For a festive Easter cake this year, try your hand at this Easter Confetti Cake. Made with a doctored box cake mix and homemade buttercream frosting, this cake is easy to make and delicious to eat.
This funfetti Easter cake is a simple and easy way to make a show-stopping dessert and feature all of your favorite Easter candies! Packed with colors and fun, this cake is sure to be a huge hit.
I love to use cake mixes to make semi-homemade desserts. For example, my Pastel Rainbow Unicorn Cake, Southern Banana Pudding Cake, and Layered Tres Leches Cake use boxed cake mixes as a base. The results are fluffy, flavorful cakes with a lot less effort and time needed to make them.
Why This Recipe Works
- It's simple. You can't really get easier than boxed mixes because they're already filled with the basic ingredients needed to make it! But we do add in a few extra ingredients to get make the cake taste even better.
- It's cheaper to make homemade. The cost of a storebought or custom cake can often cost a lot of money. Making it yourself is a more frugal alternative and allows you to learn a new skill too.
- It's customizable. You can swap out the cake mixes, filling flavors, or even the Easter candies to make this cake as unique as you want it!
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🥘 Ingredients
For the Confetti Cake, you will need:
Cake mix- You will need a box of white cake mix for the base of this recipe. Yellow cake mix could be used instead, but you'll want a light colored cake base to reveal the rainbow sprinkles. Do not prepare beforehand, we just want the dry mixture.
Flour- Adding in some all purpose flour will give the cake more gluten and structure, which is needed after adding in the additional moisture.
Sugar- Granulated sugar will make sure that the cake turns out nice and soft.
Salt- This is a natural flavor enhancer.
Instant pudding- Use a box of vanilla instant pudding (cheesecake or white chocolate flavor can be used instead). This adds a lot more flavor in every slice. Do not prepare the pudding beforehand. We only want the dry stuff.
Eggs- To make sure the cake has a good structure, you'll need 4 large egg whites and 2 large egg yolks.
Sour cream- Add in sour cream or nonflavored plain Greek yogurt for added moisture and richness.
Vegetable oil- You will need to use some vegetable oil to help give the cake the necessary fats needed to stay moist.
Milk- Milk or water can be used to moisten the batter to the correct consistency.
Vanilla- This is another flavor enhancer.
Sprinkles- Make sure that you use the correct type of sprinkles, as some don't bake up well. For this recipe, you will want to use Rainbow jimmie sprinkles.
For the Vanilla Filling, you will need:
Pudding- To keep the filling nice and simple, I like to use a box of vanilla cook-and-serve pudding, prepared according to package directions. Allow to cool and chill before use.
Milk- You will need some whole milk to prepare the filling. Low fat milk or dairy free milk may not turn out or set up as well.
For the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, you will need:
Powdered sugar- Use powdered sugar or confectioners sugar to make the buttercream smooth and sweet.
Butter- This will make the frosting richer in taste. You can use salted or unsalted butter (although unsalted is mostly preferred, I like to use salted). You can also swap out half or all of the butter with Crisco shortening.
Vanilla- A flavor enhancer. You can use clear vanilla (found in the cake-baking aisle of Walmart or craft stores) for a "whiter" frosting.
Milk- You only need a little bit of milk to help hydrate the buttercream and make the frosting easy enough to use.
Food coloring- I recommend using gel food coloring because it's more vibrant and won't change the consistency of the frosting like liquid food colorings would.
Optional Seasonal Decorations:
For a fun Easter cake, you can be proud of, grab some of your favorite Easter candies and throw them on the cake too! Here are some examples of things you can add:
- Peeps
- Sprinkles
- Easter Egg Candies
- Toasted Shredded Coconut
For specific quantities, see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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- Mixing Bowls
- 8-inch Cake Pans
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Electric Mixer
- Frosting Piping Tips
- Frosting bags
- Acrylic cake scrapers
🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make Easter Confetti Cake with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray the inside of 3 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and cut a circle of parchment paper to fit at the bottom of the pan. The spray will hold the paper in place, and the paper will prevent the cake from sticking.
Place your dry cake mix, dry pudding mix, flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk together until well blended.
In another mixing bowl, add your sour cream, milk, vanilla, oil, and eggs.
Whisk together until well blended.
Add the wet mixture to the bowl with the dry mixture.
Whisk together until the cake batter comes together, and no flour streaks remain. Do not overmix.
Add your rainbow colored sprinkles to the cake batter.
Mix well until evenly distributed.
Divide the cake batter between your prepared cake pans.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted into the center and come out clean.
Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping it onto a wire rack and removing the pan and parchment.
Allow to rest until fully cooled. You can place the cakes into the freezer for faster prep if needed.
I recommend freezing the cake layers after they've cooled a bit. They'll be much easier to handle if fully or partially frozen. You can freeze them while you make the filling and have it chill, and then remove the cake from the freezer after you've prepared the buttercream.
Prepare the Filling
Make your cook and serve pudding according to the package directions. Let cool completely before using.
If desired, you can make the filling lighter in texture and more mousse-like, by folding in an 8-ounce tub of thawed cool whip.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together 3 sticks of softened butter and 4.5 cups of powdered sugar.
Add in 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 3-4 tablespoons of milk. Beat again until incorporated.
Place some or most of the buttercream into a piping bag and snip a large corner off of the end. You won't need a fitted tip for this part.
Place a layer of cake onto your cake board or display surface
Pipe a round rim around the top of the layer of cake. This will work like a dam to prevent the filling from leaking out. Go over the rim twice if needed.
Spoon your filling into the center and gently spread it out to the edges.
Add a layer of cake on top. Try to position it evenly centered above the other layer.
Repeat the frosting rim and filling as you did before.
Add the final cake layer on top. Center it well.
If it's slippery, you can use plastic straws or wooden dowels in the center of the cake to help give it support. You can also freeze the cake at this point for an hour to make it easier to handle.
Add your frosting around the edges and the top of the cake.
Spread the frosting around until smooth. There should be just enough frosting to coat the cake without embellishments.
Place the cake into the freezer to chill for an hour.
Repeat the buttercream frosting instructions and make a second batch of frosting.
Take out about (4) ¼ cup portions of buttercream into separate bowls.
Add a little food coloring to each bowl, a different color per bowl. I chose pink, blue, yellow, and purple. Mix well until the color is evenly distributed.
Spoon a little bit of differently colored frosting around the sides of the cake. Scatter them around so that they don't look uniform.
Spread the frosting around the sides using a cake scraper or frosting spreader. As you go around, the colors will fade together and create a fun design.
Continue to spread the frosting around until you're happy with the results.
Place your remaining white frosting into a piping bag with a large fitted tip (I like 1M).
Pipe a border or peaks around the top of the cake.
Line some bunny peeps along the bottom edge of the cake. If they won't stick to the frosting, pipe a small dollop of frosting on the back to help them adhere.
Decorate the cake with shredded coconut, Easter egg candies, and more peeps if desired.
Place your cake into the fridge and allow to chill until ready to serve.
Slice into it and enjoy the fun rainbow colors throughout the cake layers.
Happy Easter!
🧾 Substitutions
Cake mix. You can use any boxed cake mix desired for this recipe, but I recommend sticking with white cake or yellow cake for the best-looking results.
Sour cream. If you don't want to use sour cream, you can use Greek yogurt in its place. Non-flavored plain Greek yogurt works just as well and gives the cake a slightly healthier touch.
Butter. In the frosting, you can swap out the butter for Crisco shortening. This will give you a similar texture but without the added dairy. White shortening can also help to preserve more of the white frosting color without giving it a yellow tint.
Pudding mix. You can use any flavored pudding mix desired. Vanilla cake mix works great in the cake batter, but for the filling, don't be afraid to switch it up a bit and use whatever you'd like! Even chocolate pudding can be used!
📖 Variations
Swap up the candies and make this cake for any occasion, or omit the candies and "Easter" touches to make this cake perfect for a birthday.
Change out the pudding filling between the cake layers for a fruity pie filling like strawberry or blueberry.
🍴 Recipe Tips
If at any point the frosting becomes a tad messy and difficult to apply to the cake, place the cake in the freezer and place the frosting in the fridge. Just giving it a few minutes (10-15) to chill can really make a huge difference.
I used a large frosting leveler for spreading it around the tops and sides (bought off of Amazon for under $10) but other things that could work include a butter knife and a clean office ruler.
If your cake's sides look a little too messed with for your liking and you want to cover it up, you can do as I did and just strategically place candy over those spots!
⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions
You can prepare the cake layers up to two weeks in advance and keep them well wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer.
The buttercream can be made and kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just thaw overnight in the fridge and mix together again before use.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
Keep your cake well covered and stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. This cake should only be allowed to sit out at room temperature for 1-2 hours at a time, depending on the temperature of the room.
🥣 Recipe Add-Ins
If desired you can add up to another 1 cup of rainbow jimmie sprinkles for added color.
💭 FAQs
What's in a name? The only difference between the two is that Funfetti is a trademarked word owned by Pillsbury. They both mean the same thing.
Not really. The confetti cake may have a stronger vanilla flavor to it than a regular vanilla cake, but it's all about personal tastebuds. The colors added can often make it feel fancier or more enhanced though.
Yes and no. While you can add any kind of sprinkle to cake batter, it's important to note that not all sprinkles work the same. Nonpariels and confetti sprinkles may cause color bleeding or textural changes in the cake, whereas Jimmie sprinkles won't bleed colors and will melt when baked so that there's no textural change in the cake.
More great Easter recipes to check out soon
- Easter Egg Hot Chocolate
- Easter Mini Eggs Fudge
- Easy Easter Bunny Biscuits
- Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cream Cheese Syrup
📖 Recipe
Easter Confetti Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Confetti Cake
- 1 box White Cake Mix (just the dry stuff!) ($1.00)
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour ($0.08)
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar ($0.22)
- ¾ teaspoon Salt ($0.08)
- 1 box (3.4oz) Vanilla Flavored Instant Pudding Mix (just the dry stuff!) ($0.98)
- 4 large Egg Whites ($0.32)
- 2 large Egg Yolks ($0.00)
- 1 cup Sour Cream ($0.80)
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil ($0.24)
- 1 cup Milk ($0.19)
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract ($0.06)
- ½ cup Rainbow Jimmie Sprinkles ($1.68)
Vanilla Filling
- 1 box Vanilla Cook and Serve Pudding ($0.98)
- 2 cups Milk ($0.38)
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (can be halved)
- 9 cups Powdered Sugar ($2.07)
- 6 sticks Butter, Room Temp (3 cups) ($4.50)
- 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract ($0.06)
- 6-8 Tablespoons Milk ($0.07)
- Food Coloring in Desired Colors
Optional Seasonal Decorations
- Peeps
- Sprinkles
- Easter Egg Candies
- Toasted Shredded Coconut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray the inside of 3 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and cut a circle of parchment paper to fit at the bottom of the pan. The spray will hold the paper in place, and the paper will prevent the cake from sticking.
- Place your dry cake mix, dry pudding mix, flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk together until well blended.
- In another mixing bowl, add your sour cream, milk, vanilla, oil, and eggs.
- Whisk together until well blended.
- Add the wet mixture to the bowl with the dry mixture.
- Whisk together until the cake batter comes together, and no flour streaks remain. Do not overmix.
- Add your rainbow colored sprinkles to the cake batter.
- Mix well until evenly distributed.
- Divide the cake batter between your prepared cake pans.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted into the center and come out clean.
- Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping onto a wire rack and removing the pan and parchment.
- Allow to rest until fully cooled. You can place the cakes into the freezer for faster prep if needed.
- I recommend freezing the cake layers after they've cooled a bit. They'll be much easier to handle if fully or partially frozen. You can freeze them while you make the filling and have it chill, and then remove the cake from the freezer after you've prepared the buttercream.
Prepare the Filling
- Make your cook and serve pudding according to the package directions. Let cool completely before using.
- If desired, you can make the filling lighter in texture and more mousse like, by folding in an 8 ounce tub of thawed cool whip.
Prepare the Buttercream
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together 3 sticks of softened butter and 4.5 cups of powdered sugar.
- Add in 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 3-4 tablespoons of milk. Beat again until incorporated.
Assembly
- Place some or most of the buttercream into a piping bag and snip a large corner off of the end. You won't need a fitted tip for this part.
- Place a layer of cake onto your cake board or display surface
- Pipe a round rim around the top of the layer of cake. This will work like a dam to prevent the filling from leaking out. Go over the rim twice if needed.
- Spoon your filling into the center and gently spread it out to the edges.
- Add a layer of cake on top. Try to position it evenly centered above the other layer.
- Repeat the frosting rim and filling as you did before.
- Add the final cake layer on top. Center it well.
- If it's slippery, you can use plastic straws or wooden dowels in the center of the cake to help give it support. You can also freeze the cake at this point for an hour to make it easier to handle.
- Add your frosting around the edges and the top of the cake.
- Spread the frosting around until smooth. There should be just enough frosting to coat the cake without embellishments.
- Place the cake into the freezer to chill for an hour.
Second Batch of Frosting
- Repeat the buttercream frosting instructions and make a second batch of frosting.
- Take out about (4) ¼ cup portions of buttercream into separate bowls.
Decorate
- Add a little food coloring to each bowl, a different color per bowl. I chose pink, blue, yellow, and purple. Mix well until the color is evenly distributed.
- Spoon a little bit of differently colored frosting around the sides of the cake. Scatter them around so that they don't look uniform.
- Spread the frosting around the sides using a cake scraper or frosting spreader. As you go around the colors will fade together and create a fun design.
- Continue to spread the frosting around until you're happy with the results.
- Place your remaining white frosting into a piping ba with a large fitted tip (I like 1M).
- Pipe a boarder or peaks around the top of the cake.
- Line some bunny peeps along the bottom edge of the cake. If they won't stick to the frosting, pipe a small dollop of frosting on the back to help them adhere.
- Decorate the cake with shredded coconut, Easter egg candies, and more peeps if desired.
- Place your cake into the fridge and allow to chill until ready to serve.
- Slice into it and enjoy the fun rainbow colors throughout the cake layers.
- Happy Easter!
Notes
Substitutions
- Cake mix. You can use any boxed cake mix desired for this recipe but I recommend sticking with white cake or yellow cake for the best-looking results.
- Sour cream. If you don't want to use sour cream you can use Greek yogurt in its place. Non-flavored plain Greek yogurt works just as well and gives the cake a slightly healthier touch.
- Butter. In the frosting, you can swap out the butter for Crisco shortening. This will give you a similar texture but without the added dairy. White shortening can also help to preserve more of the white frosting color without giving it a yellow tint.
- Pudding mix. You can use any flavored pudding mix desired. vanilla cake mix works great in the cake batter but for the filling don't be afraid to switch it up a bit and use whatever you'd like! Even chocolate pudding can be used!
Variations
- Swap up the candies and make this cake for any occasion, or omit the candies and "Easter" touches to make this cake perfect for a birthday.
- Change out the pudding filling between the cake layers for a fruity pie filling like strawberry or blueberry.
Recipe Tips
- If at any point the frosting becomes a tad messy and difficult to apply to the cake, place the cake in the freezer and place the frosting in the fridge. Just giving it a few minutes (10-15) to chill can really make a huge difference.
- I used a large frosting leveler for spreading it around the tops and sides (bought off of Amazon for under $10) but other things that could work include a butter knife and a clean office ruler.
- If your cake's sides look a little too messed with for your liking and you want to cover it up, you can do as I did and just strategically place candy over those spots!
Make Ahead Instructions
- You can prepare the cake layers up to two weeks in advance and keep them well wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer.
- The buttercream can be made and kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just thaw overnight in the fridge and mix together again before use.
Storage
- Keep your cake well covered and stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. This cake should only be allowed to sit out at room temperature for 1-2 hours at a time, depending on the temperature of the room.
Recipe Add-Ins
- If desired you can add up to another 1 cup of rainbow jimmie sprinkles for added color.
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