Funfetti Layer Cake
I don’t care who you are, how old you get, how your taste buds “mature” to other things or how long it’s been since the last time you’ve had it. There is one thing I still know for sure:
Nobody ever stops loving Funfetti cake.
They just don’t.
Ever since that first taste we get of it in our childhoods at home or at birthday parties, I think there’s just this permanent appreciation we have of that distinctive taste; nothing can replace it. It’s a go-to, sure crowd pleaser for everybody. You serve a funfetti cake and chances are, EVERY ONE will want a piece.
For me, there’s just one problem: most of the time, the only way I can get a funfetti cake is if it comes out of a box from a pre-made mix.
And if you guys know anything about me by now, it’s that I just… I try to stay away from cake mix out of the box. I’ve got nothing personal against those that do use it, it’s just for me, once box cake is baked it starts a countdown for how good it’s still going to taste.
In my opinion that’s roughly only about a day or two. After that, there’s just something about the way the ingredients in the cake react to the exposure of the air and then the quality of the taste begins to decline.
In addition, the canned stuff they try and call funfetti “frosting” sucks. Don’t even get me started on what happens to it after a day or two of sitting on top of a box cake in a baking dish.
Blegh. It’s pretty much inedible.
But all of that is still no reason why we shouldn’t be able to take a walk down memory lane and get that funfetti cake fix we’ve been missing from way back when.
And yes, it CAN taste better.
I’ll show you.
At the core of every delicious funfetti cake, is a fantastic white cake recipe. You just have to have a good, moist and fluffy white cake with that intense vanilla flavor or its going to either taste way too sugary and artificial (like the box ones do in my opinion), or it won’t taste like much of… anything, really.
After you’ve got the cake down, you’re still not out of the woods. For a grown-up funfetti cake, you also need a good, quality vanilla buttercream. Buttercream that’s delectably delicious enough to eat clear off a spoon.
Don’t you dare even THINK about using some pre-made crap that comes out of a can.
Have some respect for yourself. You’re better than that.
My niece turned three a few weeks ago and I was lucky enough to be the one to put together her birthday cake. Her mother told me to make whatever kind of cake I wanted to, so I thought, who better than to give her her first taste of Funfetti Cake, than her Auntie Jess?
Frankly, I’m honored to have been given the task. A child’s first Funfetti Cake is rite of passage so far as I’m concerned. This could change the trajectory of her entire life, am I right?
So naturally, there was no way I was going to let it come out of a box.
There’s a crucial ingredient to both the cake and the buttercream that if you can get your hands on it, I REALLY do recommend you don’t do without: Vanilla bean paste.
Vanilla beans can run pretty pricey and I’ve found that vanilla bean paste is an excellent and more inexpensive way to still get all the flavor of you get from raw vanilla beans. I’ve found it at Hobby Lobby, and grocery stores that sell Wilton bakeware and cake decorating tools–and of course, you can always get it online. However, it is perfectly fine to use regular vanilla extract. The vanilla ‘punch’ just won’t be quite as strong.
I’ll tell you guys, that first bite you take of this cake will INSTANTLY take you back in time to when you were a kid. The thing is, your adult taste buds will also thank you because you’ll be able to taste the quality of the ingredients and the irreplaceable flavor of a cake that’s been made from scratch.
Let’s let everyone at this week’s Fiesta Friday #111 eat cake, shall we? Thanks to our co-hosts this week, Naina @ Spice in the City and Julianna @ Foodie On Board.
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Funfetti Layer Cake
Recipe Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion & Southern Living Magazine
Ingredients
For Cake:
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (3 1/4 ounces) vegetable shortening
- 1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) baking powder
- 1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) superfine or granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract if you don’t have the paste; but I DO reccommend using the paste, the taste is better)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 5 large egg whites
- 2 3/4 cups (11 ounces) cake flour (Like Swans Down)
- 1 cup (8 ounces) milk
- 1/4 cup of rainbow colored sprinkles (Jimmies are best, they’re typically the largest and won’t bleed as much as nonpareils)
- About 1 tablespoon of all purpose flour
For Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 (32 0unces.) package powdered sugar
- 6 to 7 table tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract if you don’t have the paste; but again, I DO recommend using the paste, the taste is better)
- Rainbow colored sprinkles, optional
Directions
For Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter shortening, baking powder, sugar, salt and extracts until fluffy and light, at least 5 minutes. Add the egg whites to the butter mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir one third of the flour into the creamed mixture, then half the milk, another third of the flour, the remaining milk and the remaining flour. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally throughout the process.
In a small bowl, toss the sprinkles with the flour until they’re evenly coated. Shake off the excess flour from the sprinkles, then GENTLY fold them into the batter with a rubber spatula.
Pour the batter into two greased and floured or parchment-lined 8 or 9 inch round pans, three 8-inch round pans or a 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake the cakes for 23 to 26 minutes (for 8 inch pans), 25 to 30 minutes (for 9 inch pans) or about 35 minutes (for the 9 x 13 inch pans). Remove the cakes from oven and cool them on a rack.
For Frosting:
Beat butter and salt at medium speed with an electric mixer 1 to 2 minutes or until creamy; gradually add powdered sugar alternately with 6 tbsp. milk, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addition. Stir in vanilla bean paste. If desired, beat in remaining 1 tbsp. milk, 1 tsp. at a time until frosting reaches desired consistency.
Make sure both cakes are evenly leveled before beginning to decorate. Line the edges of a cake platter with strips of parchment paper to keep the platter clean while you assemble the cake. Place one (evenly leveled) cake layer on the platter. Spread 1 1/2 cups of the frosting evenly across the top of the cake with a spatula. Place the second cake layer on top, then spread with just enough over the top and sides to make a crumb coat. (It should be thin). Refrigerate cake for one hour until the crumb coat is firm. Finish spreading the remainder of the frosting on the cake, decorating with sprinkles if desired. Remove the parchment strips from the platter before serving.
Looks delicious! You are never to old for Funfetti cake! Happy FF! 🙂
Thank you so much Arlene! Have an awesome weekend 🙂
I wholeheartedly agree… Funfetti is for young and young at heart alike… This is just beautiful ❤️
AHHHH PRUDY! Long time no SEE! Thank you so much, I hope you’re doing awesome, I love you and that is all <3 😉
I agree Jess, I’ve never stopped loving funfetti cake! It’s still probably one of my favorites 🙂 I love your homemade version and you did an excellent job with your frosting and decorating! Your cake looks like it belongs in a bakery!
That’s so nice of you to say Heather, especially when I’m convinced my cake decorating skills are abysmal lol. I need to work on getting my edges smoother around the circumference of the cake… I’m actually kinda embarrassed by them, but this cake is so good I had to post it anyway. Thank you and have a great weekend 🙂
I love your funfetti cake Jess, it’s beautiful and looks absolutely delicious, Saved this I want to make one.
Yes you most certainly DO want to make one Suzanne. I guarantee that. It’s really a minimal effort cake for a baker as good as you are and the results are SO worth it. Thank you 😉
Awesome! You are right, Jess! All of us can relate to this cake of our childhood, and I would jump on it right now if somebody made this for me! But now I can make it for myself… and my friends and family, thanks to your post! You rock! Happy Fiesta Friday to you! 😀
I love the visual picture I just got of someone jumping on a cake they’re so happy to see it. HILARIOUS lol thanks Julianna. Happy FF to you too 🙂
Looks so tempting!
Thank you Heena, why not give into temptation and make it? Lol 😉
I’ll surely try it ☺
Looks amazing 🙂
Thanks Freda, I’m proud of how this cake turned out 🙂
🙂 you should be Jess !
Your cake looks so good and so pretty! 🙂
Thank you muchly miss, happy fiesta Friday weekend 😉
I always look forward to your posts! You never disappoint!!
That is SUCH a sweet thing for you to say Abby. Thank you so much.
What a cool aunt you are to make such a pretty cake for your little niece!
Thank you Sabine, she LOVED the cake so I felt like a pretty cool aunt lol 😉
No doubt about it!
I love funfetti cakes! They’re fun to look at as well as eat! 🙂
They certainly are Nancy, this was fun to make, look at AND eat 😉
What a coincidence! I made funfetti cake and cupcakes for my son’s birthday. I also made funfetti pancakes for breakfast yesterday. They’eve been having it for three days straight. I guess it’s called “funfetti” for a reason. It’s festive looking and puts a smile on someone’s face. It’s just a beautiful cake and yours is just that; beautiful, festive, and delicious. Great job, Jess. 🙂
Wow, funfetti pancakes! That sounds AWESOME. Thank you Anna 🙂
What a beautiful cake!
Thank you, I appreciate that 😉
When it comes to cakes, we all feel like a child again. 😀 This cake is absolutely beautiful and delicious! I want my share now! 😛
There would be a great big slice with your name on it if cyber food sharing were possible Jhuls lol Thank you! <3
Love funfetti! Impressive job on the icing/decorating, Jess…the cake looks absolutely delicious!
Thanks Nancy, my handy dandy dessert tip gun can take the credit for that. And even afterward, I still wish I was good enough at decorating to make it even prettier. But I decided to just play it simple, and I still think it turned out ok 😉
This is such a fun cake. Looks so good and yummy!
Thank you very much! It was a fun cake to make AND eat…the best kind of cake there is lol 😀