This homemade funfetti bundt cake is so easy to make. Using a cake mix as the base, you’ll add other ingredients and sprinkles to make the perfect, scratch tasting, yet easy cake. It’s the perfect moist cake for birthdays or really any occasion.
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Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
Today I’ve got a fun and easy cake recipe for you. It’s a cake mix based recipe, but we’re adding things to it and you would never know it started off with a cake mix. It’s seriously that good and that homemade tasting.
I love scratch cakes, but I will admit I also love a cake mix based cake as well. Now, I don’t really like cakes that are just made strictly from a box, but I do find that some of the doctored cake mix cakes are actually very good. I’m not really a cake snob in that respect. (Now when it comes to buying a cheap grocery store cake, that’s another story.)
Anyway, I know I’m not alone in this as I’ve had people ask me for some easier, cake mix based options. Now, I like to give options to people and frankly, I’m always up for experimenting with cake. 🙂
This one is really moist and rich and truly easy to put together. It’s one of those cakes that’s just perfect to take to a potluck or birthday etc. It just travels well.
LET’S TALK A LITTLE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS FOR THE FUNFETTI BUNDT CAKE:
WHITE CAKE MIX: We’re starting with a white cake mix as the base. I went with a plain white cake mix instead of a funfetti one because I wanted to control the amount of sprinkles I added to it later. You could probably use a funfetti mix here, but I tested it with a plain white cake mix.
CREAM CHEESE: Cream cheese just kicks up the richness a notch. It also helps to give it that pound cake texture.
THE EXTRACTS: I’ve included vanilla, almond and lemon extracts in this recipe because that’s what helps it taste like a true scratch cake. The lemon extract isn’t going to give it a lemon flavor…there’s not enough of it. It just gives it a hint of it and when combined with vanilla, well it’s just really good.
WHITE CHOCOLATE PUDDING MIX: A pudding mix never hurts, right? It adds a bit of extra flavor to the cake and helps to give the cake a pound cake like texture.
RAINBOW JIMMIES: You’ll want to use ‘jimmies’ here and not the tiny little round sprinkles. Those little round sprinkles will bleed color all over your cake batter. The jimmies won’t do that.
EGG WHITES: You’ll be using egg whites in this recipe instead of whole eggs because you want to keep the base color of the cake white, so the sprinkles will stand out.
MIXING METHOD FOR THE FUNFETTI BUNDT CAKE:
The mixing method for this cake is super easy and straight forward. It’s essentially the dump it method. You’ll just mix up the butter and cream cheese first, then dump everything else in and mix. Easy, right?
TIPS & FAQs FOR THE FUNFETTI BUNDT CAKE:
I would suggest it if you can get it. I haven’t tested this recipe out without the cream cheese, so I’m not sure what the final product will be like. The cream cheese does help give the cake a nice pound cake texture though.
It’ll probably be okay if you don’t use it, but it does add additional flavor and it helps give the cake a pound cake texture. If you can’t find white chocolate pudding mix, you can always use vanilla instead, it just might give it a slightly more yellow tint to it.
Probably, I just wanted to control the amount of sprinkles in my cake and I wanted nice quality sprinkles. I haven’t tested this recipe out using the funfetti cake mix, but I would think it would be fine to use.
Spoon it into your measuring cup to measure.
The rainbow sprinkles will bleed color into your cake batter. The jimmies won’t do that like the sprinkles can.
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SUPPLIES USED FOR THE FUNFETTI BUNDT CAKE:
Ok let’s get to the recipe!
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe:
Funfetti Bundt Cake (A Doctored Cake Mix Recipe)
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
- 1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese (room temp)
- 2 tsps clear vanilla extract (or regular vanilla extract if you don't have clear)
- ¼ teaspoon almond emulsion (optional)
- ½ tsp. lemon extract
- 6 egg whites
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (or canola oil)
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¼ cup water
- 1 3.4 oz. pkg. white chocolate instant pudding mix (dry)
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 box white cake mix
- ¾ cup rainbow jimmies
For the Glaze:
- 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract (or regular if you don't have clear)
- ⅓ cup milk (or cream)
- pinch of salt
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Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10″ bundt pan very well.
- Mix butter, cream cheese and extracts very well until completely smooth.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix on medium to medium/high until well incorporated. The batter will be thick.
- Stir in the rainbow jimmies.
- Add to prepared pan and smooth the batter even.
- Bake at 325 for 60-65 minutes.
- Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then turn out of the pan onto the wire rack and cool completely before adding a glaze or powdered sugar.
For the glaze:
- In a mixing bowl, add in the confectioners sugar, extract, milk and pinch of salt. Mix well until smooth.
- Check the consistency. If it’s too thick for drizzling, add more milk or cream by tablespoon until desired consistency. If it’s too thin, add in another cup of confectioner’s sugar.
- Drizzle over cooled cake.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Rebekah Montagna
It was awesome!! Yummm.
Kara Jane
Thank you Rebekah! So glad you liked it. ?
Rozanne
Why is the recipe in the video different from the recipe listed?
Kara Jane
Hi Rozanne, I went back and compared the video to my written recipe. I did notice that the video said 1/4 cup oil and my written recipe said 2 tbsps. That was simply a typo on my part and I apologize. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I’ve gone back in and corrected that on the printable recipe. That would not have made a huge difference in the outcome, but the added oil would add just a bit more moisture to the cake. Thanks again.
Jami McNea
I have made this cake three times. Everyone loves it!
Kara
Hi Jami, that’s awesome! I’m so glad everyone loves it and thank you for your wonderful review!
Candice M
This is literally the best cake recipe I have ever made & I’ve made a lot of cakes, both from scratch & doctored up mixes. I was uncertain while making it because there were so many ingredients, but wow was it worth it! I don’t usually like cake personally, but could not stop eating this one. Excellent recipe!! I am guessing you can use this with chocolate cake, just swap out pudding flavor and not add the lemon? Thanks so much!
Kara Jane
Hi Candice! Oh I’m so glad you liked it! I find this one addicting myself. 😉 Yes, you can just change this one up using different flavors of cake and pudding.That should work just fine. You can change out the extracts as well. I would still add the vanilla, but you can take out the other flavorings if you’re making chocolate. Thanks for the wonderful review!
Dana Thomas
Made the cake tonight. My daughter helped and it was beautiful / delicious. The glaze did not turn out however m. I kept looking at recipe trying to figure out what I did wrong. I then watched the video. You list butter for the first ingredient in the glaze but do not use it in the video. Will make again with the correct glaze or another icing. I did love how you doctored the cake mix
Kara Jane
Dana, Oh my goodness you’re right! I don’t know why I’ve got butter in the glaze ingredient list, but I’ve taken that off. Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention! I’m glad the cake turned out well though!
Becca
Can I make cupcakes instead of a Bundt cake with this recipe?
Kara Jane
Yes you should be able to do that. They may be a little more dense (pound cake like texture) than normal cupcakes though since the original recipe was meant for a bundt cake. Make sure to bake them for less time, maybe around 25 minutes or so.
Lesley
I am making this today for my kids’ birthday, but the print link does not work at all – could you check it please?
Kara Jane
Hey Lesley, it’s working for me. I tried the one at the very top of the post and the one in the recipe card. I’m using google chrome. I wonder if it’s your browser? I do know that if you highlight the text or if you try to copy paste and print it, it won’t work that way, but the button seems to be working at the moment. Try it again and if it doesn’t work, let me know and I can email a pdf to you.
Natalie
Hi
I was wondering how you think this cake would do in 8in round pans? Also how long would you bake it in those pans?
Thank you!
Kara Jane
Hi Natalie, I haven’t tested this one out in 8-inch pans. It might work, but I’m not sure the texture would be super fluffy as it’s more of a pound cake-like texture. You could try it though. I’d still bake at 325 degrees F and maybe start checking at around 30 minutes or so. If you’re just looking for a funfetti layer cake recipe, you could use my scratch white cake recipe and just add in the sprinkles. That recipe is meant to be a layer cake and it’s really good. Here’s a link if you’d like to check out that recipe: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/moist-white-cake/
Amber Meusborn
Hello!
I’ve made this recipe a total of 3 times. The first 2 times, it was gorgeous and a home favorite! These last time, my cake overflowed to high heaven. I checked my work and even watched the video a few more times, and I’ve done everything correctly. Curious if you’ve had this problem or may know what I’m doing wrong?
Love this recipe though, best cake we’ve ever had.
Kara
Hi Amber, That’s so interesting how it overflowed the last time. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the eggs were extra large or something like that? I haven’t had that happen with this cake, but I’ve had people ask me something similar on other cakes and then it turned out they used eggs that were either extra large, or yard eggs that were extra large. Maybe you accidently added in some whole eggs instead? That’s the only thing I can think of. It’s very interesting though and I’m sorry that happened!!! If you try it again, let me know how it works out!
Kathryn
This cake was fantastic! Perfect texture. I had to cook a little longer than 65 minutes , so watch it closely and check for doneness. It was soooooo good.
Kara
So glad you loved it!
Margaret
In the video it shows one stick of butter but the recipe states 1 cup which is 2 sticks, I’m planning on making this and just want to confirm the amount of butter. Thank you
Kara
Hi Margaret, it should be two sticks, which is one cup. I went back and re-watched the video, but I do show two sticks sliding off the plate in the beginning of the video with the cream cheese, but maybe the video cut out or something when it played for you? Not sure, but it should be 1 cup and thank you for asking!