This Confetti Cake is a must make the next time you need a birthday cake! A delicious sprinkle cake made from scratch with homemade buttercream.
Why you’ll love this cake
If you loved funfetti cake growing up you’ll love this homemade birthday cake version! You’ll love it even more if you’re unable to eat Pillsbury Funfetti Cake due to a dairy allergy, as you can easily use dairy free options for this cake.
Thankfully we can still enjoy our favorite Pillsbury frosting and Pillsbury cookies!
This is our goto birthday cake and these Oreo Cupcakes are our go-to for parties, too. Not a fan of vanilla? Try our Best Chocolate Cake Recipe!
Confetti Cake ingredients
- Whole Milk – For a dairy free option, we use Silk Nextmilk, whole fat.
- Vinegar – Vinegar helps curdle the milk.
- All Purpose Flour – If you’re gluten-free, our go-to is Bob’s Red Mill for gluten-free flour.
- Granulated Sugar – We haven’t tested this with sugar alternatives.
- Baking Powder – Not baking soda!
- Salt – To balance the sweetness.
- Oil – You could also use safflower oil, vegetable oil, or melted butter.
- Vanilla Extract – Use a good quality vanilla.
- Egg – If you can’t have eggs, you can use 1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened.
- Sprinkles – We use Cake Mate brand.
- Butter – We use Country Crock plant butter to make dairy-free buttercream.
- Powdered Sugar
How to make Confetti Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease 2 – 8×8 round nonstick cake pans with butter.
Combine the milk and vinegar in a bowl to make a DIY buttermilk.
In a stand mixer bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Pour the oil, vanilla, and eggs into the buttermilk mixture.
Next, mix the wet with the dry ingredients. Once combined fold in the sprinkles.
Evenly divide the cake batter into the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with minimal crumbs.
Once removed, allow the cake to cool before removing from the pans.
Once cooled, place the cake onto a cake plate. We like to place some parchment paper underneath or use a cake board.
Even the cake out using a long knife or a cake leveler.
Next, use an offset spatula to add the frosting. You can use our homemade buttercream or store-bought frosting.
After frosting the top, add the second layer and spread the buttercream on the cake.
Decorate as desired.
Recipe tips and variations
- You can easily make this without sprinkles and have a delicious white birthday cake.
- Don’t want to make frosting? Pillsbury frosting is an excellent option.
- Turn this into confetti cupcakes by following our Oreo Cupcake recipe instructions.
- Want a different cake? Try out our Chocolate Chip Cake or Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake.
Storage and reheating tips
- Refrigerate: We like to store leftover cake in the refrigerator to keep it fresh longer. We keep them for 3-5 days.
- How to freeze cake: To freeze cake for up to 3 months, wrap it in plastic wrap and then place it into an air-tight container.
- How to defrost frozen cake: To defrost frozen cake, we like to remove it from the freezer and any plastic wrap. We’ll then place them into an air-tight container in the fridge overnight. You can also defrost on the counter in an air-tight container.
Frequently asked questions
We recommend your traditional sprinkles that are used for ice cream! These give the best color and melt the best into the cake.
Yes! You can freeze the cakes and then take them out of the freezer when ready to serve. Wait to make the frosting fresh if you are doing this.
More cake recipes
Confetti Cake
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Print Pin Recipe 🖤 SaveIngredients
Confetti Cake
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup oil safflower, vegetable,or melted butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles
Buttercream
- 1 1/2 cups butter
- 5-5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 4-5 tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Confetti Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease 2 – 8×8 round nonstick baking pans with butter.
- Combine the milk with vinegar and allow to sit for 5 minutes to allow the milk to curdle.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. This is to remove any clumps.
- Pour the oil, vanilla, and eggs into the milk mixture and then add to the dry ingredients in the large bowl. Mix until combined and then fold in the sprinkles.
- Divide the cake between the two prepared cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with minimal crumbs.
- Carefully remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pans. Allow to cool until ready to frost on a wire rack.
Buttercream
- Beat the butter until nice and fluffy, and add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Add more milk if the buttercream is too thick or more powdered sugar if the buttercream is too thin. If you're not using salted butter (most vegan butter is salted), you can add 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
- To frost place one layer of the cake onto a cake plate level the cake and then cover the top with frosting. Level the other layer and then place on top of the frosted cake. Frost the entire cake and decorate as desired.
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Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information is automatically calculated and can vary based ingredients and products used. If the nutrition numbers are important for you we recommend calculating them yourself.
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My granddaughter requested a confetti cake for her 8th bday. I found this one & had high hopes. But unfortunately this cake was VERY thick! Very dense. I’m in my late 50s so I’ve made allot of cakes. But this was not a big hit. The frosting however was tasty. I would use that again
Oh no, I’m so sorry! This particular cake is a little bit more on the dense side so we can stack it and easily double to make multiple layers without it crumbling and falling apart. I’m glad you enjoyed the buttercream! We’re reworking our vanilla cake so we will keep this feedback in mind and appreciate your comment.