How to Make a Beautiful Baptism Cake at Home
For my child’s baptism, I knew I wanted to make an easy homemade baptism cake at home. Two reasons: first, I always find my cakes taste better than store-bought ones, and second, everything has gotten so expensive! But the main reason? I wanted my children to look back at photos and see the care and love we put into everything we do for them.
Once I decided to make the cake myself, I started searching for inspiration. But nothing quite matched the vision I had. I wanted the cake to be white to match the overall theme, and I wanted it to be beautiful yet easy enough that I could pull it off on my own. After a lot of searching and coming up empty, I decided to just create it myself—no external inspiration needed. And guess what? It turned out so well, I regret not taking more how-to pictures! But don’t worry, I’m packing this blog post with plenty of tips and tricks to make sure you can create your own masterpiece with confidence.
3 Simple Tips for a Beautiful Homemade Baptism Cake:
- –Keep it Simple: I chose a vanilla cake and paired it with a buttercream frosting. Since buttercream naturally turns out a pale, almost-white color, I decided to leave it that way—no food coloring required! This was also a healthier option, and it matched the baptism theme perfectly.
(Here’s the only other pic I managed to grab of the cake! I was rushing to get myself and the kids ready, finish the food, and handle everything else, so I just snapped this quickly in bad lighting—with the kitchen chaos in the background.)
2. Decorating Made Easy: If you’re not super confident in your cake decorating skills use decorative items that make the cake look professionally done, without requiring too much effort. For example, I used a cake topper. You can find a variety of beautiful toppers on Amazon or Etsy, or if you have a Cricut, you could easily make your own. Click here to go to Etsy and see the one I bought.
3. Add Little Details: I also used small “decorative balls” (or whatever they are called) and white flowers from my local grocery store. These little touches gave the cake a special feel without needing complex techniques.
Click here to see the white flowers I got from my local grocery store—they were located below the sprinkles. I also found the exact same product on Amazon, and you can check it out here. For the ‘balls’ I bought, Click here. They come in several colors, but I chose the yellow gold version! And lastly, you can’t really tell from the picture, but I sprayed just a tiny bit of glitter on it. Click here to see the one I got.
Make-Ahead & Storage Tips
- Buttercream: You can prepare the frosting up to three days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. When ready to use, let it come to room temperature, then mix on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy.
- Cake Layers: This cake freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. To freeze, wrap each cake layer in a double layer of plastic wrap, followed by a layer of aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. When ready to serve, thaw the cake in the refrigerator overnight before assembling and decorating.
Note:
This recipe makes enough batter for three 8-inch (20 cm) cake pans. If you prefer a two-layer cake, you can divide the batter into two 10-inch pans instead.
Easy Homemade Baptism Cake
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment (or hand mixer)
- 2-3 Cake Pans (see notes below for sizing)
- Cake Scraper or Offset Spatula for frosting
- Piping Bags & Tips
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 112 g unsalted butter, softened 1/2 cup
- 600 g granulated sugar 3 cups
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 528 g all purpose flour 4 cups +2 tablespoons
- 4½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups milk
- 9 egg whites at room temperature
For the Buttercream
- 336 g softened salted butter 1½ cups
- 1 kg powdered sugar 2lb
- 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp whole milk plus more if needed
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat & Prepare Pans: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease your cake pans (see notes below for size) and dust with flour to prevent sticking.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk together 528 g all purpose flour, 4½ teaspoon baking powder, and 1½ teaspoon salt. Set aside.
- Cream Butter, Sugar & Oil: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat 112 g unsalted butter, softened on medium-high speed until creamy (about 2 minutes). Add 600 g granulated sugar and 1 cup vegetable oil, and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix in 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract.
- Combine Wet & Dry Ingredients: With the mixer running on medium speed, gradually add the the dry ingredients you had set aside and 1½ cups milk, alternating between the two, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Be sure to scrape the bowl occasionally to make sure everything is fully incorporated. Set aside.
- Whip Egg Whites: In another clean bowl, beat 9 egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- Fold in Egg Whites: Gently fold in the whipped egg whites, one-third at a time, using a spatula. Mix carefully so as not to deflate the whites—overmixing can result in a denser cake.
- Bake the Cake: Evenly distribute the batter between your prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool: Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for at least 20 minutes before flipping them onto a cooling rack. Let them cool completely before frosting.
For the Buttercream:
- Cream the Butter: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat 336 g softened salted butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes until it’s pale and fluffy.
- Incorporate the Sugar: Add the 1 kg powdered sugar and mix on medium speed, pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. The mixture will be clumpy at first—this is normal.
- Add Vanilla & Milk: Reduce the mixer speed to low, and add the 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract Then, increase the speed to medium and mix until combined. Gradually add ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp whole milk and continue mixing on low for about 30 seconds, until the mixture is smooth.
- Whip to Fluffy Perfection: Increase the speed to medium-high and whip for about 5 minutes, or until the frosting is light, fluffy, and airy. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl at least once during this process.
- Adjust Consistency: If the frosting is too thick, add more milk, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach your desired consistency.
Assemble and Frost the Cake
- Place the first cake layer on a cake board or serving plate. Using an offset spatula, spread a generous layer of buttercream on top, smoothing it out evenly. Place the second cake layer on top of the first, gently pressing down to ensure it sticks. Apply a thin crumb coat—this is a light layer of buttercream all over the cake to seal in any crumbs. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect; the final decorations will help cover any small imperfections!
Decorate the Cake:
- Now comes the fun part—decorating! I used a star-shaped piping tip to decorate the sides of the cake. Hold the tip close to the cake, squeeze gently to form a star, and then release. Continue squeezing and releasing to make stars, aiming to keep them roughly the same size. Don't worry if it is not perfect—adding decorative elements will hide any imperfections! Once the cake is fully frosted, decorate it however you like! In my case, I added a cake topper, some decorative balls, and flowers.
- Once you're done piping the buttercream and adding your decorations, take a moment to look over the cake. If there are any gaps, fill them in with more buttercream stars. You can see in my pictures that it looks much nicer when I add stars in the gaps between the decorations, but you can also see I missed a couple of spots. I don't think anyone noticed during the party, so it's no big deal—just do your best!
Notes
Recipe Inspiration
This cake recipe and buttercream are inspired by the Celebrate with Babs cookbook. Babs originally created this as a funfetti cake, but since I wanted my cake to match the baptism theme, I skipped the sprinkles and kept it all white.
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