This strawberry funfetti cake has moist funfetti cake layers covered with naturally pink strawberry buttercream! This fun birthday cake is easy to make and the cake layers can be made beforehand. Using freeze-dried strawberries means our strawberry frosting is naturally pink and we don't have to add any food dye. No one can say no to a slice of this strawberry confetti cake!
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Ok, so usually I'm a chocolate girlie through and through, but I miiiight make an exception for this strawberry funfetti cake! I mean, look at it. It's basically joy in a cake.
The cake layers use my tried-and-true vanilla cake recipe, although when testing the recipe, I found I had to use a little bit more flour to help the rainbow sprinkles not sink when baking. I then used my strawberry buttercream (same one from my strawberry filled cupcakes), but I added a squeeze of lemon juice to help pump up the strawberry flavor! Trust me, it works.
I ended up using the base of this cake to make my mini chocolate chip sheet cake and funfetti birthday sheet cake!
Why I can't get enough of this recipe!
- Simple to Make: this might look complicated, but I promise this layer cake is easy as..pie? Easy as cake. You will need a stand mixer or handheld mixer for both the cake and the frosting, so keep that in mind!
- Naturally Pink: I love that this frosting is naturally pink, no need to get out my food gel and accidentally dye my hands/counter/clothing! All the pink color comes from freeze-dried strawberries.
- Buttery, Moist Cake: the funfetti cake layers use my favorite vanilla cake recipe. You get tons of buttery flavor from the butter, but then it's nice and soft thanks to the addition of oil!
Grab Your Ingredients!
- Flour: I'm using all-purpose flour here, I have tested the recipe with cake flour too though, so feel free to use that!
- Buttermilk: I love adding buttermilk to my cake recipes, the buttermilk and slight acidity will give more flavor to the cake and make it softer.
- Vanilla Extract: because vanilla is the main flavor of the confetti cake, try to use real vanilla extract if you can!
- Sprinkles: I recommend using long-stranded sprinkles, but you can also use confetti sprinkles. I don't recommend using nonpareils, those are the teeny tiny ball sprinkles. They won't show up as well in the baked cake.
- Unsalted Butter: we'll need butter for both the frosting and the cake.
- Neutral Oil: adding some neutral oil to the cake will keep it nice and moist. Use a neutral oil, so an oil with no strong taste, like vegetable oil, sunflower oil, or canola oil.
- Freeze-Dried Strawberries: we're going to blend these strawberries in a food processor or blender until we have a fine powder. Please note, that you can't swap this out for frozen strawberries. Freeze-dried strawberries have had all the moisture taken out of them, which is why we can add them to the frosting.
- Lemon: a squeeze of lemon juice is going to help amplify the strawberry flavor! This is optional but if you have it, it definitely is worth it.
Substitutions & Additions
- Freeze-Dried Fruit: feel free to swap out the freeze-dried strawberries for freeze-dried raspberries!
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting: if you're more of a cream cheese frosting guy or gal, then use my strawberry cream cheese frosting recipe instead! Just note, that cream cheese frosting isn't as good at being piped.
- Vanilla Frosting: Not a fan of strawberries? Swap this out for my vanilla bean American buttercream!
How To Make This Recipe
- Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350ºF and grease and line two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper. In a stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and oil together until light and fluffy.
- Step 2: Add the eggs one at a time, making sure to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. That way the cake batter is really getting mixed properly!
- Step 3: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the salt and baking powder.
- Step 4: Add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk. At this point the cake batter should be smooth!
- Step 5: Gently stir in the sprinkles.
- Step 6: Pour the cake batter in the prepared cake pans and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes before removing to a wire cooling rack.
- Step 7: Once the cake has cooled completely, make the frosting. In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the room temperature butter with the powdered sugar until combined. Then beat on high speed until light and fluffy.
- Step 8: Stop the mixer and add the freeze-dried strawberry powder, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat on high speed until well combined. Slowly pour in the heavy cream and beat until smooth.
Decorating the Cake
- Crumb Coat: Place one (completely cooled!) cake layer down on your plate or cake stand. I like to use a large cookie scoop to scoop out 3 balls of frosting and place on top. Spread the frosting around with a small offset spatula. Place the second cake layer on top, and scoop out 3-4 balls of frosting and again, cover the sides and top of the cake with a very thin layer of frosting. This is called a crumb coat. Place the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Frosting Layer: once the crumb coat is done and you've locked in that first layer, take the cake out of the fridge and frost it. You can make it simple and do swoops and swirls with a small spoon, or you can make the edges of the cake smooth by using a bench scraper around the sides of the cake.
- Sprinkle Edges: do I regret not putting sprinkles all along the sides so it was completely covered? Yes, yes I do. But here we are! If you want just a few sprinkles like I did, or to completely cover the sides of the cake with sprinkles, here's what to do. Take a large baking sheet and place the cake stand on top. Use your hands to scoop up sprinkles and then bring your hand to the sides of the cake and let go of the sprinkles as you bring your hand up. If you need a visual, this video from Cupcake Jemma at minute 2 is helpful!
- Piped Edges: I wanted that retro birthday cake vibe, so I used a Wilton 4M piping tip and piped shells along the top of the cake and the bottom of the cake! I then added extra sprinkles on top of the cake, but you can swap that out for fresh strawberries!
My Cake Baking Tips
- Let the Cake Cool: make sure the cake is completely cool before you start frosting it, otherwise the frosting will melt right off.
- Make Ahead: you can make the cake layers the day before. Let them cool completely, then tightly wrap them in plastic wrap.
- Smooth Frosting: to get that smooth look on the frosting, you might need to add more heavy cream than usual to the frosting to get it extra silky. Then to get rid of air bubbles, use a rubber spatula to mix the frosting by hand for two minutes. This is gonna hurt your arms and I'm sorry in advance!
Storage & Freezing
Once frosted, I recommend keeping the cake in an airtight container in the fridge. Store for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before serving, no one likes cold cake and it changes the cake texture!
To freeze, place in airtight containers or freezer-safe containers. Freeze for up to 2 months. Let thaw overnight in the fridge before enjoying.
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Thank you!
Ella
Recipe
Strawberry Funfetti Cake with Strawberry Buttercream
Satisfy your sweet tooth with this strawberry funfetti cake! It has moist funfetti cake layers and a naturally pink strawberry buttercream!
Equipment
- 2 8-inch cake pans
- Stand Mixer
- Kitchen Scale
- Measuring Spoons
- Bowl
- Whisk
- Rubber Spatula
- Piping Bag
- small offset spatula
Ingredients
Funfetti Cake
- ⅓ cup (75 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 ⅔ cup (333 grams) white sugar
- ¼ cup (50 ml) neutral oil
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 ¾ cups (330 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (227 ml) buttermilk room temperature
- ½ cup (100 grams) sprinkles
Strawberry Buttercream
- 1 ½ cups (339 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 ¼ cups (508 grams) confectioner's sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup (60 ml) heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups (38 grams) freeze dried strawberries blended into a fine powder
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Ella's Baking Tip!Weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale for the best results!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉/175℃. Grease and line two 8-inch baking pans with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the room temperature butter with the oil and sugar until creamy on medium speed. This will take about 2-3 minutes, and it'll look a bit grainy and fluffy.⅓ cup (75 grams) unsalted butter, 1 ⅔ cup (333 grams) white sugar, ¼ cup (50 ml) neutral oil
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl after each addition.4 large eggs
- Mix in the vanilla extract.3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour with the baking powder and salt.2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 ¾ cups (330 grams) all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- Add ⅓ of the flour mixture, then mix on low. Add ½ the buttermilk. Repeat once more, then end with the flour mixture.1 cup (227 ml) buttermilk
- Gently stir in the sprinkles.½ cup (100 grams) sprinkles
- Pour the smooth cake batter into the prepared pans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10-15 minutes before removing and letting them cool completely on wire cooling racks.
- Blend the freeze dried strawberry pieces with a food processor or blender until you have fine crumbs. Set aside.1 ½ cups (38 grams) freeze dried strawberries
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar on low speed.1 ½ cups (339 grams) unsalted butter, 4 ¼ cups (508 grams) confectioner's sugar
- Once combined, turn the speed to medium-high and beat until it becomes very thick.
- Stop the mixer and add the vanilla extract, lemon juice, salt and strawberry powder. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 ½ cups (38 grams) freeze dried strawberries
- Turn the mixer on your lowest speed and slowly pour in the cream until the frosting becomes creamy and spreadable - you might not need all the cream!¼ cup (60 ml) heavy cream
- Frost your cake and enjoy!
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Video
Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. Just click on 'metric' above ingredients.
Room Temperature: I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients before you start baking.
Sprinkles: I recommend using long strand sprinkles or confetti sprinkles, I don't recommend using nonpareils (the little ball ones!)
Salt: If you don’t have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt. I am using Diamond Crystal kosher salt and not Morton Salt which is much too salty!
Storage: Keep tightly wrapped in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before eating.
Making Ahead: You can make the cake layers ahead of time. Bake them and then once completely cooled, wrap in plastic wrap tightly. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. If frozen, allow to defrost and come to room temperature before frosting the cake. Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below! You can also tag me on Instagram @alpineella so I can see what you made!
Shareena says
So delicious! I made this for my best friends birthday. She normally loves the box’s strawberry Funfetti , and she loved it. The real strawberry frosting was a hit.