mini cake

Mini Layer Cakes

Mini Layer Cakes by Wood and Spoon blog. These are tiny three layer pastel cakes perfect for parties, spring holidays, and Mother's Day. The small vanilla cakes are baked in a sheet pan and then frosted together with a simple American buttercream. The cakes are colored in pale easter colors and served as individual desserts. Perfect mini cake for two. Find the recipe and how to on thewoodandspoon.com by Kate Wood

What do Anna Kendrick, Bruno Mars, and my three kids have in common with today’s recipe? They’re tiny and straight-up ADORABLE. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: fancy pants desserts like these mini layer cakes are my favorite. With soft pastel colors and a pint-sized stature, these little vanilla cakes are a happy treat to share with others. No, this isn’t the most social time of our lives (given the worldwide circumstances), but I’ve never known a time where people need love a little more. Maybe love them via cake?

Mini Layer Cakes by Wood and Spoon blog. These are tiny three layer pastel cakes perfect for parties, spring holidays, and Mother's Day. The small vanilla cakes are baked in a sheet pan and then frosted together with a simple American buttercream. The cakes are colored in pale easter colors and served as individual desserts. Perfect mini cake for two. Find the recipe and how to on thewoodandspoon.com by Kate Wood

I’ve been wanting to create a tutorial for simple mini layer cakes on this site for a while. I’ve hesitated because I really didn’t want to provide some set of instructions that required you to buy a ton of mini cake pans, cake rings, or other unnecessary equipment. I finally tooled around with a sheet pan cake and found that the layers, when trimmed out with a cookie cutter and briefly frozen prior to frosting, are actually pretty decent to work with. These mini layer cakes aren’t insanely easy to make, but with a smidge of patience you can totally do this. Scout’s Honor.

Mini Layer Cakes by Wood and Spoon blog. These are tiny three layer pastel cakes perfect for parties, spring holidays, and Mother's Day. The small vanilla cakes are baked in a sheet pan and then frosted together with a simple American buttercream. The cakes are colored in pale easter colors and served as individual desserts. Perfect mini cake for two. Find the recipe and how to on thewoodandspoon.com by Kate Wood

Making the Mini Cakes

To make these mini layer cakes, we first bake up a fluffy vanilla cake in a rimmed half sheet pan. This recipe is relies on whipped egg whites for its fluff, but you do need to take care not to overbake it. White cakes are prone to drying out, so bake only until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Once the cakes have cooled, use a 2″ round cookie cutter (I like this one!) to trim out cake circles. You want to cut out your circles pretty close together; if done correctly, you should end up with enough to make about 7 and a half-ish cakes. I was happy to have an extra layer in case one didn’t come out super clean, but you can feel free to eat those extra layers yourself. No shame. Place the cake layers on a clean sheet pan lined with parchment and freeze briefly so the cakes can firm up. This makes them easier to frost.

Mini Layer Cakes by Wood and Spoon blog. These are tiny three layer pastel cakes perfect for parties, spring holidays, and Mother's Day. The small vanilla cakes are baked in a sheet pan and then frosted together with a simple American buttercream. The cakes are colored in pale easter colors and served as individual desserts. Perfect mini cake for two. Find the recipe and how to on thewoodandspoon.com by Kate Wood

Mini Layer Cakes by Wood and Spoon blog. These are tiny three layer pastel cakes perfect for parties, spring holidays, and Mother's Day. The small vanilla cakes are baked in a sheet pan and then frosted together with a simple American buttercream. The cakes are colored in pale easter colors and served as individual desserts. Perfect mini cake for two. Find the recipe and how to on thewoodandspoon.com by Kate Wood

Frosting the Cakes

The frosting is a simple American buttercream. You can reference my recent post on stacking layer cakes for a little help here. I opted to frost the cakes entirely, but if you wanted an easier option and were planning to serve them quickly, you could also pipe the frosting onto the cakes for a naked look! Click here for a cute example I found on the internet. Truly, do whatever feels right here and just make something that goes with your vibe.

Mini Layer Cakes by Wood and Spoon blog. These are tiny three layer pastel cakes perfect for parties, spring holidays, and Mother's Day. The small vanilla cakes are baked in a sheet pan and then frosted together with a simple American buttercream. The cakes are colored in pale easter colors and served as individual desserts. Perfect mini cake for two. Find the recipe and how to on thewoodandspoon.com by Kate Wood

I opted for pastel hues on my mini layer cakes, and you can find some info on the colors I used in my recipe. As always, I opted for Americolor food gels, but use whatever you have on hand. Keep in mind that food coloring can often change the texture of your frosting, so be sure not to use too much. For decoration, I smeared a bit of white buttercream on top and garnished with assorted white and clear sprinkles. Again, this is dealer’s choice. Fresh flowers, fruit, or confetti is super pretty too.

Mini Layer Cakes by Wood and Spoon blog. These are tiny three layer pastel cakes perfect for parties, spring holidays, and Mother's Day. The small vanilla cakes are baked in a sheet pan and then frosted together with a simple American buttercream. The cakes are colored in pale easter colors and served as individual desserts. Perfect mini cake for two. Find the recipe and how to on thewoodandspoon.com by Kate Wood

It feels odd to be sharing recipes for cake with you at a time like this, but I also simple sources of pleasure and joy should be indulged in, especially now. If you’re homebound and looking for a fun project, this could be just the ticket. Give the recipe a try, pop the cakes into the mailboxes of people you love, and be apart of your own personal delicious little love movement. Y’all take care and happy baking.

Mini Layer Cakes by Wood and Spoon blog. These are tiny three layer pastel cakes perfect for parties, spring holidays, and Mother's Day. The small vanilla cakes are baked in a sheet pan and then frosted together with a simple American buttercream. The cakes are colored in pale easter colors and served as individual desserts. Perfect mini cake for two. Find the recipe and how to on thewoodandspoon.com by Kate Wood

If you like these mini layer cakes you should check out:

Mini Victoria Cakes
Mini Strawberry Galettes
Smash Cake Tutorial
Funfetti Cake

Print

Mini Layer Cakes

These mini layer cakes are cute and delicious treats for gifting or sharing with a few! Check out the tutorial here!

  • Author: Kate Wood
  • Prep Time: 60
  • Cook Time: 30
  • Total Time: 120
  • Yield: 7
  • Category: Dessert

Ingredients

For the cake:

 

  • ¾ cup (170 gm) egg whites (I use ones directly from the carton), at room temp
  • 1 cup (230 gm) unsalted butter, at room temp
  • 11/2 cups (300 gm) sugar
  • 3 cups plus one tablespoon (400 gm) cake flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (240 gm) milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

For the frosting (Recipe makes a bit of extra frosting, but this will be sufficient for getting to decorate the tops!)

  • 11/2 cups (340 gm) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 6 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Milk or water to thin the frosting

Instructions

To prepare the cake:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep a rimmed half sheet pan (18”x13”) by lining it with a sheet of parchment paper and lightly greasing the sides.
  2. In the clean bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Set aside in another bowl while you continue prepping the cake.
  3. In the same stand mixer bowl you whipped the egg whites in, cream the butter and sugar for 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Combine 3 cups of the flour, baking powder, and salt and add half of this mixture to the butter mixture. Stir on low to almost combine and then add half of the milk and the vanilla. Stir to combine and then add the remaining half of the dry ingredients followed by the remaining half of the milk. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the egg whites being careful not to overwork the batter. Smooth the batter into your prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 19-20 minutes. Be careful to not overbake! The top will be golden and set when the cake is done. Set aside to cool completely- you can expedite this process by popping it in the freezer after cooling on the counter for a bit. Once cool, use a 2” round biscuit or cookie cutter to trim out circles of cake. You should be able to get about 23 circles out of the sheet cake which will make 7 cakes plus 2 extra layers for backup. Feel free to pop the layers on a clean baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze briefly while you make the frosting. This will make assembly a little easier.
  4. To prepare the frosting, whip the butter on medium speed using the paddle attachment on your mixer. Continue for about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl as necessary, until pale and smooth. Add half of the sugar and stir to combine. Add the remaining sugar, the vanilla, and a couple of tablespoons of milk or water to help it all come together. Stir and add water or milk a tablespoon at a time until the frosting is smooth. Consistency is important here- make sure the frosting isn’t so stiff that it will pull on and rip the cake layers while assembling, but it also needs to be thick enough so that it won’t just squish out the sides. A good consistency frosting will plop off your rubber spatula but will chill to firm. Pop it in the fridge if it gets too warm.

 

To assemble the cakes:

  1. Each mini cake will have 3 layers. Mix up your colors as you please. For the colors pictures here, I used Americolor Food Gels. The pinkish one is a 3 parts red, 2 parts blue, and ½ part brown. I recommend adding the color a tiny bit at a time to make sure you don’t mix a color you’re not fond of! The blueish greenish cake is 3 parts blue with ½ part brown. The orange-ish cake is 3 parts deep pink with ½ part brown.
  2. When ready to assemble, smear a little frosting on your cake board or serving plate and stack the first layer. Add about 2 tablespoons of frosting on top and use an offset spatula to smooth. Stack a second cake layer and repeat this process twice to finish with a third cake layer. Spread a thin crumb coat of frosting on the cake and pop it into the fridge or freezer to set up. I placed a cooling rack with a sheet of parchment on it in my freezer so that I could quickly chill the cakes while I was making them. I found keeping the cakes cold while assembling helped make the process simple.
  3. Once your crumb coat has set up, finish frosting the cake with the remaining frosting and decorate as desired! For my cakes, I use a round dollop of white frosting that I smudged with the end of my offset spatula. White large and small nonpareils and clear sprinkles finished them up! Share with someone you love and enjoy!

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Smash Cake Tutorial and George’s First Birthday!

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com Pink Floral Cake.

Hi friends and happy Thursday! I have something a little out of the ordinary for you all today but I have a feeling you crazy cake lovers are gonna go nuts for it. It’s a smash cake tutorial! If there are little ones in your life that you want to celebrate well, or if you just really want to dig into a cutesy mini cake all on your own, today’s tutorial is just perfect for you.

George’s First Birthday!

A few weeks ago, we celebrated baby George’s first birthday. The year that has passed since his birth was one of my favorites yet, and it seemed only right that we celebrate this little buddy the best that we could. We hosted a gathering of friends and family at our  home, complete with cake, corn hole, and birthday crowns. The weather was just right and many of our friends showed up, kids in tow, for what ended up being a giant, outdoor free-for-all for more than 30 kids. (Seriously, I think my friends could re-populate the nation if need be.)

The kids ran and threw balls, played in the mud and munched on cookies while the parentals sipped cocktails and chatted. We all know first birthday parties are really just an excuse for moms to throw a celebration, but I’d say it was a success. Luckily, my friend Meghan was there to capture the day, so I get to share some images with you guys! Check it out:

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com Balloon arch made from tutorial on the house that lars built. White balloons inspiration.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com Balloon arch.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com Honey basil margaritas boozer cocktails.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com Piñata

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com PInata

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com Piñata

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com Felt Crown.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com Watercolor painted sugar cookies, red and polka dot black and white.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

A Few DIYs

There were a ton of fun blog recipes and DIYs that made this day personalized and delicious. You might recall the painted sugar cookies from a tutorial that I shared last year. The cocktails were honey basil margaritas, another blog favorite, that were a sweet and sour way to cool off from the warm summer air. The cake was a certain raspberry streusel cake that we all know and love, and even the ice cream, coffee cookie dough, was a no-churn recipe that I shared with you all a few weeks ago.

My mom and I made the balloon arch following a tutorial that I found on the fabulous blog, The House that Lars Built. It was a process, but a ton of fun to make and I think it really added something special. The piñata was also homemade and was similar to one that I made for Aimee’s first birthday party following a fun DIY that I found on 100 Layer Cakelet blog. If you have any ideas for future DIYS, I’d love to hear about them! These are certainly some fun ones you should consider adding to your next occasion.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

The Cakes!

And what’s a birthday without a layer cake and candles? It would be a shame if I threw my kids a party without making cake, right? I made one large cake for our party guests and one (slightly larger than normal) smash cake for George to dig in to. Since the party, I’ve had several people ask me about making smash cakes for their own littles and I thought this might be a good opportunity to share some DIY decorating ideas with you all. I’ve prepared a few simple cakes that will hopefully inspire you to make mini cakes of your own next time you are celebrating a special little gal or guy. Let’s get started!

To begin, you’ll need:

-A few small cake layers. I prefer to use 6″ cake layers, but you can certainly use a 4″ or 5″ pan as well. I use these pans to bake 3 layers. You can use any of your favorite recipes, but if you want a sure thing, try halving this chocolate or this vanilla cake recipe. Perfect every time. If you use smaller pans or bake few layers, be sure to not overfill your pans as this can cause underbaked cakes and messy oven spills.

-3 to 4 cups of frosting.  I used a plain vanilla frosting for these cakes, but adjust as desired.

-A 6″ cake board. Cake boards aren’t necessary but certainly make decorating and transporting the cake a bit easier. You can just barely see the cake board in all of my photos.

-A cake turntable. Again, this isn’t necessary but certainly makes frosting your cake a TON easier. Consider investing in one of the inexpensive models or jump to the big leagues with something like this.

An offset spatula. It’s less than $6 and will make your life so much easier. If you’re currently frosting cakes with a knife or a bowl scraper, just buy one of these, ok?

Flower Smash Cake

I always say, when in doubt, just throw some flowers on it. Decorating with flowers and greenery can take a plain frosted smash cake to a sweetly styled work of art. I typically like to use flowers that I can find at my local store or florist, but there are tons of ways to put a little nature on your cake. If you’re unsure about using fresh blooms on your cake, take some time to practice with silk flowers and greenery like I did in the following photos.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com Pink Floral Cake.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com Pink Floral Cake.

How To

Before styling your florals, frost and chill your cake as desired. Here, I’ve used 3 thin 6″ vanilla cake layers coated with a vanilla cream cheese buttercream. You can half this cake and frosting recipe to yield enough for your mini smash cake. Coat the outside of the cake in a thin layer of frosting so that a bit of the cake edges show. Chill the cake briefly in the fridge to allow the frosting to set up slightly and then begin arranging! I like to use a variety of blooms, leaves, and twigs in different shapes and shades, but you can use any variety you like. Start by adding some flat leaves, twigs, or stems to the top of the cake and then arrange one or two larger blooms on top. Fill in any unsightly gaps with smaller flowers, berries, or filler.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com Eucalyptus greenery cake topper.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

For George’s birthday cake, I knew I wanted to use natural elements as decoration but I didn’t want the cake to be too feminine. As an alternative to flowers, I used some greenery and stems from my neighbor’s garden. To achieve a similar effect, you can purchase eucalyptus, olive leaves, or other green filler from your florist and arrange it in a minimalistic fashion on top of your cake. Get creative and know that practice makes perfect! The more you work with florals, the more comfortable you’ll get with arranging them on your layer cakes.

Stenciled Sprinkle Smash Cake

You can decorate your smash cake with a word or a number in less than 5 minutes and with minimal effort. Simply print out a word or number on a sheet of computer paper. The number should be slightly smaller than the size of your cake. Use an X-Acto knife or scissors to cut out your shape and create a stencil. Center the stencil on top of the slightly chilled cake and sprinkle small nonpariels on top to fill it in. Be sure not to get too many sprinkles outside of the stencil our you’ll be picking them off your cake! Press down lightly to adhere the sprinkles to the cake and remove the stencil. You can use a careful hand or a pair of tweezers to pick off any rogue sprinkles.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

I like to use nonpariels, but if you have a different variety of small sprinkles that you’d like to use, feel free! You could also sprinkle on small candies, cocoa powder, or finely chopped nuts.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Ombre Smash Cake

Frosting an ombre cake remains one of my favorite ways to decorate a smash cake. To get started, all you’ll need is a small, crumb-coated smash cake, about 1-1/2 cups of white frosting, gel food coloring, and an offset spatula.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Evenly divide your frosting into 3 small bowls. Add a small drop of your gel food coloring into one of the bowls, keeping in mind that you can always add more food coloring, but it’s a challenge to lighten the frosting once you’ve added too much. Stir well with a spatula and then color your remaining bowls of frosting as desired. I typically use 3 shades of the same color and just add more or less food coloring to each bowl to achieve my color gradient.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

How to Frost an Ombre Cake

Top your smash cake with your lightest or darkest shade. Smooth out the colored frosting on top of the cake using an offset spatula and push any extra frosting off the edge of the top of the cake onto the top third of the sides of the cake as well. Don’t worry about making it smooth yet, just be sure that all sides of the cake have some of that frosting on it. Move on to the next shade and spackle it onto the middle third of your cake. Finish with the final color on the bottom third of the cake and gently work to smooth it out over each side.

Holding your spatula parallel to the cake, smooth the sides of the frosting out. The more you spread out your frosting the more that the colors will blend together, so be sure to not overwork it. Clean off your spatula occasionally to ensure that the colors don’t get muddled together as you go over different parts of your cake. Check out this ombre cake tutorial for more help. Rosie does a great job explaining the technique and it’s super helpful to watch her do it in her video. She also sells some gorgeous sprinkle blends that you may want to top your cake with so be sure to check those out!

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Blue Ombred cake- looks like the ocean! Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

Rustic Frosted Smash Cake

One of my favorite ways to decorate a smash cake also happens to be the easiest. Rustic or “messy” frosted cakes are all the rage. These cakes require no perfection, no straight edges, no perfectly piped swirls of frosting. All that is needed to create these beauties is a little creativity and an offset spatula.

Smash Cake Tutorial Recipe By The Wood and Spoon Blog. Sharing tips and techniques for decorating mini 6" smash cakes to be served at a little boy or girl first birthday party! You'll find out how to decorate a cake with a stencil and sprinkles, flowers, top with color balls of fondant, ombre layer cake, and rustic frosting style done with an offset spatula or palette knife. Read more about the how to and find some colorful kid birthday party inspiration here! www.woodandspoon.com

The How To

To frost one of your own, start with a thinly frosted smash cake. Allow the cake to chill briefly in the fridge and then use your offset spatula to spackle frosting onto the sides of your cake. You may decide to go for big swoops, parallel lines, or thin stripes of frosting. Whatever you choose, just begin adding frosting to the sides of your cake and smooth out the top edge once finished. The great news is that if you mess up- no problem! Just smooth out the frosting and start all over again. When you’re finished, top the cake with a cute candle or topper. For more rustic cake inspiration, be sure to flip through my Instagram feed.

Ok, now that you guys know all of the cute and simple ways to decorate your kiddo’s smash cakes, I wanna see them! I gain so much inspiration from you guys so if you’ve created some recently or in the past that you think I might like, please shoot me an email. If you have any ideas for future tutorials, holler at me in the comments section below so that I can get cracking. Let’s just learn all the different ways to create beautiful food for the people we love, okay? Have a great week and be sure to pop by next Tuesday. We’re going to be talking biscuits and sandwiches and Father’s Day, so you’ll want your appetite. Cheers to you and Happy Thursday!

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