Hey guys! I had this recipe all ready to go before everything really hit with the virus a few months ago, but I think it’s time, especially since we’re still in the middle of birthday season. I’ve made a lot of from-scratch Funfetti cakes over the years, and I know it’s fav, so today I’m sharing this high-altitude recipe for the classic birthday cake!
This recipe is super easy, comes together very quickly, and makes a simple, two-layer, 8-inch round cake. You can split the batter into 3 6-inch pans if you prefer as well!
How to Make High-Altitude Funfetti Cake
You guys have heard me talk about adapting cake for high-altitude MANY times over the years, and this recipe is no different. I have a ton of cake recipes in a wide range of flavors on Dough-Eyed, and you can click here to browse through my cake recipes!
This base cake recipe is one that I use really often, and it’s super simple. Something that I’ve found after making this recipe literally hundreds of times in many different variations is that it is sensitive to being over-mixed. I know it sounds weird, but you really do want to just throw all the cake ingredients into a bowl, and beat together at the same time! This prevents over mixing, and you just want to mix it together until combined. We fold in the sprinkles last.
Spread the batter into your two pans evenly- it will be pretty thick! I like to line my baking pans with a quick spray of Pam, and a parchment paper round. Bake them up until golden brown, and a cake tester comes out clean.
Once the cakes are completely cooled, we’re frosting generously with a Swiss meringue buttercream that is silky and fluffy, and topping with more sprinkles to our heart’s content. I’m so drawn to simple recipes like this sometimes- it feels very doable in the rush of everyday life, and who doesn’t love a homemade cake?
I hope you guys enjoy this one!
High-Altitude Funfetti Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tbs. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles (jimmy-style)
For the frosting:
- 5 egg whites
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cups softened butter
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp. salt
Instructions
For the cake:
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease two 8-inch baking pans with baking spray. Optionally, line the bottoms with parchment paper for easier removal. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract, almond extract, flour, baking powder, salt, and milk. I know it sounds weird to mix everything at once, but trust me, it works well here. The batter will be thick.
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Fold in the sprinkles gently until well distributed. Divide and spread the batter evenly in your two prepared baking pans. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting!
For the frosting:
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In a large bowl over a double-boiler, stir the egg whites and sugar together until the sugar is well dissolved, and the mixture is about 140-150 degrees. This should take about 5-10 minutes.
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Transfer the mixture to a stand mixer, and whip with the whisk attachment on medium speed for 8-10 minutes, or until the mixture has reached stiff peaks, and the outside of the bowl feels completely cool to the touch.
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With the mixer running, slowly add the butter about 1 tablespoon at a time until it is completed added. The mixture will go through stages of textures as you continue to beat it, increasing the speed to high after all the butter has been added. It will look thin at first, then will look curdled, but eventually will come together. If you have beaten the frosting for 5-10 minutes, and it still looks curdled, try adding an additional 2 tbs. of butter, and continue beating until light, fluffy, and smooth. Beat in the vanilla and salt.
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Frost your cake as desired, and top with more sprinkles. Enjoy!
Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!
Hi. Enjoying your site. Please remind me…do you have grain-free, gluten and sugar-free recipes.
Hi Charlotte- I occasionally do some dietary restricted-friendly recipes, but it's definitely not common for me. Always happy to help if you want to send me a recipe though!
If you haven't yet found King Arthur Flour company's Measure for Measure, I wholeheartedly suggest you try it. I bake for people who are both gluten and milk allergic, and this flour works beautifully. You just substitute it cup for cop for the wheat flour in your recipe. Make sure you get Measure for Measure instead of the Cup for Cup because Cup for Cup contains powdered milk.
How many would you say a single batch of this would feed? I'm needing a cake to feed at least 30
Hi Emily- this cake feeds 8-10 with good sized slices.
Hi! I’m worried I over mixed the batter. My butter was soft but it took four or five minutes for the butter lumps to mostly disappear. Thoughts?
Hi there! It's ok to have some small butter lumps in this batter- that's normal because of the mixing method. You can try to bake them though, ya never know! This better is a bit sensitive to over mixing though.
The batter tastes amazing and it baked great too! So happy I found your page 🙂 high altitude baking is tough and you make it fun and easy again. Thank you for taking out the adjustment guess work.
I'm super excited to make this for my husbands birthday! He loves funfetti, but I stopped baking since living at 9,000ft. Question for you, is two 9" cake pans ok to use for this recipe? They are the only size I have or would that make each cake too thin? Thank you so much!
Hi there! The cakes will definitely be a bit thinner in 9 inch pans, and they will take less time to bake, so you'll want to keep a close eye on them. But otherwise, they should taste totally fine!
Hi Nicole. I’m at 7000’ in Southern California. I was wondering if you have baked this cake in a 13×9 pan? Thank you so much for helping us high altitude bakers. It definitely is a challenge to bake at altitude.
Hi there! I haven't done this one in a 9×13, but it should be no problem! I would just watch the bake time, and I expect it will take a little longer to bake, but it should work perfectly!
Can this be turned into cupcakes? Any modifications to it to do so?
Yes, the full recipe would give you 24 cupcakes. You'll want to watch the bake time as it will take much less time, but otherwise no adjustments!
This cake tasted great but mine turned out super crumbly… maybe it's too dry somehow? Any suggestions as to how to fix it?
Hi there! Hmm, my first thought is that maybe it was a touch over-baked? If that's not the case, we may be at slightly different altitudes as well, and you can try adding another tablespoon of sour cream, and teaspoon of milk to the recipe to help out with moisture. I hope that helps!
Tha ks for this fun recipe! One question though… my cake tastes great, but came out very crumbly. Is it too dry? Do you have any suggestions as to how to fix it?
Hey
What altitude is this recipe for? I'm at 3500ft.
Thanks
I'm at about 5,000 ft and I find that most people between about 3,000-7,000 ft do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes!
Absolutely perfect at 6,237’! Took closer to 30 minutes in my oven, but DELICIOUS. Thank you so much.