If your kids love feeding the ducks in the park, this duck birthday cake will make them smile. It’s a simple vanilla sponge sandwich filled with buttercream, covered in whipped cream and decorated with yellow fondant ducks. If you want an original, eye-catching cake that looks impressive but is straightforward to make, give this one a try.
For my daughter’s 3rd birthday she was still obsessed with ducks, so there was only one choice for the cake: a duck cake. I adapted the decorating style from the book Cakes and Cake Decorating by Angela Nilsen and Sarah Maxwell and set about copying the look. Once my daughter saw the picture, the cake had to be made.
How easy is this duck birthday cake to make?
Although the finished cake looks impressive, it’s mainly a matter of assembling a few simple elements. I liked the idea of the green jelly in the centre — it adds a fun, unexpected detail and makes the cake stand out from more conventional children’s birthday cakes.
What I would do differently next time
I baked the cake and prepared most of the decorations the day before the party so I could assemble it quickly on the morning of the celebration. The night before I whipped the double cream with a little green food colouring and icing sugar until it held fairly stiff peaks, which seemed ideal for spreading over the cake.
The following morning the cream had sadly lost its structure and ran down the sides when I tried to spread it — apparently the colour or the timing caused it to become loose again. I considered re-whipping but didn’t want to risk crumbs or waste time hunting more cream before the party. I pressed on and finished the cake at the venue.
I also found that when I sprinkled the green desiccated coconut it slid down the sides, and when I added the jelly it threatened another landslide. In future I’d probably avoid colouring the cream and either use buttercream or apply the cream closer to serving time. If you prefer, fondant alone is a more stable option for decorating, especially if you need to prepare in advance.
What was the verdict on the cake?
Despite my panic, once the last-minute decorating was finished the cake looked good and cut well. It tasted great too. The lime jelly in the middle was a lovely addition — even if it looks a little messy, it pairs well with the cream and coconut for a bright, fresh contrast.
So don’t be put off if things don’t go perfectly. The appearance can be forgiving and the cake will still taste delicious. If you avoid colouring the cream in advance, you’re likely to have a smoother decorating experience.
Recipe for Duck Birthday Cake
Duck Birthday Cake
Author: Corina Blum
If your kids love going to feed the ducks in the park then this duck birthday cake will really make them smile. It’s a simple vanilla sponge cake sandwiched with buttercream, covered in cream and decorated with yellow fondant ducks. If you’re looking for an original and eye-catching cake that looks great but is not difficult to make then do try it!
Prep time: 2 hrs Cook time: 1 hr 30 mins Total time: 3 hrs 30 mins
Course: Cake Cuisine: British
Servings: 16 Calories: 595 kcal
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Cake
- 300 g butter, at room temperature
- 300 g sugar
- 5 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 350 g self-raising flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Ingredients for the Buttercream
- 125 g butter, at room temperature
- 250 g icing sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredients for the Cream
- 300 g double cream
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar
Other Ingredients to Decorate the Cake
- 250 g desiccated coconut
- Green food colour
- Marshmallows
- Green ready-to-roll icing
- Black ready-to-roll icing
- Yellow ready-to-roll icing
- Green jelly
Instructions
How to Make the Cake
- Grease and line a deep 20cm cake tin. Heat the oven to 140°C.
- In a food mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light in colour. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla extract.
- Sift the flour and baking powder and fold into the mixture. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 1½ hours.
- Test the cake with a skewer — if it comes out clean the cake is ready. If not, bake for another 10 minutes and test again.
- Remove the cake from the tin after 5 minutes and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
How to Make the Decorative Elements
- Make the jelly according to the packet instructions and chill until set.
- Make the buttercream by beating together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla.
- Whisk the cream until it holds stiff peaks, then beat in the icing sugar. Note: the author found that adding green food colour to the cream may have caused it to go runny later, so omitting the colour is recommended.
- Mix green food colour into the desiccated coconut using a fork and your fingers until evenly tinted.
- Dust a work surface with a little icing sugar and roll out the yellow fondant until about 7mm thick. Cut out duck shapes with a cutter or knife. Use a little black fondant for the eyes, press the ducks onto cake pop sticks and leave them flat to dry and harden.
- To make fondant grass, fill a garlic press with green fondant and press it through the holes to create strands; leave to dry.
- Flatten marshmallows with a rolling pin, then snip around the edges to create petal-like shapes for flowers.
How to Assemble the Duck Birthday Cake
- Slice the cooled cake into three layers using a bread knife. Spread buttercream between the bottom and middle layers, then stack.
- Spread the whipped cream over the top and sides of the cake.
- Cover the sides and the outer top edge of the cake (about 3–4 cm in) with the green desiccated coconut.
- Spoon some of the set green jelly into the centre of the cake to form the pond.
- Arrange the fondant grass around the edge of the jelly and press into the coconut.
- Stick the fondant ducks into the cake above the pond.
- Decorate the base of the cake with the marshmallow flowers.
Notes
Nutritional information is approximate and provided as a guideline only.
Nutrition (per serving)
- Calories: 595 kcal
- Carbohydrates: 56 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Fat: 40 g
- Saturated fat: 27 g
- Cholesterol: 134 mg
- Sodium: 223 mg
- Potassium: 157 mg
- Fiber: 3 g
- Sugar: 36 g
- Vitamin A: 1014 IU
- Vitamin C: 1 mg
- Calcium: 39 mg
- Iron: 1 mg
More recipes you might like
Also consider trying a duck pond cake for another take on a duck-themed celebration cake.
Keep in touch
If you make this recipe or any of my others, I’d love to hear how it went. Reader feedback is always appreciated.
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