Whimsical Vibrant Cake House (Printable)
A whimsical house-shaped cake with vanilla sponge and colorful buttercream decorations.
# What You'll Need:
→ Cake
01 - 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (315 g)
02 - 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
03 - ½ teaspoon salt
04 - 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (225 g)
05 - 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar (350 g)
06 - 4 large eggs
07 - 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
08 - 1 cup whole milk (240 ml)
→ Buttercream Frosting
09 - 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (225 g)
10 - 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (480 g)
11 - 2 to 3 tablespoons milk (30–45 ml)
12 - 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
13 - Food coloring gels, assorted colors
→ Decorations
14 - Candy-coated chocolates for roof tiles, doors, and windows
15 - Wafer cookies or chocolate sticks for fences, beams, or borders
16 - Shredded coconut dyed green, optional for grass
# How-to Steps:
01 - Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line a 9x13-inch (23x33 cm) rectangular cake pan.
02 - In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt until evenly mixed.
03 - Using an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes.
04 - Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla extract thoroughly.
05 - Add dry ingredients in three parts alternated with milk, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Mix just until combined to avoid overmixing.
06 - Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
07 - Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
08 - Beat butter until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Incorporate vanilla extract and milk until the frosting is spreadable. Divide and tint with food coloring as desired.
09 - Once cool, cut and arrange cake pieces to form a house shape, using rectangles for the base and triangles for the roof.
10 - Frost the cake with colored buttercream to create walls, roof, and doors. Attach candies and wafer cookies for decorative accents. Optionally, add dyed shredded coconut as grass.
11 - Chill the assembled cake briefly to firm the decorations before serving.
# Expert Pointers:
01 -
- It turns a simple vanilla cake into an edible work of art without needing fancy molds or sculpting skills.
- Kids can help decorate, pressing candies into frosting and arranging wafer fences however they like.
- The cake itself is moist and tender, so even after all the decorating fun, it tastes as good as it looks.
02 -
- Room temperature butter is non-negotiable. If you forget to set it out, cut it into cubes and let it sit for 20 minutes, but don't microwave it or the texture will suffer.
- Sift your powdered sugar for the buttercream. I skipped this once and spent ten minutes picking out tiny sugar lumps.
- Let the cake cool completely before cutting and frosting. Even slightly warm cake will shed crumbs into your buttercream and make decorating a mess.
03 -
- Use an offset spatula to spread the buttercream smoothly, and dip it in hot water between swipes for a bakery-smooth finish.
- If the buttercream gets too soft while you're decorating, pop the whole cake in the fridge for five minutes to firm it up before you continue.
- Let kids do the decorating. The house won't look like a magazine cover, but it'll be covered in their fingerprints and giggles, and that's worth more than perfection.