Last week my youngest son turned 18. It hit me that he’s a man and about to head out into the world to make his mark. I am so excited for him and looking forward to watching him and his brother become their own men, but it’s a touch bittersweet to watch them take off into the world. This birthday will be marked by several cakes and desserts, as we do around here. For his actual birthday, I was traveling and left him a flan, a long time favorite birthday request. The next day, when I returned from my trip I was met by the latest Bake From Scratch cookbook and immediately flipped to the Birthday Cake chapter. Sometimes we just want the classics, and there is nothing better than a really good white cake with vanilla buttercream. It’s probably the most popular cake combination, for good reason. I am perhaps the last baker on the internet to make a Funfetti Birthday Cake, but this occasion called for a bit of celebratory color!! I simply added sprinkles to the Bake From Scratch White Cake.
In the spirit of my son’s birthday, I have partnered with Brian Hart Hoffman and the excellent folks at Hoffman Publishing to Give Away a Copy of the Bake from Scratch (Vol 3): Artisan Recipes for the Home Baker
People ask me where I find inspiration and the truth is, EVERYWHERE! The decorations for this funfetti birthday cake were inspired by a Netflix special and a place card. I was watching a documentary about the fashion designer, Alexander McQueen, and I told my husband his dresses would make incredible cakes, especially a dress covered in feathers that already looked like a cake. The place cards from my friends at The Punctilious Mr. P’s Place Card Company arrived and they were pictures of gorgeous birds that looked like cake toppers. It wasn’t inspiration as much as fate! The feathers are easy to make with white chocolate, which you can watch me make in my instagram video. Funfetti Birthday Cake recipe and chance to win the book are below!
(place cards and holders by Mr P’s Place Card Company)
Funfetti Birthday Cake with Chocolate Feathers
Funfetti cake:
White Cake recipe from Bake from Scratch (Vol 3), fold in 1/4 cup colored sprinkles just before pouring into prepared pans. I baked the cake in three 6-Inch Cake Pans
Vanilla Buttercream from Bake From Scratch
You can find my crumb coat and cake decorating videos on YouTube (where you will see some vintage Zoë):
White Chocolate Feathers – 6 ounces white chocolate chips
Thank you to Martin and Karen at Mr P’s Place Cards for the beautiful inspiration!
My favorite is a chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting!
German chocolate has been my birthday go-to since I was a kid….a long time ago!
Sacher torte…mmm!
My favorite birthday cake was my mom’s own confetti cake
A perfect birthday cake would be Boston cream pie
This looks delicious. My perfect birthday cake is a 3 layered coconut cake…which my daughter made for me a few weeks ago.
Chocolate fudge with chocolate frosting is my favorite 🙂
My perfect birthday cake is one I have had every year since I was a teenager. My Grandmother use to make it for me and after she passed away, my Mom use to make it for me and after she passed away, my Husband now makes it for me. It is a chocolate cake made in a 13×11 pan, with chocolate whipped frosting and crushed peanuts over the top. Reminds me so much of my favorite candy, Reece’s Cups!
My Mother was the best self taught baker. What ever she made for my Birthday was my favorite.
Every year my mom still makes me a coconut cake for my birthday. Perfect.
I love your recipes! Lemon Raspberry cake!
Vanilla cake with blackberry mousse filling with a buttercream frosting.
My favorite birthday cake is my Mother’s Walnut Torte! So good!
Chocolate mousse cake
Chocolate cake all the way (though I wouldn’t turn down coconut cake either :).
Funfetti cake is the ultimate birthday cake; we make it from scratch. The chocolate feathers are a beautiful touch!
My perfect birthday cake is anything with chocolate!!
Another reason to use my 6″pans and white chocolate. Sprinkles are a bonus!
Chocolate is always perfect for my birthday cake♥️ My mother always made me an old fashioned mayonnaise cake for my birthday ❣️
I love to bake cakes and would love more inspiration. The feather decorating on this cake is simply gorgeous. Thank you for sharing.
Banana cake with banana cream and sliced bananas for filling with cold whipped cream for the icing!
That cake is absolutely gorgeous! I’m a Bake From Scratch subscriber but I don’t think I’ve made any cakes. I think I will now!
So original and beautiful. Will definitely be trying this. Love white chocolate!
I love Black Forest Cherry Torte.
Perfect birthday cake – giant lemon sponge fondant fancy with vanilla bean buttercream covered in lemon fondant covered with confetti sprinkles