Family birthday parties are a commonplace occurrence on my Dad’s side of the family. I am often asked if I can make a cake, and I always say yes, because, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I love to bake! This particular cake was for my Grandmother’s birthday and her request for flavors was simple, something light and fresh. The theme was from a basic rainbow confetti paper products set with very few frills. It took a little work, but I came up with what, to this day, is one of my favorite cakes! I want to note that I made way too much cake for the size of our party, so don’t feel like you can only make this cake if it is three tiers, this design would work well as any size of shape of cake, just scale up or down as needed.
Simple and Fresh Fillings and Cake
Simple and fresh. That is the only request my Grandmother had. I decided to go with a family favorite lemon cake with buttercream frosting. I also made two different fillings from scratch, mock blueberry and strawberry jellies. I call them mock as they do not produce a fruit spread one could put on a sandwich, but taste similar and work better as a cake filling. Maybe I should just call them fruit fillings? Either way they are super simple to make, you take any type of berry and either cut or smash them, put into a sauce pan with some sugar, then cook down until they become a bit thicker than pouring consistency. I have used them a ton in cakes and they work really well. You can, of course, use any flavors of cake or fillings you want however.
Throw Some Confetti At It!
When I saw the decorations they had picked for the party, I really liked the way they looked and the simple design. I had thought originally about doing one of those cakes where you roll it in sprinkles to look like it is coated in confetti. I just didn’t know if everyone would like the crunchy texture of that type of decoration, so then I thought I should just scale it back. I ended up keeping a simple white background and then hand placed some of the small round sprinkles you might find on doughnuts or cookies at the bakery. This wasn’t as hard as it sounds as I used a toothpick dipped in water to pick each up and then place it on the cake. If your sprinkles are slightly larger, you could also just use your fingers. For the border and top decoration, I decided to go with some colorful gumballs I had left over from a previous party that worked so well with the design. The borders were easy to place by simply piping a line of frosting around the edge and placing them one by one. For the top the same principle applies as you pipe a mound of frosting on the top and then carefully construct a stacked mound. The best part was the “Happy Birthday” candles I found which happened to perfectly match the décor!
Can You Customize This To Your Party?
Of course you can! You can change the type or color of sprinkle, I would love to try this with shaped sprinkles that match a theme like flowers or pink flamingos. Also think about changing the candies used to decorate the top and border. The frosting, fillings, and cake can all be switched out, just be mindful of the color scheme you are planning on using and matching. If you can find some fun candles, those can of course be changed out as well. I think this would be a great chocolate lovers cake with malted milk balls and chocolate sprinkles and a chocolate chocolate chocolate cake (another family favorite.) This design can really be morphed to match any theme, flavor, or size of party, so let your ideas be your guide, you can do it!
Simple and Versatile Cake
I was so happy with how this cake turned out. Its simplicity was just the perfect addition to the theme of the party. The fun candles were a hit, and everyone loved how fun this cake was, especially the birthday girl! The cake and fillings were also a hit, and people liked that they had a choice in what one they got to try. I did have to warn people about the gumballs so no one tried to eat them with the cake because, gross, but people loved the way things looked. I hope this cake design inspires you and that you can use it for a party you have coming up! Let me know in the comments below how it goes!
