I’ve made hundreds of cakes, but you’re looking at the most special. Today I’m sharing the cake I created for my daughter’s 1st birthday. Her 1st birthday party had a loose theme of pink + safari animals. I decided a petite zebra cake with strawberry frosting was best for the occasion.
Baby Girl 1st Birthday Cake
This is a 6-inch zebra cake, which is chocolate and vanilla cake batter layered into cake pans to resemble zebra stripes. It’s scaled down from my original 9-inch zebra cake. I filled it with vanilla buttercream and frosted the outside with naturally colored and flavored strawberry frosting. The top is garnished with rainbow sprinkles, a one cake topper, and adorable little animal figures I found at Michaels craft store. Thank you so much for the inspiration and idea, Facebook group member Amanda! The cake decoration was simple and pretty. I was so busy leading up to her 1st birthday party and there were so many other desserts that I kept the cake decoration easy. Friends and family LOVED it! The 6-inch zebra cake turned out even better than the original; it was more buttery and moist, the perfect complement to both vanilla and strawberry frostings. Have you made my strawberry frosting before? It’s made from freeze-dried strawberries, so it has zero artificial flavor and color. Interested in other 6 inch cake recipes? Here’s our 6 inch cake recipes page. You can find the video displaying exactly how to layer in the cake batters in the original zebra cake blog post. It’s surprisingly easy! The cake was accompanied by a dessert spread of mini animal cracker cookies, cake batter chocolate chip cookies (a must for ALL parties!), pumpkin cupcakes with the cinnamon cream cheese frosting from my banana cupcakes, and chocolate cupcakes with the swirled frosting from my marble cupcakes. The animal cracker cookies were a hit with kids and adults alike and the cupcakes were a great option since the birthday cake was on the smaller side. It was a big party with lots of dessert, so I began preparing in advance.
Prepping Dessert Ahead for a 1st Birthday Party
10 days before: Bake all the cookies, cupcakes, and cake layers. Let them cool, then freeze the unfrosted treats in large zipped-top bags and Tupperware containers. Wrap each cake layer individually in aluminum foil before placing in a bag or container to freeze. 2 days before: Make the icing and decorate all the animal cracker cookies. Cover and store at room temperature. 1 day before: Thaw the cookies, cake layers, and cupcakes. Frost the cupcakes and refrigerate overnight. (You can also decorate the cake at this time and loosely cover in the refrigerator overnight, but I frosted the cake the morning of the party.) Day of the 1st birthday party: Frost/decorate the cake. Remove cupcakes from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature.
Baby Girl Safari Themed Dessert Table
Here are all the extras to make dessert extra special!
“One” Cake Topper Safari Napkins Animal Cupcake Toppers The 2 tier metal/wood cake stand is from Magnolia Home. Here are is a similar stand: Farmhouse-Style Tiered Dessert Tray The spiral cupcake holder was a gift and I can’t find one exactly like it, but here is a similar cupcake tree stand. The small cake stand for the cake is also from Magnolia Home, but I see it’s now discontinued. I find 6-inch cakes look best on 8-inch cake stands like this one. Gives a little room on the sides!
My daughter had her own small slice of cake, which ended up mostly on her hands and face. It was the perfect dessert menu for our celebration. This is a wonderful small cake for any and all birthday parties! Un-watermarked photos by Megan Brodie Photography
