down the bowl and paddle after each addition and making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
• Add the vanilla, milk, and salt and mix on low for another minute until fully incorporated and smooth. Reserve 1 1/2 Cups of frosting if you plan on doing any piping on top of the cake at this point. Fold in the rainbow sprinkles to the rest of the buttercream with a rubber spatula.

Make the Chocolate Ganache (Optional)

• If you're planning on filling and dripping the cake with chocolate ganache (like the one pictured), make one batch of this chocolate ganache. You can half the recipe if you're only wanting to use it for the drip.

Assembly

• Once the funfetti cakes are completely cooled, level them to your desired height. If you're planning on making the sprinkle cake truffles, reserve some of the cake scraps from the leveling process in a small bowl and make them according to this recipe.
• Add a swipe of funfetti buttercream onto a cardboard cake circle and place the first cake layer on top. Fill and stack the cake with funfetti buttercream. If you want to add chocolate ganache between the layers like the cake pictured, make sure the ganache is room temperature or slightly below (peanut butter-ish consistency) and use the Soft Fillings method of filling and stacking from this blog post. Crumb coat the cake with funfetti buttercream, then place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the buttercream set firm.
• To create the design pictured, frost a smooth buttercream finish onto the cake with funfetti buttercream and place it back into the refrigerator for an additional 20 minutes to chill the buttercream while you heat the chocolate ganache to perfect drip consistency. Drip the cake with the chocolate ganache and place it back into the refrigerator for 5 minutes to let it set.
• If piping the top of the cake, color the reserved buttercream any color you'd like. I used one small drop of AmeriColor Deep Pink. Fit a piping bag with Wilton Tip 1M and pipe 6 swirls on top of the cake, spaced about 1 inch apart. Fill in each gap with a sprinkle cake truffle.

Notes

*DIY Cake Flour Recipe: To make your own cake flour, spoon and level one cup of all-purpose flour and remove 2 Tbsp. Add 2 Tbsp of cornstarch. Repeat per the amount of cake flour you need, then sift the flour and cornstarch mixture 4 times (don’t skip that step!). After sifting, spoon and level to re-measure the amount of cake flour you need. 

**Rainbow Sprinkles: the best kind of sprinkles to use in this cake and buttercream are the rod-shaped kind that don’t bleed color. Look for “carnauba wax” and “confectioner’s glaze” in the ingredients list. These are coating agents that will keep the sprinkles from bleeding color into your batter and frosting. My favorite rainbow sprinkles to use are Sprinkle Pop’s Ultimate Unicorn Rainbow Jimmies. 

Make Ahead Tips:

1. The funfetti cakes can be baked, cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap, and left out at room temperature up to two days ahead of decorating. Unfrosted cake layers can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer for up to two months before thawing and frosting. 
2. For best results, reserve adding the sprinkles to the funfetti buttercream until right before you’re ready to decorate with it. The buttercream (sans sprinkles) can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency, then fold in the sprinkles.

 

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It’s my birthday week! And naturally, I decided to use it as an excuse to make my own birthday cake. Don’t worry, there are plenty of other desserts in store for this week (including my favorite Pip’s Doughnuts), plus a trip to the roller skating rink because it sounds like the most fun way to celebrate my birthday ever. For my birthday cake though, I made my Funfetti Cake recipe and topped it with this sprinkle-filled Funfetti Buttercream to make it extra festive! My heart is so happy. 

This Funfetti Buttercream uses my favorite Vanilla Buttercream recipe as a base and the added sprinkles make it so cute and fun! I will be honest, it can be a challenge to frost a smooth buttercream cake with it since the sprinkles will drag as you smooth. Luckily though, I’ve got a few tips to make it much less frustrating and help you get that perfectly smooth (and sprinkley!) buttercream finish. Be sure to look at the tutorial below the recipe for everything you need to know. 

To top this sprinkle saturated cake, I went with a fuchsia colored shell border which I piped using Wilton Tip 4B. I’m starting to really love a shell border moment (here’s a post that will show you how to do it if you’re into it too). I also topped it with the cutest candles ever from Meri Meri because I just could not help myself. 

Here’s a quick video I whipped up to show you how to make this Funfetti Buttercream and frost a cake with it: 

PS: If you’re into cake decorating videos like this one, be sure to check out my YouTube Channel! Click the Subscribe button while you’re there so you never miss a new video. 

What Type of Sprinkles are Best for Funfetti 

There are few things more stressful than realizing your rainbow sprinkles are bleeding into your cake batter and buttercream. This is why it’s so important to choose the right sprinkles for the job. The best kind of rainbow sprinkles to use will be rod-shaped ones that don’t bleed color. Look for confectioner’s glaze in the ingredients list – this seems to be the secret ingredient that coats the rainbow sprinkles enough to where they shouldn’t bleed color. 

The sprinkles I love to use for funfetti are the Ultimate Rainbow Jimmies by Sprinkle Pop. They never bleed their color, even when suspended in cake batter, plus I love the cool-toned rainbow hues in the mix. I always stock up so that I can have these on hand for baking and cake decorating.

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Funfetti Buttercream

The tastiest vanilla buttercream with sprinkles suspended throughout. Perfect for topping cupcakes, layer cakes, or any celebratory bake!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Servings 3 Cups

Ingredients

• 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 1/2 Cups (420g) powdered sugar
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1/4 Cup (50g) rainbow sprinkles* see note

Instructions

• With a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on high until creamy and light (almost white) in color, about 7 minutes.
• Turn the mixer to low speed and add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, scraping down the bowl and paddle after each addition and making sure each cup is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
• Add the vanilla, milk, and salt and mix on low for another minute until fully incorporated and smooth. Fold in the rainbow sprinkles with a rubber spatula.

Notes

*The best kind of rainbow sprinkles to use will be rod-shaped ones that don’t bleed color. Look for confectioner’s glaze in the ingredients list – this seems to be the common denominator for sprinkles that hold their color in the baking process. I used Sprinkle Pop Ultimate Rainbow Jimmies.  

Yield: This buttercream makes enough to:

• Frost 12-15 cupcakes with a piping bag
• Fill and crumb coat a three-layer 6-inch cake or two-layer 8-inch cake. To have enough for frosting and decorating as well, double the recipe. 

Piping: If you’re using this buttercream to pipe onto cakes or cupcakes, be sure to use a piping tip with a wide enough opening for the sprinkles. If the sprinkles get lodged in the tip, simply poke a toothpick through the tip opening to dislodge the sprinkles that are stuck before continuing on. 

Make Ahead Tips: For best results, reserve adding the sprinkles right before you’re ready to use the buttercream. This buttercream (sans sprinkles) can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency, then fold in the sprinkles. 

Tips for Frosting a Smooth Finish with Funfetti Buttercream 

With sprinkles suspended in this buttercream, it can be challenging (but certainly not impossible!) to get a super smooth finish. This is because the sprinkles tend to drag along with your smoother and create trenches in the buttercream. Even so, hopefully these tips help you easily frost your cake, sprinkles and all, into a smooth finish. 

Tip 1: Keep the icing smoother at a tight angle. The tighter you can hold the icing smoother, the easier it will be for the smoother to glide over the sprinkles instead of dragging them through the buttercream. It helps to hold the smoother at about a 5 to 10 degree angle. Even still, some sprinkles will definitely drag and create trenches, but not nearly as many as if you were to hold the smoother at a wider angle.

Tip 2: Fill In Trenches. When you do notice some trenches in your buttercream from the sprinkles dragging, don’t stress too much. Simply fill them in with more buttercream and keep smoothing at a tight angle instead of trying to smooth over them without adding any extra buttercream.

Tip 3: Add a Patchwork Layer. If you’re having a really hard time with those trenches, this tip should solve everything. Pop the frosted cake, imperfections and all, into the refrigerator to let the buttercream firm up for 20-30 minutes. Once it’s cold, you can fill in those trenches with buttercream and easily smooth them. You won’t even be able to see where the imperfections once were!

Did you make this Funfetti Buttercream? I want to know how it went! Leave a comment below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me your creation. I love to see what you do with my recipes and tutorials!

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