If you’re looking for the perfect gluten-free funfetti cake recipe, look no further!! I have the best funfetti cake recipe for you! This cake is moist, fluffy, and packed with sprinkles! Funfetti cake is a personal favourite. It reminds me of my childhood and seems to never get old. It’s easy to make and packs on the celebration!
Funfetti cake has long been known as ''the birthday cake''. It's become a mainstay in many homes throughout North America for birthday parties, celebrations and more. So there's no wonder a gluten-free funfetti cake is such a highly requested recipe when there are SOoo many people who prefer to eat gluten-free or have certain intolerance's such as Celiac disease.
This was inspired by my vanilla cake recipe with oil on this site. Make sure to check it out if you're looking for a moist and fluffy vanilla cake!
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What Makes the Best Gluten-Free Funfetti cake?
- Sprinkles. This cake has sprinkles in the cake layers and also in the Swiss meringue buttercream itself!
- Moist. This funfetti cake is moist, fluffy, and flavourful vanilla cake.
- Perfect Frosting. Silky, smooth Swiss meringue buttercream cover this delicious cake. If you've never tried Swiss buttercream you're in for a treat.
Ingredients to Make Gluten-Free Funfetti Cake
Here are the main ingredients you need to make this gluten-free funfetti cake. Please check the recipe card below for quantities.
- Unsalted Butter
- Vegetable Oil - This helps the cake to maintain moisture.
- Granulated Sugar
- Egg Whites - I use egg whites to maintain the white colour of the cake. They also help to make a fluffy cake. Egg whites can be drying, so be cautious not to use too many!
- Pure Vanilla Extract - Since this is the main flavor of the cake, I recommend using pure vanilla extract instead of imitation.
- Gluten-Free Flour - I like to use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Flour
- Baking Powder - This helps the cake to rise.
- Baking Soda - This also helps the cake to rise.
- Salt - Important to balance out the sweetness of the cake.
- Buttermilk - I love using buttermilk in the cake because it adds a slightly tangy flavor to the cake. If you don't have buttermilk on hand or don't want to purchase it, see the note below about making a homemade buttermilk substitution.
- Sprinkles
Instructions
Make and Bake Your Funfetti Cakes
Step 1. Begin by beating together your butter and oil. Allow them to completely combine before adding in your sugar. Whip until light and fluffy.
Step 2. Combine gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
Step 3. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to your electric stand mixer.
Step 4. Fold in your funfetti sprinkles! Don't over mix your batter in this step. Over mixing can result in a dense cake because as the batter is worked more gluten forms.
Step 5. Distribute batter amongst three 6'' cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Hint: Make sure you don't over bake your cake layers. It's important that they are cooked all the way through, however if you over bake your cake layers you'll end up with a really dry cake. No one wants that!
How to Frost Your Gluten-Free Funfetti Cake:
- Make vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream.
- Place your levelled cake layer on your cake turn table.
- Apply a moderate layer of buttercream to the cake layer and spread evenly.
- Stack second cake layer on cake and repeat as above.
- For your final cake layer, turn the cake layer upside down so that the portion that was the bottom of the pan becomes the top of the cake. This ensures a completely flat surface to spread your buttercream on.
- Next, apply a thin layer of buttercream to the outer layer of your cake (otherwise known as a crumb coat) and place cake into the fridge to set for about 15 minutes.
- With the remainder of the buttercream, add ½ (or your desired amount) of rainbow jimmy sprinkles into your buttercream and fold them in to combine.
- Once your cake is chilled you can begin frosting the outside of your cake!
- Frost the outside of your cake with your sprinkle buttercream frosting.
Substitutions
- Buttermilk - instead of store bought buttermilk, you can use 1 cup of whole milk and add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar for every cup of buttermilk needed. For this recipe, you will need 1 and ½ cups of whole milk and 1 and ½ tablespoon of white vinegar.
- Vegan - if you'd like a vegan funfetti cake recipe, you can use this Vegan Vanilla Cake recipe from this site and simply use Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free flour instead of cake flour.
Equipment
Electric Stand Mixer - I do recommend using an electric stand mixer to make this gluten-free funfetti cake a lot more easily; however if you don't have one you can absolutely use an electric hand mixer.
Cake Pans - You can make this recipe to be either three 6'' cake pans, two 8'' cake pans OR a 9x13 sheet pan.
*Top Tip: use rainbow sprinkles called jimmies in your cake. I’ve made this cake enough times to know that using little rainbow ball sprinkles does not work. These little ball sprinkles bleed easily and will make your entire batter tie dye instead of having beautiful pops of colour scattered throughout the batter.
Storage and Make Ahead
Store this frosted cake in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Once you cut into the cake use a piece of plastic wrap on the exposed cake to prevent it from drying out.
Make Ahead: If you'd like to make this gluten-free funfetti cake ahead, you can bake the cake layers and freeze them. Bake you cakes and allow them to cool. Wrap them in 2 layers of plastic wrap and place them in the freezer for up to 2 months. When you're ready to frost your cake, simple remove them from the freezer and allow them to thaw on the counter for about 2 hours. Frost and enjoy.
If you try this recipe, make sure you take a photo and tag BAKED by Blair on social media and use the #bakedbyblair. I would love to hear how you enjoyed the recipe, so comment below! If you want to pin this recipe and save it for later, go ahead and click the pin button any of the photos above and save it to your favourite desserts board on Pinterest! ENJOY!
P.S. I used this Swiss Buttercream Recipe for the frosting and you'll find instructions on how to make the frosting funfetti in the ''Frost Your Cake'' section above.
Best Funfetti Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter At room temperature
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- 1½ cups Granulated Sugar
- 5 Egg Whites At room temperature
- 1 tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 3 cups Gluten-Free Flour Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 FLour
- 1 tsbp Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1½ cups Buttermilk At room temperature. See note about about DIY buttermilk in the post
- 1 cup Rainbow Jimmy Sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 6-inch cake pans with non-stick spray. Place a parchment round in the bottom of each pan. Set aside.
- Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Into the bowl of an electric stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and oil together for 3-4 minutes until they are completely unified.
- Add sugar into the mixture and beat on medium to high speed until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- With the mixer on low speed add egg whites in one at a time allowing each to incorporate before the next addition. Scrape down the sides and add in the vanilla. Beat on high until mixture is smooth and light in colour, about 1 minute.
- With the mixer on low speed, add one third of the flour mixture into the bowl and mix until just combined. Scrape down the bowl and add one half of the butter milk and again mix until just combined. Repeat this process. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Do not over mix or your cake will become quite dense.
- Fold in sprinkles using a spatula.
- Distribute cake batter evenly between three 6-inch cake pans. I like to use a kitchen scale to ensure batter is divided equally.
- Bake for 35-38 minutes, or until knife comes out clean. Each oven is slightly different, so I suggest setting your timer to 30 minutes and watching carefully from there!
- Cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes before inverting and removing cakes from can pan to cool completely.
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