Your favourite jellycat birthday cake plushie in edible cake form! It's made with two layers of soft vanilla cake, strawberry jam, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries.
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This is officially the cutest cake I've ever made. Ever since I saw the Jellycat birthday cake, I knew I had to have it, in one way or another. The plushie is a cake so naturally it makes sense to make an actual cake of it! The moment I added his little feet and smiley face, I could not stop smiling.
Why you'll love this recipe
- Looks just like the original Jellycat birthday cake plushie. How can you not love this little guy?? This is a cake that will make anyone smile.
- Soft hot milk cake layers. We're using the hot milk method to make a cake that's fluffy and stays fresh for days.
- Strawberry jam filling. To make this cake easier, we're using store-bought strawberry jam but you can make your own if you want it to taste even better.
- Light and airy whipped cream. Whipped cream is easy to make and complements this cake perfectly. No need to mess with buttercream.
Tools
- 6" round cake pans - This recipe makes two thick 6" cake layers to match the height of the actual jellycat birthday cake plushie. Be careful not to fill the pans past ⅔ full even if you have extra batter left because it will overflow in the oven.
- Electric hand mixer - You'll need a hand mixer to make the cake batter and whipped cream. You'll need to beat the eggs and sugar together for about 6 whole minutes so a hand mixer or stand mixer is essential for this.
- Piping bags - You'll need a piping bag for the whipped cream, the cream for the legs, and the chocolate for the face. You don't need any piping tips but you can use round piping tips if you'd like to.
Ingredient notes
As always, the full recipe card with ingredient amounts and instructions is at the bottom of this post! Keep reading for more details on each ingredient or skip ahead to the recipe.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Eggs - These should be at room temperature. This cake recipe relies on beating the eggs and sugar together until they've tripled in size for a fluffy cake. Room-temperature eggs will whip up faster.
- Granulated sugar
- Unsalted butter - You can use cold butter straight from the fridge because you'll be heating it anyway.
- Milk - You can use any dairy or non-dairy milk.
- Oil - Use a light-tasting oil like canola oil, avocado oil, or grapeseed oil. The oil makes the cake extra moist and soft.
- Vanilla extract
- Whipping cream or heavy cream - Use whipping cream for a light and airy whipped cream or heavy cream for a richer, thicker, and more stable whipped cream. Cold cream whips up faster so keep it in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
- Powdered sugar
- Cocoa powder - We're using cocoa powder to tint the cream brown for the Jellycat's legs. You can also use brown gel food colouring.
- Strawberry jam - You can use store-bought strawberry jam or homemade strawberry jam like I did in my Strawberry Chocolate Cake. Try to go for a jam with less sugar and chunks of strawberries for a nice touch.
- Strawberries - Use fresh strawberries cut in half to decorate the top of the cake. The original Jellycat birthday cake has five strawberries on its head.
- Dark chocolate - Use any kind of dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, or milk chocolate. You only need a little bit to draw the Jellycat's face.
How to make a jellycat birthday cake
Make the cake layers
Prep - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 6" round cake pans with a round of parchment paper on the bottom of each pan. Set aside.
Dry mixture - In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Hot milk mixture - In a small pot or microwave-safe bowl, add the butter, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Heat it on the stovetop or in the microwave until the butter has melted. Don't let it boil. Remove it from the heat and cover to keep it warm while you start making the batter.
Beat eggs and sugar - In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar. Use an electric hand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment to beat the mixture for a full 6 minutes at medium speed or until the mixture has tripled in size and becomes very pale (almost white) in colour.
Combine dry and wet mixtures - Add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just barely combined. Add the rest of the flour and mix until mostly combined. Some flour patches are fine because you'll continue mixing some more in the next step and we don't want to overmix.
Add hot milk mixture - With the mixer on low speed, slowly stream in the hot milk mixture until you have a smooth and fluid batter.
Fill pans - Divide the batter into your lined cake pans until about halfway full.
Bake - Bake cakes for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs.
Let cool - Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 15 minutes before running an offset spatula around the edges of the pan. Release the cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the filling
Whip cream - In a large mixing bowl, add the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Use an electric hand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment to beat the cream until it becomes soft peaks. Scoop out a small amount of whipped cream into a small bowl and set aside. Finish beating the cream to firm peaks.
Chocolate whipped cream - To the portion of cream you scooped out, add the cocoa powder and mix until the cream is tinted brown. Transfer this cream to a small piping bag and snip off the tip. Set aside.
Fill piping bags - Transfer both the whipped cream and the chocolate whipped cream to separate piping bags and cut the tips off.
Assemble and decorate the cake
Pipe cream - On a large serving plate or cake board, place down the first cake layer. Pipe dollops of whipped cream along the edge of the cake, ending towards the middle of the cake. Use a spatula to smear the tail ends of the dollops towards the middle of the cake.
Add strawberry jam - To the middle of the cake, add the strawberry jam. Smooth it into an even layer with an offset spatula without disturbing the whipped cream.
Decorate the top - Place the second cake layer on top. Pipe more dollops of whipped cream on top of the cake. Arrange halved strawberries on top of the cream. Insert a candle in the middle.
Pipe legs - With the brown whipped cream, pipe little legs on top of the plate, extending out from the bottom cake layer.
Draw the face - Melt the chopped dark chocolate in the microwave or on the stovetop, transfer the melted chocolate to a small piping bag, and snip the tip off. Pipe eyes and a smile on the bottom cake layer in between the legs.
Storage
This jellycat birthday cake can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Bring it back to room temperature before serving.
Freezing
Leftovers can be placed in an airtight container or wrapped well in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 month.
Thaw in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a few hours.
Frequently asked questions
To make this an 8" cake, double the recipe. The exact conversion is 1.78x but I would recommend just multiplying the ingredients by 2 to avoid weird decimals.
Baking by weight is much more accurate than volume. When using US standard cups, ingredients like flour and sugar can easily be overpacked into the cup causing you to add too much of certain ingredients. Recipes with weight measurements are also easier to scale to smaller or bigger batches without dealing with weird fractions. To measure by weight, you simply need a kitchen scale which you can usually pick up for less than $20.
Small measurements are given in tablespoons and teaspoons because most kitchen scales are not accurate under about 10g. Tiny amounts like a ¼ teaspoon may not register accurately unless you have a drug scale. Mixing these measurements is a common practice among other recipe sites and commercial kitchens.
More cake recipes to try
- Raspberry Pistachio Cake
- Strawberry Chocolate Cake
- Soot Sprite Cake
- Harry Potter's Birthday Cake
- Peaches and Cream Cake
Recipe
Jellycat Birthday Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake Layers
- 225 g all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 225 g granulated sugar
- 85 g unsalted butter
- 190 g milk, dairy or non-dairy
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Filling
- 300 g whipping cream or heavy cream, cold
- 30 g powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 teaspoons cocoa powder
- 4 tablespoons strawberry jam, store-bought or homemade
Decoration
- 2-3 fresh strawberries, halved
- 1 birthday candle, with white and red stripes if possible
- 20 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Instructions
Cake Layers
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 6" round cake pans with a round of parchment paper on the bottom of each pan. Set aside.
- Dry mixture: In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Hot milk mixture: In a small pot or microwave-safe bowl, add the butter, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Heat it on the stovetop or in the microwave until the butter has melted. Don't let it boil. Remove it from the heat and cover to keep it warm while you start making the batter.
- Beat eggs and sugar: In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar. Use an electric hand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment to beat the mixture for a full 6 minutes at medium speed or until the mixture has tripled in size and becomes very pale (almost white) in colour.
- Combine dry and wet mixtures: Add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just barely combined. Add the rest of the flour and mix until mostly combined. Some flour patches are fine because you'll continue mixing some more in the next step and we don't want to overmix.
- Add hot milk mixture: With the mixer on low speed, slowly stream in the hot milk mixture until you have a smooth and fluid batter.
- Fill pans: Divide the batter into your lined cake pans until about halfway full.
- Bake: Bake cakes for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs.
- Let cool: Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 15 minutes before running an offset spatula around the edges of the pan. Release the cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Filling
- Whip cream: In a large mixing bowl, add the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Use an electric hand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment to beat the cream until it becomes soft peaks. Scoop out a small amount of whipped cream into a small bowl and set aside. Finish beating the cream to firm peaks.
- Chocolate whipped cream: To the portion of cream you scooped out, add the cocoa powder and mix until the cream is tinted brown. Transfer this cream to a small piping bag and snip off the tip. Set aside.
- Fill piping bags: Transfer both the whipped cream and the chocolate whipped cream to separate piping bags and cut the tips off.
Assemble and decorate the cake
- Pipe cream: On a large serving plate or cake board, place down the first cake layer. Pipe dollops of whipped cream along the edge of the cake, ending towards the middle of the cake. Use a spatula to smear the tail ends of the dollops towards the middle of the cake.
- Add strawberry jam: To the middle of the cake, add the strawberry jam. Smooth it into an even layer with an offset spatula without disturbing the whipped cream.
- Decorate the top: Place the second cake layer on top. Pipe more dollops of whipped cream on top of the cake. Arrange halved strawberries on top of the cream. Insert a candle in the middle.
- Pipe legs: With the brown whipped cream, pipe little legs on top of the plate, extending out from the bottom cake layer.
- Draw the face: Melt the chopped dark chocolate in the microwave or on the stovetop, transfer the melted chocolate to a small piping bag, and snip the tip off. Pipe eyes and a smile on the bottom cake layer in between the legs.
Patricia
What depth are your 6” pans for the jellycat cake - normal or deep?
Gail Ng
My pans are 2" tall - normal height!
Anonymous
To all those making this - make sure the butter mixture is hot when you add it. Fully whip the cream mix.
You will need to shave off the cake crumb so get the naked cake look - I didn't do it as out of time!
It's tall, but fab! Thanks!
Julia
I would like to try this recipe for my birthday but I was wondering if you could switch whipped cream for buttercream?
Gail Ng
Yes of course you can!
Charlotte Eland
this is so cute and will definitely try the recipe it is so organised and well done.
Sarah
Perfect recipe! Cake rose well and was soft and sweet and spongy and icing was perfectly sweet and not overpowering! Love this recipe would 100% recommend!
Hayley
What a nightmare my sponge didn’t rise as above and I followed the step’s, what might have gone wrong?
Hebe
Me too and I am not sure why?!
Anonymous
this video was much more helpful - seems that the milk has to be HOT and folded in with a spatula https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUBQih01SHc
Rebecca
My whipped cream was so soft and just oozed out the sides when I put the top of the cake on. Any idea what happened? I ended up having to just cover the entire thing in cream 🙁
Gail Ng
Sounds like you just needed to whip the cream more! It stiffens up the more you whip it - just stop before it becomes grainy.
Jodie
Please can I ask what size nozzle you used for piping? Thank you
Gail Ng
I used a Wilton 6B 🙂
Jackie
Hi, my daughter wants me to make this lovely cake tomorrow for her birthday party, but is it 2” or 3” deep pans? Thanks
Gail Ng
Hi! My pans are 2" deep.
Sophia
This is so cute and delicious!
Zoeya
About how tall would this cake be? I'm looking to put it in a cake box and was wondering the correct size to buy.
Liz
Did you find this out? I'm wondering the same
Nicola Keys
Would this be okay made the night before needed and should I store in the fridge please? Thank you
Gail Ng
Yes, it would be fine stored in the fridge! Make sure to cover it with a cake container or overturned mixing bowl - it doesn't have frosting on the outside so the cake can dry out if it's not covered in the fridge.
Anonymous
Hi Gail, thanks for sharing this recipe! Would you know approximately how many grams of batter you put in each cake pan?
Anonymous
Hi! Is there a way you can convert the recipe to cups?