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To welcome the new bundle of joy joining their family, my client requested a cake that would bring out all the sunshine and positive vibes the family was feeling with the upcoming birth of the first grandchild.
Since this was a neutral baby shower as the gender of the baby wasn’t going to be revealed. The family wanted to pick a baby shower theme that was warm and fun.
Plus, the event was going to be held outside and this was a perfect end of summer theme.
Since this event was taking place during covid-19, the family decided to host a brunch and have the party in two sessions which would require two sets of cakes and desserts for this one event.
My client decided to replicate a sunflower design we found on Pinterest.
Cake Design
The design included a burlap ribbon with a large sunflower in the middle of the cake along with small sunflowers on top with a sleeping sunflower fairy butterfly baby on top.
To replicate the sleeping baby and sunflower design I decided to use an outside vendor instead of creating the items myself.
I found an amazing shop on Etsy called Sweet New Creations. I worked with the owner Daisy Ladignon and we were able to create something amazing.
She was able to create the large sunflower and other items for the cake. It was such a pleasure working with Daisy.
Since her shop was only 35 minutes away in Raritan, New Jersey, we decided to pick-up the flowers instead of shipping them.
Her Etsy’s pictures don’t justify how impeccable and clean her work truly is. The flowers came out beautifully they look delicate like a real flower and were the perfect fit for this cake design.
Daisy is talented and professional as well as very easy to communicate with. It was truly wonderful working with her on this design.
If you are looking for amazing cake toppers please visit her Esty shop at Sweet New Creations.
Cake Flavor
The client wanted a cake that was light and refreshing to go with the sunflower theme.
She decided on a 2- layered lemon cake separately filled with strawberry and lemon curd pastry filling in each layer mixed with fresh strawberries and blueberries.
The cake is super moist, sweet and loaded with fresh lemon goodness. Lemon cake is one of my favorite cakes to make as it’s a simple recipe with basic ingredients and all made from scratch.
You will need about 2-3 lemons as you will be using the zest as well as the juice.
Sunflower Cake
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (Sifted & leveled)
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ Puddings, Lemon, Dry Mix, Instant
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted (1 stick)
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups of granulated sugar (Sifted)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 ½ Tablespoon lemon zest (about 2-3 lemons)
- 1/4 cup (about 2-3 lemons)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Grease three 8-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper, then grease the parchment paper.
- In your mixing bowl, whisk shifted flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together blend well and set aside.
- In another bowl, add buttermilk, melted butter, vegetable oil and lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Whisk to blend and set aside.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- Add lemon zest and lemon pudding dry mix to batter.
- Slowly add the wet mixture into the flour mixture. Mix until combined and smooth, do not over mix. Stay at a medium speed mix.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle and remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Pour batter evenly into cake pans.
- Bake for around 20-30 minutes or until the cakes are baked through.
- To test if the cakes are done, insert a toothpick or a stainless-steel cake tester into the center of the cake. If the toothpick or cake tester is clean, it’s done.
- Allow cakes to chill before frosting and assembling the cake.
Notes
Tips
I like using parchment paper to make the release much easier
Wilton Easy Bake-Easy Non-Stick Spray provides the best result for cake release
Bake your cake the night before assembling, the cakes are easier to manipulate when they are well chilled.
Nutrition Information
Yield
18Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 301Total Fat 15.1gSaturated Fat 5.3gCholesterol 45mgSodium 262mgCarbohydrates 39.1gProtein 3.3g
How to Assemble
When you are ready to assemble the cake, pipe a dam of the frosting around the outer edge of the bottom cake layer about 1/4 inch from the edge.
Then inside the dam add your strawberry pastry filling mixed with the fresh strawberries and blueberries.
Pipe a light coating of your frosting on top of the filling and spread evenly with your offset spatula and add your next cake layer.
Follow by creating another dam on top of the next layer, frosting around the outer edge inside of this dam you will be adding your lemon curd pastry filling with fresh strawberries and blueberries and piping a light coating of frosting over to top as you did before then adding your final cake layer.
Remove any excess filling and chill the cake before adding the thin crumb coat. This will allow the cake to remain firm as the layer can be fragile with the filling inside.
Chilling the cake before crumb coating also allows the cake to hold its shape before adding more frosting. Remember don’t overdo your filling as it can make your layers slippery.
Once chilled place a thin crumb coat to the cake and place back in the fridge.
To ensure the cake didn’t fall apart during transport, I added a white chocolate ganache to the cake before adding the final frosting coating.
You can find this recipe under my Chocolate cake with Oreo filling post. Instead of semi-sweet chocolates, you can use white chocolate chips or white candy melts. It works the same way.
After adding the ganache, I covered the cake with vanilla buttercream using my trusty bench scraper to smooth out the sides and top of the cake and decorated with the burlap ribbon and sunflowers.
We hope you enjoyed this blog and will try this cake and filling recipes for your next cake.
Nothing puts a smile faster on my face then seeing your beautiful creations.
Please feel free to email or DM with photos of your creations.
Leave a comment below, as we love hearing from our readers and never hesitate to reach out with any questions.
I am truly driven by what I create and bring the knowledge of what I have learned throughout the years to help other bakers turn a hobby into a new venture. I hope you find this blog warm and inviting as my goal is to fill it with delicious treats and awesome recipes.
