Mermaid number birthday cake recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1½ cups sour cream (or milk)

• 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract, or seeds from 1 vanilla bean
• 5 cups confectioner’s sugar
• Blue food coloring
• Chocolate Mermaid Tails
• Chocolate Seaside Truffles
• Mermaid-colored sprinkles

Bake the Cake
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.
2. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and smooth. Add the vanilla extract, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing with each addition.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the batter in 2 additions, alternating with the sour cream.
4. Spoon the batter into your prepared baking pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
Make the Buttercream
5. Beat the butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, then add the confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time, beating with each addition.
6. Divide into two, dye half the buttercream pale blue, and leave the remaining half white.
7. Place the buttercream into piping bags. Snip off the ends about 1 to 2 inches from the tip, creating large, round piping tips. Alternatively, you could attach 2 large, round piping tips.
Assembly
8. Slice the top off the cake to create a flat, smooth surface and remove any browning. Slices the sides off the cake as well, removing any remaining browning. Slice the cake horizontally into 2 even layers, then stack them on top of each other. Carve the cake into your desired number. If you want to sketch the number on the cake first, you can use a little bit of buttercream or an edible ink pen.
9. Remove the top layer and pipe dollops of white buttercream onto the bottom layer. As you pipe each dollop, drag the piping tip downwards, creating an indent in the dollop. Pipe 2 to 3 rows of dollops along the entire layer, then place the other cake layer on top. Repeat the same piping technique, but use the blue buttercream.
10. Decorate with Chocolate Mermaid Tails, Seaside Chocolate Truffles, and sprinkles.