My 28th Birthday Cake! A 6” Vanilla Cake with mini cupcake decorations.
It’s my birthdaaaaay! Or it was on Wednesday, and to celebrate I had to make my own birthday cake.
I had a few different ideas for my birthday cake, but I wanted to make something fun and a little different. So, I came up with this absolute beauty.
I used a 6” cake tin, so slightly smaller than my normal 8” cake tin, but this cake was being shared with family, so I didn’t want it to be too big.
I decided to go with pink and yellow buttercream because I love the colour combination. For the mini cupcakes, I used Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and used lustre dust to give them a lovely glittery shine.
I am so pleased with how this cake turned out and I think it is one of my favourite birthday cakes ever!
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To Make the Birthday Cake
So, on the inside of the cake, I just went with a simple vanilla cake. I did have the idea to create a pink and yellow marble cake but, in the end, just stuck with a classic vanilla sponge.
As always, I started by creaming together the butter and sugar. I used caster sugar in this recipe and Stork butter, but you could also use another baking spread or unsalted butter.
I added the remaining ingredients and mixed until all the ingredients were completely combined.
Related Recipes
For this cake, I used two 6” cake tins. Each cake tin had approx. 700g of cake batter in each. They are quite thick cakes, but they are the perfect height.
The cakes did take slightly longer to bake in the oven, just because they are a lot thicker than normal. I baked them at a lower temperature for longer, just to ensure that they didn’t burn.
Once the cakes have cooked and cooled completely, I split each cake into three layers, so I had six layers in total and left them to one side.
To Make the Buttercream
To make the buttercream I beat the butter in my stand mixer until it was pale in colour and soft. I added the icing sugar and some vanilla extract. If you find the mixture is quite thick you can add a tablespoon of milk and mix again. Remove 250g-300g of the mixture and put it into a small bowl covered with cling film.
I used this yellow food colouring and added a little at a time until I reached the desired colour. I used yellow food colouring in between each layer and for the outside of the cake.
Once I had stacked the cake and covered it with a crumb coat, I popped it into the fridge to set.
While I was waiting for the buttercream to set, I cut up a packet of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in half. These were for around the side of the cake. I used this black lustre dust to dust the cups. For the full peanut butter cups on top, I used this Ruby lustre dust and left them to one side.
Once I had added the buttercream to the cake I then gently placed the half peanut butter cups around the side of the cake. I just did this at random. Be careful because the black lustre dust will mark the yellow buttercream. Gently press it into the cake to stop it from sliding or moving.
With the smaller amount of buttercream, I added this pink food colouring and piped it onto the top of the half peanut butter cups. I also piped swirls onto the top of the cake using a 2D piping tip to sit the whole peanut butter cups on.
I added some sprinkles to the buttercream on top of the cupcakes and piped the leftover yellow buttercream on top of the whole peanut butter cups. To finish the birthday cake off with some sprinkles a dusting of lustre dust and a cake topper.
Alternatives
If you wanted to make this a pink and yellow marble cake, once you have added all the ingredients and mixed them to form the cake batter. Split the mixture into two separate bowls, and add yellow food colouring to one and pink food colouring to the other. Add the mixture a spoonful at a time into the cake tins alternating in colour. Then using a cake skewer swirl the two colours together to create the marble effect.
Equipment
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My 28th Birthday Cake
Ingredients
For the Birthday Cake
- 350 g Unsalted Butter or Stork
- 350 g Caster Sugar
- 350 g Self-Raising Flour
- 7 Large Eggs
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Buttercream
- 500 g Unsalted Butter
- 1 kg Icing Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3-4 tbsp Whole Milk (optional)
- Yellow Food Colouring
- Pink Food Colouring
- 180 g Peanut Butter Cups
- Black Lustre Dust
- Pink Lustre Dust
- Sprinkles
Instructions
To Make the Birthday Cake
- Preheat the oven to 170C (150C Fan). Line two 6” cake tins with greaseproof paper and leave to one side.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
- Add in the flour, eggs, baking powder and vanilla and whisk until all combined.
- Split the mixture between the two cake tins. You should have approximately 700g in each tin.
- Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes. You will know they are ready when they are golden brown and springy to the touch.
- Leave them to cool in the cake tin for 15-20 minutes and then remove and put them on a wire rack to cool fully.
To Make the Buttercream
- Beat the butter for around 5-10 minutes until soft and pale in colour.
- Add in the icing sugar and vanilla extract and mix until completely combined. If you find the buttercream is too thick add a tablespoon of milk and mix again. Repeat until the buttercream is the desired consistency.
- Remove 250g of the buttercream and pop it into a separate bowl. Add the pink food colouring a little at a time, mixing in between each addition until you have reached the desired colour. Cover with cling film and leave to one side.
- With the remaining buttercream add yellow food colouring a little at a time. Mixing in between each addition until you reach the desired colour.
Putting it All Together
- Split each cake into three separate layers so you should have six layers in total.
- Place the first cake onto your cake board and spread the yellow buttercream on top. Stack your next cake on top and spread over the buttercream. Repeat until the cake is fully stacked.
- Pipe or spread the buttercream onto the sides of the cake to fill in any gaps.
- Using your cake smoother smooth the sides of the cake. Don’t worry if you can see the cake through the buttercream, this is just the crumb coat. We will cover the cake soon.
- When there are no gaps in your cake pop it into the fridge until the buttercream has hardened.
- While you are waiting for the buttercream to set, cut half of your Peanut Butter Cups in half and dust over the black lustre dust.
- Dust 12 full peanut butter cups with the ruby lustre dust and leave them all to one side.
- Once the buttercream has hardened, pipe the remaining buttercream around the sides of the cake
- Using your smoother, smooth around the sides, if there are any gaps fill these with the buttercream and continue to smooth around the sides until the cake is smooth. You will most likely take some of the buttercream off the cake if you do pop this back into your bowl.
- Gently place the halved peanut butter cups around the side of the cake.
- Put the pink buttercream into a piping bag with a small piping nozzle and pipe buttercream onto the top of the peanut butter cups around the side of the cake.
- Add the remaining pink buttercream into a piping bag with a 2D Star Nozzle and pipe swirls onto the top of the cake.
- Add the full peanut butter cups to the top of the swirls.
- Using any leftover yellow buttercream add this to a piping bag with a small star nozzle and pipe swirls onto the top of the peanut butter cups.
- Add sprinkles to the cake and finish with a dusting of lustre dust and a cake topper.
Notes
- This cake will last for 3+ days.
This looks so good! Bet it tasted amazing! Hope you had a lovely birthday
Thank you! I had a lovely birthday x
Firstly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope you had the best day. Secondly, WOW! Just wow. Your talent for making cakes is beyond words. This is absolutely amazing and looks utterly delicious. I’m thinking of making my own bday cake this year so I’m defiantly going to keep this recipe in mind. Thank you so much for sharing with us lovely. It looks stunning Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
Thank you! You 100% should make your own birthday cake. You can have so much fun creating flavours you love and decorating it in any way you want.