Spring Birthday Cake Pastel (Printable)

Tender vanilla cake layered with creamy pastel buttercream and decorated with floral accents for spring celebrations.

# What You Need:

→ Cake

01 - 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
03 - 1/2 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 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
10 - 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
11 - 1/4 cup whole milk
12 - 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
13 - Pinch of salt
14 - Gel food coloring in pink, yellow, lavender, green, and blue

→ Decoration

15 - Edible flower petals, optional
16 - Sprinkles, optional

# How to Make It:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
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 until fully combined.
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 emerges clean. Remove from oven.
08 - Allow cakes to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to 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, approximately 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 serving plate. Spread buttercream layer on top. Repeat with remaining layers.
12 - Spread thin layer of buttercream over entire cake to seal crumbs. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
13 - Using piping bags fitted with assorted tips, apply pastel buttercreams to create floral designs across cake surface. Garnish with edible petals or sprinkles if desired.
14 - Refrigerate cake for 15 to 20 minutes before serving to set buttercream.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The cake stays impossibly tender because you're not overworking the batter, and that makes all the difference between dense and cloud-like.
  • Pastel buttercream means you can actually pipe flowers without needing a culinary degree, just patience and a piping bag.
  • It's forgiving enough to make on a weeknight but elegant enough that people think you spent the whole day on it.
02 -
  • Overmixing batter after adding flour is the number one way to end up with a dense, tough cake instead of tender layers—mix only until you don't see streaks of flour anymore and stop.
  • Room temperature ingredients aren't a suggestion; cold eggs and milk literally won't blend smoothly and you'll end up with a separated, grainy texture that no amount of beating fixes.
  • Gel food coloring is essential for pastels because liquid food coloring adds so much water that your buttercream becomes soupy and impossible to pipe with.
03 -
  • If you only have two cake pans, let the first batch cool completely, wash and dry the pans, then bake the third layer—it takes patience but works perfectly.
  • Make the buttercream the day before and store it covered in the fridge; it'll actually be easier to work with because it's more stable when piping.
  • Keep a damp kitchen towel nearby while decorating to wipe your piping tips between colors so the pastels stay true and don't muddy together.
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