Easy way to make a Twinkle Twinkle Little Star “Sunset Cake”.
I was planning a Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Party for my one year old’s first birthday. After looking online for ideas for the cake decoration, it seemed most Twinkle cakes were blue or black with clouds and stars.
My decor called for color so I decided that since you can sometimes see a few bright stars at sunset, I would make two Twinkle Twinkle Little Star “Sunset Cakes”.
They were very simple to make and turned out quite cute. You can see her party here.
The cakes are frosted with a vanilla bean frosting and layered with raspberry preserves plus frosting on each layer. They tasted delicious.
I topped them with macarons made at a local bakery (Fillings and Emulsions) a single candle on the smash cake. I placed this D.I.Y. Cake banner on the larger cake.
We put star sprinkles all over them to tie in the theme a little more.
My one year old got her little smash cake and the family ate the larger one.
Supply List
2- boxes of white cake mixes + ingredients to make them + nonstick cooking spray and flour
1 Jar of Raspberry preserves (my favorite is Bonne Maman France Raspberry Preserves 13 oz Jar). I have found Bonne Maman preserves at many local grocery stores. If you need to order off amazon this is a much more affordable and comparable option.
Ingredients for this frosting recipe found here
Macarons (bought a local bakery Fillings and Emulsions)
Star sprinkles I used these pastel ones and I used the yellow stars from this mix. I wished I had these gold ones, but I didn’t realize I had run out of them so I went without.
2- 8 inch round pans or 1- 8-10 inch springform pan
Birthday candle. I used a single yellow candle from a pack in my cupboard.
Wilton Neon Gel food coloring pack + yellow food coloring
Kitchen aid or other mixer
Small bowls and spoons for icing
Small rounded icing spatula or butter knife
Instructions on to how to make a Twinkle Twinkle Little Star “Sunset Cake”
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- Make the cake mix as instructed for the cake. Mix the cake mixes one at a time and pour equally into 2 well greased and floured 6″ cake pans. Mix the next cake mix and pour equally into 2 well greased and floured 8″ cake pans.
- Before pouring in the pan, spray the cake pans with cooking spray. I spray a lot of cooking spray at the bottom of the pan and then use a paper towel spread it around and to make sure it is fully coated—even in the edge and on the sides. Then lightly flour the bottom, edge, and sides so the cake can come out without crumbling.
- Bake the Cake mix as instructed. Bake the 6″ cakes a few minutes longer than the box calls for the baking instructions for 8″ pans. Watch carefully and take all of the cakes out when a toothpick comes out clean.
- Make this full frosting recipe (don’t half it): best vanilla bean frosting here. Both of the cakes were frosted from this one recipe. Keep the frosting at room temperature.
- Slice both layers in half (carefully so they are even). Now you will have four layers of cake. Assemble four layers of each cake. Spread in between each layer with vanilla bean icing and raspberry preserves.
- Separate the remaining frosting into 4 bowls: light pink (you’ll need the most of this color), bright pink, yellow, turquoise/blue using Wilton gel coloring. To get light pink I mixed less of the same pink used for the bright pink.
- Once the layers have been assembled, start at the bottom of the cake with the bright pink icing and apply it in about an inch thick strip all the way around. Next, add blue frosting overlapping a little to create a purplish hue. Next, apply the yellow, overlapping the blue creating a slight greenish hue. Finally, frost the top with the light pink.
- This is optional, but I liked the look… I took a butter knife and carefully scrapped the sides to even them out; then I put the colorful blob of icing left on the knife on top of the cake and smeared it around to get a rainbow effect in front of the macarons.
- Top with Macarons, sprinkles, a candle, and/or banner.
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Many in my family were surprised that I made the cakes, which was a cute compliment. Everyone enjoyed the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Sunset Cake.
You can see Amelia’s party here.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star "Sunset Cake"
Vanilla bean raspberry cake decorated for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Girl Party
Ingredients
- 2 white cake mixes plus their required ingredients to mix them
- 13 oz Raspberry Preserves
- For frosting:
- 3 sticks salted butter, softened (24 Tablespoons)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean)
- 3¼ teaspoons clear vanilla extract (or normal, if you don't have clear)
- 7 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
- 8 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
Instructions
- Make the cake mix as instructed for the cake. Mix the cake mixes one at a time and pour equally into 2 well greased and floured 6" cake pans. Mix the next cake mix and pour equally into 2 well greased and floured 8" cake pans.
- Before pouring in the pan, spray the cake pans with cooking spray. I spray a lot of cooking spray at the bottom of the pan and then use a paper towel spread it around and to make sure it is fully coated—even in the edge and on the sides. Then lightly flour the bottom, edge, and sides so the cake can come out without crumbling.
- Bake the Cake mix as instructed. Bake the 6" cakes a few minutes longer than the box calls for the baking instructions for 8" pans. Watch carefully and take all of the cakes out when a toothpick comes out clean.
- Make this this full frosting recipe (don't half it): best vanilla bean frosting here. Both of the cakes were frosted from this one recipe. Keep the frosting at room temperature.
- Slice both layers in half (carefully so they are even). Now you will have four layers of cake. Assemble four layers of each cake. Spread in between each layer with vanilla bean icing and raspberry preserves.
- Separate the remaining frosting into 4 bowls: light pink (you'll need the most of this color), bright pink, yellow, turquoise/blue using Wilton gel coloring. To get light pink I mixed less of the same pink used for the bright pink.
- Once the layers have been assembled, start at the bottom of the cake with the bright pink icing and apply it in about an inch thick strip all the way around. Next, add blue frosting overlapping a little to create a purplish hue. Next, apply the yellow, overlapping the blue creating a slight greenish hue. Finally, frost the top with the light pink.
- This is optional, but I liked the look... I took a butter knife and carefully scrapped the sides to even them out; then I put the colorful blob of icing left on the knife on top of the cake and smeared it around to get a rainbow effect in front of the macarons.
- Top with Macarons, sprinkles, a candle, and/or banner.
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