High Altitude Funfetti Cake
A fun and colorful, from-scratch funfetti cake, with vanilla buttermilk sprinkle cake and vanilla buttercream, covered in rainbow sprinkles and topped with French macarons.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle and Whisk Attachments
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ½ cups (339g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups (378g) granulated sugar
- 6 (210g) egg whites room temperature
- 3 cups (360g) cake flour, spooned and leveled, then sifted
- 3 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ cups (404ml) whole buttermilk, room temperature
- ½ cup (120g) sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp almond extract
- ½ cup rainbow sprinkles, preferably quins or confetti sprinkles
Buttercream
- 2 cups (452g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (560g) powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp (9g) meringue powder (optional)
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-4 tbsp (33-66ml) milk or cream, only if needed
- 2-3 drops "soft pink" gel food coloring
- rainbow sprinkles and French macarons, for decorating
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350, and spray the bottoms of four 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 10 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, until very light and fluffy. Beat in the egg whites, one at a time, beating each for about 15 seconds before adding the next egg white. Scrape the bowl down and beat for 15 more seconds.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla and almond extracts.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, starting and ending with the flour, being careful not to over-mix. Add the sprinkles and use a large spatula to briefly fold the sprinkles in, as well as any remaining bits of flour.
- Divide the batter between the pans, weighing each to make sure the batter is evenly divided. Use a spatula to smooth out the top of the batter.
- Bake the cakes on the center rack for about 28-30 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs clinging to it, and the centers spring back when lightly touched.
- Set the pans on a wire rack, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting. As the cake cools, it's normal for it to pull away from the sides of the pan, and for the top of the cake to settle and flatten, since this is a slightly dense, butter-based cake.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for one minute until smooth.
- Whisk together the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar mixture by spoonfuls, mixing until combined.
- Add the vanilla, then whip on medium speed for 4-5 minutes until very light and fluffy, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the milk only if needed for desired consistency.
- For the subtle blush color pictured, mix in 2-3 drops of "soft pink" gel food coloring.
- Stack and fill the cooled cake layers with the buttercream, then frost all over with a thin crumb coat of buttercream. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes to set the crumb coat. Frost all over with a final coat of buttercream.
- Before the buttercream crusts over, place the cake over a baking sheet to collect any stray sprinkles. Scatter the buttercream with rainbow nonpareils and quins. Decorate the top of the cake with colorful French macarons.
Notes
Store leftover cake in an airtight container or cake carrier, at room temperature, for up to 3 days.
You can also bake this cake recipe in three 8-inch cake pans instead of four, and bake for about 30-32 minutes.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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