This homemade Funfetti Cake is like a party in your mouth! It’s decorated with a colorful rainbow using Skittles candy. This delicious and colorful cake is one that bakers of all skill levels can make for summer picnics, birthday parties, St Patrick’s Day and more!

Ingredients to Make Rainbow Decorated Funfetti Cake Recipe

If you’re someone who loves ideas for making special occasion cakes, this recipe has got you covered! I wanted to show you how easy it is to create a pretty rainbow on top using Skittles and buttercream for the fluffy clouds. You can serve this cake for birthday cakes, picnics and St Patrick’s Day. If you’re making it for St. Patrick’s Day add a pot of gold on one side. Regardless, it’s a pretty cake filled with vibrant colors. How to make the best Confetti Cake from scratch: (Scroll down for full printable recipe card.)

Flour – All purpose flour form the base if the cake batter.
Sugar – Granulated sugar for sweetness.
Leavening – Baking powder, baking soda and salt give lift to the cake batter.
Dairy – Whole milk and sour cream adds a creamy texture to the cake.
Fats – Unsalted melted butter and vegetable oil adds richness.
Whole Eggs – Large eggs bind the batter mixture.
Flavorings – Vanilla extract and almond extract add creamy floral notes.
Jimmies – Rainbow sprinkles for the cake batter.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting – Powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar) beaten with softened butter and vanilla extract.
Decoration – Skittles: 1 large bag of regular Skittles and 1 bag of Berry Skittles or Tropical Skittles (for the blue Skittles).

How to Make the Best Funfetti Cake Recipe

Heat Oven and Prepare Pans – Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of three 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper then spray the insides of all pans with baking spray. Set aside.
Dry Ingredients – Use a whisk to sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Wet Ingredients – In a separate large bowl use an electric mixer to beat the milk, sour cream, melted butter, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and almond extracts on medium speed until well mixed.
Combine – Lower the speed of the mixer and gradually add the dry sifted dry ingredients to the wet ingredients just until you no longer see white streaks of flour.
Add the Sprinkles – Fold the sprinkles into the batter by hand. Evenly distribute the cake batter between the 3 prepared cake pans.
Oven – Bake per the cook time in the recipe until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Cool – Remove from the pan to cool on wire racks.
Freeze the Cakes – Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cake layers on the baking sheet, then freeze. (Pro Tip: Freezing the cakes a bit before frosting helps prevent the cake from crumbling once frosting is added.)
Make Frosting – Beat the powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. (The frosting should be firm enough to hold its shape while piping with an icing tip but soft enough that it can be frosted onto the cake smoothly.)
Divide the Frosting – Remove ½ cup of the frosting to a separate bowl. This frosting will remain white to pipe the clouds.
Tint the Remaining Frosting Blue – Add a few drops of light blue gel to the remaining frosting.
Assemble the Cake Layers – Remove cakes from freezer. Secure one layer on a cake plate with a dab of frosting.
Frost the Cake – Add a generous layer of light blue frosting to the top of that first cake layer then place the second cake layer on top, repeat with third layer. Frost a thin layer of light blue frosting around the top and sides of cake for the crumb coat. Freeze to set, then apply final layer of frosting.
Decorate with Skittles – Use the Skittles to create a rainbow over the top half of the cake and around the bottom edge of the cake.
Clouds – Using a piping bag to pipe fluffy white clouds at both ends of the rainbow or decorate with rainbow jimmies.
Refrigerate – Place in an airtight container and chill until serving.

Tips for Making Funfetti Cake

Kitchen Tools You’ll Need: A stand mixer or hand mixer, large bowl, medium bowl, whisk, measuring cups and spoons, three 8-inch round cake pans, cooling rack, offset spatula, serrated knife, parchment paper, sheet pan, piping bag or large Ziploc bag and cake pedastal.
Shortcut Tip: If you prefer, you can sprinkle the top of the cake with the same sprinkles that you use for the cake batter. The rainbow decoration is super cute (and easy!) and the kiddos love it!
Jimmy Sprinkles Won’t Bleed into the Frosting: Use the jimmy style of sprinkles (long oval style) rather than the nonpareils (small ball style) as the nonpareils are smaller and tend to bleed color into the batter.
Separate the Skittles by Color Before You Begin: It’s helpful to separate out the colors of the Skittles prior to beginning decorating the top.
Measure the Flour Accurately: It is important to measure out the flour accurately. Too much or too little flour will affect how the cake turns out. To accurately measure the flour use the spoon and level method. The spoon and level method means you put the measuring cup on the counter then use a spoon to scoop flour directly out of the bag and lightly place it into the cup. If you use the measuring cup to scoop flour directly from the bag, you’ll likely end up with 25% more flour than you actually need. This is because the flour gets packed down into the cup and it will make the cake dry.

Troubleshooting

Why Did My Cake Crumble When Frosting? It’s possible that either the frosting is too thick (you can fix this by beating in a tablespoon of heavy cream) or the cake needs to be chilled longer so it holds its shape while being frosted. Try placing your cake in the freezer for 15 minutes before adding the frosting.
Why Bring Ingredients to Room Temperature? Bringing refrigerated items to room temperature helps the ingredients blend together properly.
Why Use Different Kinds of Skittles? The regular Skittles have red, orange, yellow, green and purple but no blue Skittles. Berry or Tropical Skittles have the blue Skittles you’ll need to complete the rainbow.

Recipe Variations

Sour Cream: You can use plain Greek yogurt in place of sour cream.
Frosting: You can use a cream cheese frosting in place of the vanilla buttercream.
Heavy Cream: You can thin the frosting further using heavy cream. Add the cream in 1-2 Tbsp at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.

Storage and Leftovers

Leftovers: Store Funfetti Cake in an airtight container chilled in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezer: You can freeze this cake for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and enjoy.
Freeze the Cake Layers: To expedite assembly you can bake the cake layers, cool and freeze them for up to 3 months. Wrap the layers in plastic wrap then heavy duty aluminum foil and freeze flat. Thaw the cake in the fridge and frost and decorate before serving.

More Homemade Layer Cake Recipes to Make

My Italian Cream Cake recipe is a fan favorite.
Three layer Boston Cream Layer Cake inspired by Boston cream pie.
Banana Pudding Cake is a stunner!
German Chocolate Cake is sandwiched together with the very best coconut pecan icing you’ll ever eat!
Easy Strawberry Layer Cake is pretty in pink.
This Raspberry Layer Cake would cost a mint from a bakery!
Blackberry Cake from My Recipes.

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Funfetti Cake (Rainbow Cake)

Prep Time30

Cook Time35

Decorating time30

Total Time1 35

Course: Cakes, Dessert

Cuisine: American, Southern

Keyword: funfetti-cake-recipe, rainbow-cake-recipe, rainbow-funfetti-cake

Servings: 16 servings

Calories: 591kcal

Ingredients

Cake:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk room temperature
1 1/2 cups sour cream room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs room temperature
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pure almond extact optional
3/4 cup sprinkles
Frosting:
5 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
light blue gel food coloring ·
Skittles: 1 large bag of regular Skittles and 1 bag of Berry Skittles or Tropical Skittles (for the blue Skittles)

Instructions

Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of three 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper then spray the insides of all pans with baking spray. Set aside.
In a medium bowl use a whisk to sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl use an electric mixer to beat the milk, sour cream, melted butter, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and almond extracts on medium speed until well blended.
Lower the speed of the mixer and gradually add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet ingredients just until mixed (just until you no longer see white streaks of flour). Do not overmix.
Fold the sprinkles into the batter by hand. Evenly divide the cake batter between the 3 prepared cake pans.
Place into the oven and bake for 33-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into middle comes back clean. Let cake layers cool in the pans for 15 minutes then remove to wire cooling racks to cool completely.
Once cooled, level the layers using a large serrated knife to trim the tops off the cake rounds, if needed. (Skip this step if not needed.)
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cakes onto the baking sheet. Pop into the freezer for 15 minutes while you make the frosting. (Pro Tip: Freezing the cakes a bit before frosting helps prevent the cake from crumbling once frosting is added.)
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting: In a large bowl use an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to beat the powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract on high speed for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy (The frosting should be firm enough to hold its shape while piping with an icing tip but soft enough that it can be frosted onto the cake smoothly.)
Remove ½ cup of the frosting to a separate bowl and set aside to make the clouds. Add a few drops of light blue gel to the remaining frosting. Beat to blend, adding more until your desired color is reached. It should be sky blue.
Cake: Remove cakes from freezer. Place a thin layer of frosting (about 1 tablespoon) in the middle of a cake board or cake plate then center one cake layer cut side up on the frosting.
Add a generous layer of light blue frosting to the top of that first cake layer then place the second cake layer on top, repeat with third layer.
Frost a thin layer of light blue frosting around the top and sides of cake. This first thin layer of frosting (called a crumb coat) is meant to secure all the crumbs to the cake. This helps to prevent crumbs from getting into the final layer of the cake. You can use a cake scraper or the edge of a large frosting spatula to smooth.
Freeze for 10 minutes. Remove cake from freezer and apply the second layer of light blue frosting all around the top and sides of the cake.
Decorate Cake: Use the Skittles to create a rainbow over the top half of the cake. Gently press into the frosting. (You can add a bit of additional frosting to the top of the cake to secure, if needed.)
The purple Skittles will be closest to the middle then you work out from there with blue next, then green, then yellow, then orange and finishing with red. Decorate along the bottom edge of the cake alternating colors.
Using a piping bag fitted with a jumbo round tip or a large plastic storage bag with the corner snipped off to pipe fluffy white clouds at both ends of the rainbow.
The cake can remain at room temperature (in a sealed food safe container) for up to 2 days or chilled in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freeze the leftovers (wrapped tightly in food-safe plastic wrap then placed into a sealed food safe container) for up to 3 months. Bring the cake back to room temperature before serving.

Notes

Sour Cream: You can use plain Greek yogurt in place of sour cream.

Frosting: You can use a cream cheese frosting in place of the vanilla buttercream.

Heavy Cream: You can thin the frosting further using heavy cream. Add the cream in 1-2 Tbsp at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.

Nutrition

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Funfetti Cake