Vegan Funfetti Cake
I’ve been meaning to work on a vegan funfetti cake recipe for a while, and had the perfect reason to make one this past week!
I got an email from someone with a recipe for a Wacky Cake (thank you, Alanna!). She said it was her go-to cake recipe for gluten free and vegan cakes, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it!
The original recipe was for a chocolate cake, so I definitely had to tweak it a bit to make it a vanilla cake that made enough batter for a layer cake.
But after a bit of experimenting, I think I got it just right!
Making This Vegan Funfetti Cake with Ingredients You Already Have in Your Pantry
One of my favorite things about this depression era recipe is its simplicity. It doesn’t have any crazy egg replacements or ingredients you need to order online.
I can almost guarantee you have everything you need in your pantry already!!
To replace the eggs used in most cake recipes, this recipe uses a hefty amount of baking soda and vinegar.
I was a bit skeptical when I first read this recipe, but I knew it had to work since this recipe has been a fan favorite for decades.
Sure enough, the cake layers rose just fine and were tender and moist.
The flavor is definitely unique and different from my usual butter cakes, but it’s totally delicious in its own way.
I couldn’t stop myself from eating all the cake tops after I leveled them. That’s always a sign that I have a winning recipe on my hands.
What’s even wilder is that you can make this vegan funfetti cake batter by hand!!
The vegan buttercream in this recipe does require a stand or hand mixer, but you only need a whisk to make the cake batter.
Ingredients to Be Mindful of When Baking This Vegan Funfetti Cake
When you think of a vegan recipe, you know it can’t use ingredients like eggs, milk, or butter. But there are other less obvious ingredients you have to be careful with too!
Choose Organic Granulated Sugar
Most granulated sugar is made from beets, so you might assume it’s vegan.
However, there are a lot of types of granulated sugar in the US and the UK that are filtered with bone char. Most organic granulated sugar is vegan, so I recommend using organic sugar in this recipe.
Make Sure Your Sprinkles are Vegan
Another ingredient in this recipe that you need to watch out for is the sprinkles!
While there are lots of great vegan sprinkles out there, your average rainbow sprinkles are not vegan.
You don’t want to use your run of the mill sprinkles from the grocery store in this cake. Instead, I recommend these vegan rainbow sprinkles.
Surprisingly there are also really pretty vegan sprinkles blends made by Sweetapolita that can be used to decorate this cake.
Take a Good Look at Your Food Coloring
Some natural food coloring is vegan, but not all of it! I usually use Americolor gel food coloring in my baking, but sadly it isn’t vegan.
For the decoration of this cake, I used this natural and vegan food coloring. Coloring your vegan frosting is totally optional, but it does make the decoration of this cake a bit more exciting!
Tips for Making the Best Vegan Funfetti Cake:
- Mix the batter until the ingredients are just combined! Over-mixing the batter can cause your cake layers to be dense and tough.
- Use vegan butter for the frosting (like Earth Balance Baking Sticks) instead of shortening to give you buttercream more flavor.
- Ingredients at room temp mix together better, so set out any cold ingredients ahead of time.
- Make this vegan funfetti cake gluten free by using your favorite cup for cup gluten free flour.
- One batch of batter can be used to make three 6″cake layers, two 8″ cake layers, or one 9×13″ sheet cake.
- Use your favorite type of dairy free milk to make the vegan buttercream! I love almond milk, but soy, oat, or coconut work great too
Making This Vegan Cake in Advance & Storage Tips:
- A frosted cake can last in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to a month. The buttercream locks in all the moisture, keeping the cake fresh and delicious!
- Make your vegan frosting ahead of time or save any leftover frosting! It can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- A frosted cake can last in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month. The frosting locks in all the moisture, keeping the cake fresh and delicious!
- If you cut into the cake and have leftovers, use any remaining frosting to cover the cut section to keep it moist and store in the fridge for up to a week.
Let Me Know What You Think!
If you try this vegan funfetti cake recipe, I’d love to hear what you think! Please leave a rating and comment below.
Don’t forget to tag me @chelsweets and #chelsweets so that I can see your amazing creations on social media.
Vegan Funfetti Cake
Ingredients
Vegan Funfetti Cake
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 280g
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar 266g – be sure it’s organic or made from beets
- 3/4 tsp fine salt 4g
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda 5g
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil 112g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 4g
- 1 1/2 tsp almond extract 6g
- 4 tsp white or apple cider vinegar 16g
- 1 cup water 240g
- 1/2 cup vegan rainbow sprinkles 90g
Vegan Buttercream Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups vegan butter, softened at room temperature 285g
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 8g
- 1 1/2 tsp almond – optional 8g
- 6 cups powdered sugar 750g – check the bag to make sure it’s vegan!
- 2 Tbsp alternative milk like soy, almond, coconut, or oat milk 30g
Decorations & Tools
- 3/4 cup rainbow sprinkles for filling
- 1/2 cup fancy sprinkle blend optional
- vegan food coloring optional
- Spinning cake stand
- Greaseproof cake board
- Large offset spatula
- Bench scraper
Instructions
Vegan Funfetti Cake Layers
- Preheat oven to 350 F/175 C. Grease and line three 6" cake pans.
- Whisk together 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour, 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1 1/4 tsp baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup oil, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 1/2 tsp almond extract, 4 tsp vinegar, and 1 cup water.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk together until the batter is smooth.
- Add 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles and fold into the batter until they're evenly distributed.
- Pour the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 33-35 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Flip the cake layers out of the pans and onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Once fully cooled, use a serrated knife to level the tops of the cake layers.
Vegan Buttercream Frosting
- Beat 1 1/2 cups vegan butter on a medium speed for 30 seconds with a paddle attachment or whisk attachment until smooth.
- Mix in 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1 1/2 tsp almond extract on a low speed.
- Gradually add in 6 cups powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp of dairy-free milk on a low speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
- Mix on low for a couple minutes until the ingredients are fully incorporated and the desired consistency is reached.
- If the frosting seems too thick, add in additional dairy free milk (1 tsp at a time). If the frosting is too thin, add in more powdered sugar (quarter of a cup at a time).
Assembling this Vegan Funfetti Cake
- Stack and frost cake layers on a greaseproof cake board using a dab of vegan buttercream to help stick the first cake layer to the board.
- Spread an even layer of vegan frosting on top of your first cake layer with a large offset spatula. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of rainbow sprinkles on top of the frosting.
- Repeat with remaining cake layers. Place the top cake layer upside down (makes it easier to frost).
- Cover the cake in a thin coat of vegan buttercream. Smooth the frosting using a bench scraper, then chill the cake in the fridge (10 minutes) or freezer (5 minutes).
- Add a second, thicker layer of vegan frosting to the cake and smooth using a bench scraper.
- If desired, color the remaining frosting different colors using vegan food coloring. Add dabs of the colorful frosting around your cake, and smooth using a bench scraper to create a watercolor look.
- Place the remaining frosting into a piping bag fit with your favorite frosting tip and pipe small swirls around the top of the cake.
- Add a pretty sprinkle blend around the base and top of the cake, then enjoy!
Video
Notes
Making This Vegan Funfetti Cake in Advance & Storage Tips:
- Make your frosting ahead of time or save any leftover frosting! It can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Be sure to give it a good stir once it thaws to get the consistency nice and smooth again.
- A frosted cake can last in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to a month. The buttercream locks in all the moisture, keeping the cake fresh and delicious!
- If you cut into the cake and have leftovers, use any remaining frosting to cover the cut section to keep it moist and store in the fridge for up to a week.
Nutrition
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I can’t wait to try this! If I want to make a dairy-free cake instead of a vegan cake, can I replace the vinegar in this recipe with eggs? If so, how many?
Hi Kelly,
I haven’t tried that before, but in theory it should work if you reduce the vinegar and baking soda. I’d suggest trying out 2 eggs in place of half of the vinegar and baking soda. You still want to leave some of it in there, because you want the cake layers to rise. If you try this, please let me know how it turns out. I’d love to know!
Hi! Can I replace water with almond milk?
Hi Melissa,
I prefer this recipe with water, but if you swap in almond milk for the water it should still turn out!
Hi. Is it possible to do this cake marbled cake with chocolate? Should I use cocoa powder or chocolate? And what advise can you give me for the amount of ingredients to do it ? Thank you so much .
Can you use gluten free flour in place of the all purpose flour?
Not very good. Not fluffy and sticks to pan.
Hi, is there any other ingredient i can use instead of flour like, Almond flour, or gluten free flour? I want to make the cake gluten free. Thanks
Stuck to pan and did not cook as the images show.
Just made this, so so good and can’t even tell it’s vegan. I have a hard time with cakes sometimes but this recipe was super easy to follow and made for a solid, easy to assemble and delicious to eat cake!
Hi Chelsea! In the cake batter, what can I use in place of the almond extract?
Sadly this did not live up to expectations. From a seasoned Baker and vegan. The consistency after cooking was more like an over oily cookie. That welded itself to the pan. Think ill resort to my usual recipe. But very pretty pictures.
I followed a different recipe for the cake and frosting but the decoration with the multi color frosting and layering was inspired by your recipe here! Thanks for the detailed info and super useful video! Turned out really well!
This cake came out great! I made it gluten free by using Bob’s Red Mill GF 1-1 flour. The edges got a bit hard. I’m sure it has something to do with the flour. I used a thermometer to test for doneness, since gf baked goods tends to need more time, but I guess it cooked a bit unevenly. I just cut the edges off, it was nbd. The cake was a huge hit!
I need to make a 4in layer cake. Could I cut this recipe in half? How many layers do you think it would make?
My cake texture turned out beautifully but man it was sweet ? I think as a child I would have loved it but at almost 30 I could have probably eaten it without the frosting lol
Are there any specific adjustments that need to be made to this recipe for baking at a high altitude? I have made this recipe multiple times now and it always falls really low in the middle.
Hi can i replace the water with milk?
I would love to know this too!!
Chelsea, any chance you can create a dairy-free cake recipe in the future? 🙂
Oops! I was trying to reply to the earlier comment about replacing the vinegar with eggs to make it dairy-free! 🙂
I followed this recipe exactly and the cake stuck to the pans. I used a baking spray excessively and was almost concerned I put too much but my cake wouldn’t come out after 10 min of cooling and I had to scrape it out. I’m gonna have to bake another cake ? any advice? Not sure what went wrong.
Made this cake today and seemed to have all the issues and more! Mine was a bit greesy, too crispy on the edges, fallen in the center, and a really weird after taste (not sure if its the almond extract… anyone else have that issue?). I put it in the fridge which was a BIG mistake because it became hard and dry. The frosting was super tasty but I only used 1 cup vegan butter and 2 cups powdered sugar, it was perfect. I was also inspired by the decor so it turned out beautiful. However, taste was a total miss. I have a feeling it was user error though so I might try again.
just made it turned out great!
Is there any chance that the amount of powdered sugar for the frosting is incorrect? I made it with 550 grams and it was cloyingly sweet. Tried to correct it with more of the vegan butter, but it was still way too sweet in the end. Thanks!
The cake turned out great! Taste and texture where perfect. It rose just fine and the decorating technique is awesome!
I live in a high altitude area and the baking time was still the same as the recipe says. I left it for 34min.
I totally recommend trying this recipe!
have you ever tried it making this with spelt flour?
Do I need to over the cake in the fridge? It says the icing locks in moisture, but how well does the icing do?
You have to leave the site about ten minutes for advertising frenzy to finish.
Lost patience
I made this as a birthday present- and unfortunately it came out doughy and grey! I have made many vegan cakes with some success so the only thing I can think is that the vegan sprinkles from UK are different to those in US and they melted! No sign of confetti sadly .
Combination of sprinkles and buttercream made it was very sweet !
Thanks for sharing the recipe, like others I enjoyed the photos and might try another of your recipes without sprinkles and have more luck next time .
I’m so sorry to hear that Suzy :/ That’s such a bummer!! My recipes are on the sweet side, especially when considering a European palette. I do have some great less sweet frosting recipes though that you might enjoy!
The ingredients when measured out aren’t the same in grams. Am I missing something?
Hi Jennifer,
Which ingredients aren’t weighing the same? Is it the dry, the wet, or both? Are you using US measuring cups? These gram measurements are tied to standard cup to gram ratios for each ingredient, so hopefully we’ll be able to figure out what’s going on!
If I use oat milk for the vegan frosting what can I substitute the almond extract for as my nephew is allergic to almond
Hi Maeve,
Great question! You can either omit it fully, or use additional vanilla extract in place of the almond extract. Hope that helps, happy baking!