What could be more exciting than a first birthday? Two first birthdays!! My twins turned one and you know I went all out for their smash cakes!
Full Disclosure
OK so I actually have no idea what most smash cakes look like but I heard that they should be two layer six inch cakes and that’s what I made! They’re covered in buttercream roses I piped with my new 120 and 122 tips but otherwise it’s a very straight-forward naked cake.
The boys loved the experience and taste, not sure they appreciated the design but all in all I’d call it a success!
A Few Pointers
- If you find cake decorating to be a bit intimidating then check out my How to Decorate a Cake post, it has lots of helpful tips and a full how to video.
- If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
- See little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients? Don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
- You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
- To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set on the shop page or make your own from foil and paper towels at home. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!
- Buttercream flowers are so lovely but I know they can be difficult when you’re just starting out. Check out my buttercream flower tutorial here!
- By the way, you could make this recipe as a single three layer eight inch cake instead of two smaller six inch cakes.
Steps to Make This Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour four 6-inch cake pans. Soak baking strips in water. Sift dry ingredients (including sugar). Whisk to combine.
- In another bowl, whisk together wet ingredients.
- Combine wet and dry mixtures. Whisk until combined. If the batter is lumpy, it’s okay! Add damp baking strips to the cake pans. Evenly distribute batter into pans. This recipe makes enough batter for six layers. You can either use the extra batter for cupcakes, save the extra layers for another cake! I like to use a kitchen scale for precision. Bake for about 35 – 40 minutes or until the centers are set and springy to the touch.
- In a stand mixer, cream the butter until fluffy. Sift in half of the confectioners sugar. Mix, then add the rest. Reserve about 1 cup of the white buttercream for the roses and green leaves. Add in strained strawberry preserves to the remaining buttercream. Mix until combined. Transfer the strawberry buttercream to a piping bag and snip off the tip. Use food coloring to dye the buttercream different shades of pink for the flowers. Use matcha powder to dye some green for the leaves.
- Pipe the strawberry buttercream between each layer.
- Crumb coat the cake.
- Smooth with a bench scraper.
- Even out with an offset spatula.
- For the roses, pipe a small cone of very thick buttercream in the middle of the square.
- Use a 120 and 122 tip to make the petals.
- Pipe pink and white petals.
- Pipe a ring of buttercream on the top of the cake. Use scissors to transfer roses to the ring. Pipe in leaves to create dimension.
If you’ve tried this cake then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Smash Cakes
Video
Ingredients
For the Cakes:
- 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 426g
- 2 cup granulated sugar 456g
- 2 tsp baking powder heaping 6g
- 1/2 tsp baking soda heaping 2g
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cup butter 352g, unsalted, room temperature or melted
- 1 cup whole milk 240ml, warm
- 1 cup sour cream 240ml, room temperature
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract 20g
- 2 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 6 egg whites large
For the American Buttercream:
- 2 lb confectioner's sugar 924g
- 5 sticks unsalted butter 565g, room temperature
- 2 tbsp strawberry preserve strained
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 splash vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp matcha powder
- pink gel food coloring
Instructions
For the Cakes:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour four 6-inch cake pans. Soak baking strips in water.
- Sift dry ingredients (including sugar). Whisk to combine.
- In another bowl, whisk together wet ingredients.
- Combine wet and dry mixtures. Whisk until combined. If the batter is lumpy, it’s okay!
- Add damp baking strips to the cake pans.
- Evenly distribute batter into pans. I like to use a kitchen scale for precision. This recipe makes enough batter for six layers. You can either use the extra batter for cupcakes or freeze the layers for another cake!
- Bake for about 35 - 40 minutes or until the centers are set and springy to the touch.
For the American Buttercream:
- In a stand mixer, cream the butter until fluffy.
- Sift in half of the confectioners sugar. Mix, then add the rest.
- Reserve about 1 cup of the white buttercream for the roses and green leaves.
- Add in strained strawberry preserves to the remaining buttercream. Mix until combined.
- Transfer the strawberry buttercream to a piping bag and snip off the tip.
- Use food coloring to dye the buttercream different shades of pink for the flowers. Use matcha powder to dye some green for the leaves.
For the Flowers:
- Cut a square of parchment paper. Use a tiny bit of buttercream to glue down the paper onto a piping nail.
- For the roses, pipe a small cone of very thick buttercream in the middle of the square.
- Use a 120 and 122 tip to make the petals.
For the Assembly:
- Pipe the strawberry buttercream between each layer.
- Crumb coat the cake and smooth with a scraper.
- Pipe a thin layer of plain white buttercream on the outside of the cake. Even out with a hot scraper and offset spatula. Chill for about 30 minutes.
- Pipe a ring of buttercream on the top of the cake.
- Use scissors to transfer roses to the ring.
- Pipe in leaves to create dimension.
Notes
- If you find cake decorating to be a bit intimidating then check out my How to Decorate a Cake post, it has lots of helpful tips and a full how to video.
- If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
- See little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients? Don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
- To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set online, or make your own from foil and paper towels at home. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!
- Buttercream flowers are so lovely but I know they can be difficult when you're just starting out. Check out my buttercream flower tutorial here!
- You could make this recipe as a single three layer eight inch cake instead of two smaller six inch cakes.
Nutrition
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Anniejoe says
Hi John, tried this recipe. Prepped my 4, 6” pans butter, flour. Soaked my cake strips put around my pans. My cakes baked up beautifully and tested done, sprung back when pressed lightly and clean tooth pick. after baking 30 min. Let them cool on racks for 10 min. Flipped them out onto the cooling rack. The edges were very wet and crumbly (but not dry) lots of cake stuck to the sides. They also sunk slightly in the centers after a bit. However when I removed them from the oven they were NOT pulling away from the sides. Do you think they were underbaked? I’ve Been baking for 40 years and this is so confusing to me. This my second try with baking strips. Had the old Wilton ones and hated them. But you convinced me to try again so I bought new ones. Thoughts? Not ready to give up on them yet.
jkanell says
Hi there! I think they were definitely under-baked just by a little. I’ve learned the hard way to make sure the edges are pulling away from the pan and to give them a little shake before deciding they’re done. Maybe I should add a note about that?
Brittany Messina says
Of I made one smash cake, two 6inch layers, how many cupcakes wouldnit make?
John K. says
Brittany,
If you divide this recipe in half, you could make two 6-inch layers and maybe about 6 cupcakes! Hope you enjoy!
John
Brittany Messina says
Thank you!
Rabiah says
I really love this cake ??
I have made couple of your cake recipes and I loved all of them.
If I’m doing this cake for my daughter birthday using 9-ins pan and want two layers cake, can I make the original recipe without doubling it? Or if you can just explain how this works with 9-ins pans.
Thank you
John K. says
Rabiah,
I would double it and use the extra for cupcakes!
John
Nancy says
Is there no cream in the butter cream?
John K. says
Nancy,
I didn’t use cream in this buttercream because I wanted it to be on the thicker side for piping! If you want a softer consistency, add 1-2 tbsp of heavy cream or milk! Hope you enjoy!
John
Nancy says
Does your non-cream buttercream hold up in warmer conditions? I’m following your lead on Cake. I make the birthday cake for Meher Baba’s birthday every year and the strawberry jam coloring will be perfect. Thank you for that
Nicola says
Hi there,
I am planning on making this cake but as a single one. You mentioned that it can also be made in 3 separate 8 inch cake tins but can I follow the exact same quantity of ingredients or do I require to increase the amount of ingredients used and if so by how much?
Thank you!
Nicola
John K. says
Nicola,
Cut the recipe in half if you’re wanting three 6-inch layers! If you follow the measurements in this recipe, you could use the extra for cupcakes! Hope you enjoy!
John
Nicola says
Hi John! My cake tins are 8 inch (not 6 inch) and I want to make 3 layers. So do I half the ingredients for this then?
Thank you very much!
Nicola
Natalie says
HI, I am going to make this for my daughters first birthday, but being a full time working mum…Can I pre-make the cake, freeze it, then thaw it before icing? The baking strips look like a real game-changer when it comes to getting a moist cake, without any dry hard bits!
John K. says
Natalie,
You can pre make the cake a few days in advance! Keep them in boxes or a cake cloche on the counter! I have a youtube video that shows your how to make your own cake strips if you don’t already own them! They are magical!
John
Suzy says
Hey John!
I tried the recipe tonight and for some reason the cake turned crumbly, any idea why?
John K. says
Suzy,
Did you separate the batter into 4 cake pans?
John
Suzy says
I used 2 8 inch pans
Angeline says
Nice cake! I will try out the baking strips.
Sour cream is not commonly available in my area. What do I replace it with?
John K. says
Angeline,
Thank you! You can use plain yogurt instead of sour cream!
John
hiruni randeniya says
your cakes looks amazing ! love watching your videos and ur cakes
John K. says
Hiruni,
Thank you very much! You’re too sweet!
John
Marissa says
The cake is stunning and I’m so impressed by those roses! I absolutely thought they were real!
John K. says
Marissa,
Thank you very much! I hope you try the recipe!
John