These Easy Funfetti Cake Balls are made from the most moist funfetti sheet cake, a three ingredient frosting, and melted white chocolate chips. With clear instructions, simple and accessible ingredients, and tips for success, these cake balls could not be easier!
Cake Ball Process
- Make Funfetti Sheet Cake
- Cool sheet cake
- Make buttercream
- Break cake into fine crumbs
- Massage buttercream into cooled cake
- Form balls and freeze until firm
- Melt white chocolate chips
- Dip balls into melted chocolate
- Top balls with sprinkles
What Sprinkles Do I Use?
You'll need to use jimmies in this cake recipe. Using nonpareils, sugar crystals, or any other sprinkle type will result in the color bleeding and a potential change in texture.
I recommend using a soft, chewy sprinkle as opposed to a crunchier jimmie. I think this helps to create a softer cake texture. I've used these sprinkles for the past year, and I have LOVED them!
Making Perfect Funfetti Cake
- Mixing Egg + Sugar: Whisk the egg and granulated sugar for the full 2 minutes. This creates air in the batter and creates a light, fluffy cake texture.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Using room temperature ingredients helps the batter to come together smoothly. Leave your eggs and buttermilk out 1-2 hours before baking OR place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before baking and microwave the buttermilk for 15 seconds.
- Pan Size + Type: I use an 8x8 inch glass pan. You can use a 9x9 pan, but you will need to bake for a shorter amount of time. You can also use a cupcake tray- the batter will make 12 cupcakes, and you'll need to bake for 18-22 minutes. If you are using a metal pan, your cake will likely need less time in the oven than a glass pan.
- Baking: Bake this cake until it is golden brown in color. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out with moist crumbs, not fully clean. You should be able to tap the top of the cake with your finger and see it spring back.
Cake Ball Tips + Tricks
- Chilling: Chill your cake balls, uncovered, on a baking sheet or plate lined with wax or parchment paper. Freeze for 25-30 minutes. If you are not decorating immediately after to 25-30 minutes, cover the balls and keep them in the freezer.
- Dipping: Stick a toothpick deep into your frozen cake ball. Dip and swirl ball in melted chocolate, using a spoon to help cover the ball in chocolate if needed. Hold the cake ball above the bowl and carefully twirl it and shake it to remove excess chocolate. Then, holding the truffle upright from the toothpick, place the fork below the truffle and gently push up on the truffle to remove the toothpick from the dough ball. Use the toothpick to push the truffle off of the fork onto a piece of parchment paper.
- Decorating: You'll want to top the balls with sprinkles immediately after they are dipped. Do not dip all of the balls and then top with sprinkles, as the balls will likely already have hardened white chocolate shells. The sprinkles won't stick, so dip a ball and immediately decorate.
FAQ
Funfetti is a more buttery version of a classic vanilla cake. It's light, moist, fluffy, and FILLED with sprinkles!
You absolutely need to chill your cake balls before dipping them. They will need to be in the freezer for 25-30 minutes. Your cake balls will likely fall apart if you dip room temperature or warm cake balls into your melted chocolate.
Store your cake balls at room temperature tightly covered or in an airtight container for up to 4 days. You can also store these in the fridge for up to 6 days. You CAN freeze these balls. I recommend freezing them before they are dipped. Freeze them, uncovered, for the 25-30 minutes. Then, individually wrap them in 2 layers of cling wrap. Place the balls in a freezer bag before freezing for up to 3 months.
I prefer using Ghirardelli white chocolate chips, but you can use real baking chocolate or white candy melts if you'd like. I find that using white chocolate chips works just find and is easier and more accessible.
Other Recipes
Print
Easy Funfetti Cake Balls
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Chill Time: 30 minutes: Decorating Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 24 cake balls 1x
- Category: Cake Balls, Cake Pops, Funfetti Cake, Funfetti
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Moist, buttery funfetti cake is mixed with a three ingredient buttercream, dipped in melted white chocolate, and decorated with sprinkles. These Easy Funfetti Cake Balls will be the cutest, most delicious addition to any table!
Ingredients
For the Cake
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large (50g) egg, room temperature
- ¼ cup (55g) unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup (45g) vegetable oil
- ¾ cup (150g) buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon butter or almond extract
- 1 ¼ cup (175g) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (6g) salt
- 1 teaspoon (4g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) baking soda
- ⅓ cup (60g) rainbow jimmies
For the Frosting
- ¼ cup (55g) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup (90g) powdered sugar
- ½ tablespoon (8g) milk
For the Coating
- 3 cups (465g) white chocolate chips
- ½ teaspoon (2g) vegetable shortening
- ¼ cup (45g) rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper. Spray the paper with cooking oil to help the cake come out cleanly after baking.
- In a large bowl, whisk granulated sugar and room temperature egg together for 2 minutes until the mixture is light pale in color and slightly fluffy in texture. This step is incredibly important to create air in this cake.
- Add melted butter, vegetable oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and almond/butter extract to the bowl. Whisk until smooth and fully combined.
- Slowly add all purpose flour into the mixture, stirring until just combined.Then, add salt, baking powder, and baking soda and whisk only until they disappear into the batter. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula to ensure the mixture is properly combined. Use a spatula to carefully fold sprinkles into the batter.
- Transfer the batter to your prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs. You should be able to carefully poke the top of the cake with your finger and have it spring back when it is baked. The cake should be golden brown in color.
- Let the cake cool before moving forward with the process. Your cake balls will fall apart if you use even slightly warm cake.
For the Frosting
- If you are using a hand mixer, bring your butter to room temperature before making the frosting. To do this, simply leave your butter out on the counter 1-2 hours before baking. If you forget, cut your butter stick into 1-tablespoon sized pieces. Microwave the pieces laying flat for 10 seconds before flipping the pieces over and microwaving for another 10 seconds. Repeat the process in 5 second increments as needed until the butter is soft but still cool to the touch. You should be able to make an indent without breaking through the butter piece when sticking your finger in it.
- Mix butter on high speed until smooth.
- Slowly add powdered sugar to the butter. Continue mixing until the butter and sugar are combined.
- Add milk to the frosting, and beat on high speed for 2-3 minutes.
For Assembly
- Transfer your cooled cake to a large bowl. Break cooled cake up into crumbs using your hands. To do this, simply crush and smoosh the cake together to create fine crumbs.
- Massage 1 tablespoon of frosting into the cake crumbs using your hands. If you can roll a smooth ball without it breaking apart, you are good to go. Add additional tablespoons of frosting as needed until the mixture is no longer dry and is able to stay in a formed ball. Adding too much frosting will create wet balls that will not stay together. This cake is incredibly moist, so it will not require too much frosting to hold the balls together.
- Roll balls into 1 ½ tablespoon-sized balls, about 30g of mixture per ball. Stick the balls on a parchment or wax piece of paper on a plate or baking sheet. Freeze the balls, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes until firm and chilled. Do not skip this step.
For Decorating
- Microwave white chocolate chips in 45 second increments in a heat-proof bowl, heavily stirring between each round. You can also melt chocolate over a double boiler for more even heating. To make a homemade double boiler, place chocolate in a heat-safe bowl on top of a saucepan of water over medium heat. Stir until melted.
- Stir vegetable shortening into chocolate until smooth.
- Prepare a plate or baking sheet by putting a clean piece of parchment or wax paper on top of it.
- Dip each ball, individually, into the chocolate. I prefer to stick a toothpick into each ball, dip it into the bowl of melted chocolate, and carefully use a fork to transfer the ball to a sheet of wax paper. You can use the toothpick method, a spoon and fork, or a dipping tool. Read above for my tips on dipping!
- Immediately after dipping the ball into the chocolate, roll the ball in sprinkles or simply sprinkle them. The chocolate will begin to harden after being dipped in the chocolate, so do not wait to add the sprinkles.
- Let the balls cool at room temperature or in the fridge until the chocolate is set.
Keywords: Funfetti Cake Balls, Funfetti Cake Pops, White Chocolate Cake Balls, Funfetti Cake, Sheet Cake
Leave a Comment!