I still don't know where the year went...
My ‘little love bug’ turned 1 a few months ago (they didn’t lie; that first year went super fast just like everyone said!) annnnd so in the month beforehand I spend ages trolling pinterest for Ladybug birthday cake ideas 🙂
There are SO many cute ladybug cake ideas out there!
I narrowed it down with 2 criteria - first, I hate sculpting cakes. Messy, wastes tons of cake, and I also hate dipping cake pops so that idea was out too.
Second - I needed a good-sized cake! I had about 20 people to feed at her party. So this was the cake design I went with!
"What do I need to make a ladybug birthday cake?"
- Below in the recipe card is a more detailed list, but I'll sum up here!
First - some classic cake / frosting ingredients -
- - made more simple by cake mixes, lol. I used 3 vanilla mixes with 1 1/2 cups of butter, 3 cups of buttermilk, 10 eggs, and 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract. You need cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, clear vanilla extract, and maybe some milk for the frosting.
To decorate -
black gel color, green gel color, red gel color, and red and black fondant! Plus a piping bag and grass and leaf tips. I used the cake topper that came with a decorations set that I bought online.
To stack the cake tiers -
Whether or not to put your base tier on a cake circle is up to you, but you'll need a cake circle the size of your top tier, and 4-5 large straws or cake dowels. A ruler makes the whole process much easier!
"Holy smokes; these instructions go on forever. How complicated is this cake??"
- I know, I'm sorry! I wrote detailed instructions below, so I know it looks like a short book. :/ The length is my attempt at clarity. Honestly, you could probably skip reading most of the instructions if you watch the video.
- First - don't let the instructions intimidate you! Tiers are easy to stack, and both tiers are easy to decorate!
As an aside - if you're really NOT feeling stacking cake tiers, just leave them separate! Get another cake topper if you feel like it - and just save yourself the hassle! 😉 - If DO want to make a tiered cake but you've never stacked one before, I actually wrote a post detailing how to do it! Long story short, as long as your base tier is supported (I use cut-to-length coffee straws), your top tier won't sink into it or tip.
"Did I see cake mixes in the recipe card? Seriously??"
- Yup, I know. And yes, I know they don't taste as good. For sure. I have a reason though.
- All my 'scratch cake purists,' hear me out on this - I recommend using cake mixes if you want to use the top tier as a smash cake! My favorite scratch recipes are delicious, but they bake too dense for little hands to smash. After making many smash cakes over several years, I've had the best luck actually getting smashed smash cakes with cake mix layers.
- All that said - if you'd rather use a scratch recipe, here's my favorite! A 1.5x batch of my absolute Favorite Vanilla Cake Recipe.
- Or use your favorite cake recipe - up to you! 🙂
Recipe, supplies, and all my tips are below! 🙂 Enjoy!
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Ladybug Birthday Cake
Perfect for a 'Little Love Bug's' first birthday - don't let the tiers intimidate you; they're easy to stack and both tiers are easy to decorate!
Equipment
- Baker's floured cooking spray you can use parchment rounds, but I usually just use this spray!
- 1 10 inch cardboard cake circle (optional - 8" would also work, but moving the cake is easier with a larger circle)
- 1 6 inch cardboard cake circle (not optional if you want to stack the tiers)
- Cake leveler (or a serrated knife and a ruler)
- large offset spatula (to spread frosting)
- cake scraper or pastry cutter (to smooth frosting)
- Cake turntable (optional, but will make decorating much faster and easier)
- 5 Cake dowels or large plastic straws I usually use dark straws (so they're visible when cutting the cake)
- Ruler for spacing dowels or straws and centering top tier
- piping bag with leaf and grass tips (linked is a set with bags and both tips!)
- Ladybug cake topper (I used the one from this decor set)
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 Vanilla boxed cake mixes I like Duncan Hines French Vanilla Mixes
- 1 ½ cups butter (3 sticks) melted
- 3 cups buttermilk
- 10 eggs
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
Frosting
- 12 oz one and a half packages cream cheese, softened
- 24 Tablespoons butter, softened (three sticks)
- 10-12 cups powdered sugar
- 4-6 Tablespoons milk
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter
- (Save and add later)
- 6-7 drops Red gel food color I used Americolor Super Red
- 3-4 drops Green gel food color I used AmericolorLeaf Green
Decorations
- 4 oz Red fondant
- 4 oz Black fondant
- 2 drops Black gel food color
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line three 8 inch round pans and three 6 inch round pans with parchment rounds, and /or grease with non-stick or baker’s floured cooking spray.
- Combine melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl, and beat until blended. Add cake mixes and stir moistened (about 30 seconds), then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Using a kitchen scale, pour 600 grams of batter into each of your 8” pans. Divide remaining batter evenly between the remaining two 6” pans – I had about 375 grams in each of my smaller pans. (Using the kitchen scale guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height.)
- Bake for 35-37 minutes, (or until a skewer comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans, and cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
- Once the layers have fully cooled, the caramelized edges can be trimmed from the sides / top of the cake using a serrated knife if desired. Be sure the layers are completely cooled or chilled before trimming. If you try to trim the layers while they’re still warm, they will crumble and break. While you’re waiting…make your frosting!
Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla and salt if needed and beat until well combined.
- (I waited until my layers were stacked and crumb-coated, then removed a third of the remaining white frosting for the top tier and green ‘grass’ border and colored the remaining frosting red for the base tier.)
Assembly
- Once your cakes are cool, level them (if needed/desired; these cakes usually bake fairly flat so I didn’t trim much from the tops). This can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler. Place a smear of frosting on your large cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your large first cake layer in the center of the circle. Spread the layer with frosting. Add your next cake layer on top, and repeat the process with your remaining 8” cake layers.
- Next, repeat the same process with your 6" cardboard circle and cake layers. Of note – if your circles aren’t pre-center-punched, be sure to grab a dowel or scissors and make your own hole in the exact center of the 6" circle - this will allow you to center the top tier on the base tier later on.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like – spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake tiers to keep crumbs out of your final layer. Once your crumb coats have set (this takes about 10 minutes in the fridge), frost your top 6” tier white, then remove about ½ cup of frosting to color green for decorating, and color the remaining frosting red.
- Add your final layers of frosting to both tiers and smooth (I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for my final frosting layers).Note – for my larger tier, I was able to smooth the frosting fairly well free-handed, but I struggled getting the sides smoothed on my smaller one. Trimming the layers just smaller than the cake circle and using the cardboard as a guide for my bench scraper worked well for smoothing the frosting on the top tier!
Stacking the tiers
- (Doweling a tiered cake is done to ensure that the top tier doesn’t crush the lower tier, as well as keeping it centered.) Cut four straws to the height of your base tier, and cut one at an angle for the center. Grab your ruler for this next part! Push the straws down into the base tier just over one inch from the cake edge, placing them evenly at quarter intervals around the cake. Place your last, tallest straw or dowel into the exact center of the cake, making sure to keep it straight as you press down.
- Now you’re ready – center the hole in the bottom of your top tier cake circle over the tallest dowel and let the top tier gently down onto the base tier. The dowel will poke into the center of the top tier to hold it in place.
Decorating
- For the base tier polka dots, roll thin about half of your black fondant and cut about 20 1-inch circles (I used a circle cutter from this set). I spaced mine over the base tier at random, 2-3 inches apart.
- To make the ladybugs, roll about ½ a tablespoon of fondant into an oblong circle and flatten slightly on one end. With a dab of water stick about a ½ teaspoon size ball of black fondant to the flattened end. I used a toothpick and the blunt end of a skewer to make the lines and dots on the ladybug’s back, but a paintbrush would work as well. Allow 1-2 hours to dry before transferring to the cake.
- Now you’re ready to finish decorating! I used a piece of bent wide wire to make the little dotted lines on the side of the cake, but an angled paintbrush would work as well. I found it the easiest to put on the lines first and then the ladybugs at the ends.
- With a leaf tip and the multi-hole grass tip (both the tips I used are in this set or you can use the Wilton grass tip and the middle tip from this set) pipe a rim of short and tall grass around the base of the top tier.
- Last step - add your Ladybug cake topper to your top tier - and step back and admire your cake!
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1sliceCalories: 745kcalCarbohydrates: 101gProtein: 9gFat: 39g
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