Spring Birthday Cake Pastel (Printable Version)

Delicate vanilla layers paired with creamy pastel buttercream and soft floral decorations.

# What You Need:

→ Cake

01 - 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
02 - 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
03 - ½ teaspoon salt
04 - 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
05 - 2 cups granulated sugar
06 - 4 large eggs, room temperature
07 - 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
08 - 1 cup whole milk, room temperature

→ Buttercream

09 - 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
10 - 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
11 - ¼ cup whole milk
12 - 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
13 - Pinch of salt
14 - Gel food coloring: pink, yellow, lavender, green, blue

→ Decoration

15 - Edible flower petals
16 - Sprinkles

# Directions:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line three 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
03 - In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 3 to 4 minutes.
04 - Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract.
05 - Alternately add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until just combined without overmixing.
06 - Divide batter evenly among prepared pans and smooth the tops.
07 - Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
08 - Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
09 - In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt. Beat until fluffy and smooth for 3 to 4 minutes.
10 - Divide buttercream into separate bowls and tint each with desired pastel gel food coloring.
11 - Place one cake layer on a serving plate, spread buttercream on top, and repeat with remaining layers.
12 - Apply a thin crumb coat of buttercream over the entire cake and chill for 20 minutes.
13 - Decorate cake with pastel buttercreams using piping bags fitted with various tips to create floral designs. Garnish with edible petals or sprinkles if desired.
14 - Chill for 15 to 20 minutes before serving to set the buttercream.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • The cake itself is ridiculously tender and buttery, the kind that melts on your tongue without any of that dense, heavy feeling some vanilla cakes have.
  • Pastel buttercream means you can experiment with colors and piping designs without needing professional training or fancy equipment.
  • Three layers give you that impressive bakery look, but the process is straightforward enough that you won't stress yourself out halfway through.
02 -
  • Temperature is everything in this recipe, so take your butter, eggs, and milk out of the fridge at least an hour before you start, because a cold ingredient will throw off the entire emulsion and your batter will look broken.
  • Gel food coloring changes the consistency of buttercream if you use too much, so always start small and remember that the color intensifies slightly as it sits, so what looks pale now will be perfect tomorrow.
03 -
  • If you don't have three pans, you can bake the layers in batches using two pans, letting them cool between batches and reusing the pans, which takes longer but works perfectly fine and saves money on equipment.
  • Offset spatulas are worth buying because they make spreading buttercream so much easier and faster than trying to do it with a regular knife, and they cost about four dollars so there's no excuse not to have one.
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