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Half Birthday Cake

Half Birthday's are a real excuse for more chocolate and banana cake!

So this is actually ½ Birthday Cake 2.0 because I HATE the original version that I previously made. However, I’m not complaining about another celebration where cake can be involved! Half Birthdays are amazing and should be celebrated by everyone- it’s a major accomplishment to make it through 6 months of a new age!

This time around I ditched the funfetti cake in favour of 2 of my favourites- Ultimate Chocolate Cake AND Banana Cake layered with Italian Meringue Buttercream. This cake and a half gets a healthy dose of one of our exclusive Sweetapolita sprinkle blends before being topped with gumpaste star details.

Celebrate with me in my YouTube video here!

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Baking The Cake:

6lbs Yo's Ultimate Chocolate Cake

4lbs Yo's Banana Cake

Filling The Cake:

Simple Syrup

Italian Meringue Buttercream

Decorating The Cake:

Italian Meringue Buttercream

Electric Pink Food Colouring

Teal Gumpaste

Sweetapolita Sprinkles

Item Name:	Availability:
2 x 9" Round Cake Pans
7" Round Cake Pan
Simple Syrup Bottle	Add to Cart -
Cake Comb
Bench Scraper
Dowels
Star Cutter
Large Offset Spatula	Add to Cart -
Large Straight Spatula	Add to Cart -
Small Offset Spatula	Add to Cart -
Small Straight Spatula	Add to Cart -
Piping Bag
Star Piping Tip

Preparation

Bake Your Cakes

Divide your batter into your pans, weighing 3.5lbs of chocolate cake into your 9" round, and 2.5lbs into your 7" round. Bake chocolate cakes at 350 for 1 hour 20 minutes, and banana cake for 1 hour 40 minutes. Let cool completely in their pans before removing.

Level & De-Caramelize

Once cakes have cooled completely, remove them from their pans and level the tops, removing the caramelization from the bottom of the banana cakes

This Cakes Got Layers

Cut each cake into two layers before using a ruler to cut your 7” round cakes in half

Shower Time!

Shower your cakes with simple syrup, using a light hand on your banana layers

Stacks On Stacks

Stack and fill your 9” round cakes with Italian Meringue Buttercream, alternating banana and chocolate layers & cleaning the sides with a spatula as you go. Repeat this process with your half 7” round cake layers, taking extra care to keep the straight end clean of excess buttercream.

Pretty In Pink

Dye your Italian Meringue Buttercream to a pale pink using Electric Pink food colouring, and use this to crumb coat your cakes. Don’t coat the straight edge of your half cake! Chill for 20 minutes

Icing on the Cake

Ice your cakes using more pink buttercream, using a bench scraper to keep everything smooth, and chill for another 20 minutes.

Comb Through

Apply another layer of pink buttercream to your cakes, and use a cake comb to create a striped pattern. Chill once more

Note: To see how to use a cake comb watch my video here

Fill In The Blank

With plain Italian meringue buttercream, apply a thin layer to your cakes using a bench scraper to remove the excess and reveal the striped pattern. Use an offset spatula to clean off the top.

Note: Watch this technique in action here

Clean It Up

Use a long knife, and a ruler as your guide to remove a thin slice from the front of your half cake so you have a clean edge

Everything's Better With Sprinkles

Take a handful of sprinkles and gently press them into the side of your cakes, going about 1/3 of the way up. Repeat around your entire cake, and half cake.

Note: Watch here to see a trick on keeping things clean

Structurally Sound

Move your bottom tier to its final serving dish before using a template of your half cake to mark out where dowels will need to be place. Insert one dowel into your cake, and mark where it meets the top. Use as a guide to cut all dowels down to size before inserting into your cake, and then place your half tier on top.

Spiralizing

Fit your piping bag with a star piping tip, and fill with plain white buttercream. Begin piping spirals around your bottom, and half tiers. To get half spirals, pipe some buttercream onto parchment, and let firm up in the fridge before slicing in half with a sharp knife and carefully placing on the straight edge of your half cake

Note: Check out my video to see my piping skills!

A Bed Of Sprinkles

To address the slight bit of cake board that is visible on your half tier, use a stencil to lay out a bed of sprinkles and camouflage this area.

Stars & Stripes

Thinly roll out your teal gumpaste, and using a star cutter punch out star shapes cleaning up the edges with a paring knife as needed. Insert the stars into your buttercream spirals.

Congratulations!

If all went well, you should see something that looks like this...

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