Have you ever imagined making a half cake at home? Whether for the 6 months half birthday of a baby or just for fun, this cake is a great project you can accomplish at home!
Read on to find out how to make it and how to assemble it.
What is special about this recipe
If you are looking to make a half cake recipe, I bet you want it to be easy and uncomplicated. If so, you are on the right place! I designed this cake with the purpose to be easy and with minimum possibility for mistakes.
This is a very simple recipe that will not make you spend too much time in the kitchen.
The cake base is made of simple ingredients and requires no mixing, just whisking.
The frosting is a delicious combination of mascarpone and whipped cream.
The only challenging part is to assemble the cake but you will find lots of tips and tricks on this.
What ingredients you need
For the layers you need very simple ingredients:
- all-purpose flour
- eggs
- brown sugar
- vegetable oil: I always prefer EVO oil
- sour cream
- baking powder
- vanilla
For the frosting you need:
- mascarpone cheese
- heavy cream
- icing sugar
- almond and vanilla extract
- dark chocolate: only if you want a chocolate decoration
How to make the layers
The layers preparation happens in one bowl.
Whisk the dry ingredients, including the sugar, and gradually add the wet ones.
The batter then needs to be divided between two 7 inch/ 18 cm pans and baked for about 30 minutes at 350º F/ 180º C. Let them cool to room temperature.
About the frosting
The frosting for this cake is a variation of Mascarpone Cream with different flavors than the classic version.
- To make it first whip the cream in a large mixing bowl.
- The second step is to beat shortly the mascarpone cheese together with the vanilla, almond extract and icing sugar.
- Combine the two mixtures using a rubber spatula.
For a version without powdered sugar, you can use the White Chocolate Frosting for this cake too: it will be a perfect match as well.
How to assemble
You need to cut each layer horizontally in two parts. Then you need to halve each vertically as well.
Assemble the cake by stacking the halves and spreading a bit of frosting between them. Make sure you reserve some frosting for decoration.
Spread white frosting all around the cake. This will make it look more elegant.
Please beware that with the below listed quantities a 7 inch/ 18 cm half cake will be quite tall as it will consist of 8 layers.
To make it slightly lower and easier to assemble, you can bake the same ingredient quantities in one 9 inch/ 23 cm pan. You might need to increase the baking time in this case!
Decoration
The chocolate decoration makes this cake perfect both for a boy or for a girl. If you want to make it even more gender specific, you can add blue or pink food dye to part of the frosting: before piping or even before assembling the cake.
If you reserved some frosting, even if it is little, you can make a nice chocolate decoration by mixing it with the melted chocolate. Then let it cool for 10-15 minutes in the fridge before piping on top of the cake.
It will look very nice if you make vertical lines with a bit of the chocolate frosting on the cut side of the cake. Use an offset spatula or a large butter knife and mix the chocolate with the white frosting (check the video and the photos).
How to store
Store this cake for 2-3 days in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap or portioned in airtight containers.
You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.
I hope this recipe gave you an inspiration to make a beautiful and delicious cake for a 6-month old! The design is quite fun so you can use it for any kind of half-birthday celebrations!
Below I have collected few more birthday cakes which you might find interesting too:
- Sponge Cake with Fondant Fruits decoration {Video tutorial}
- Easy Cherry Strawberry Layer Cake with Fondant Flowers
- Spiderman Themed Healthy Coconut Date Cake
- Piñata Cake
- Naked cake for a special birthday
- Jigsaw Puzzle Cake
📝 Recipe
Homemade Half Cake
Ingredients
For the layers:
- 1 ½ cups/ 180 g all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup/ 200 g brown sugar
- ¼ cup / 80 ml olive oil or other vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup / 160 g sour cream
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 17.6 oz/ 500 g mascarpone
- ⅞ cup / 200 ml heavy cream, cold
- ½ cup / 60 g icing sugar
- 2 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2.1 oz/ 60 g dark chocolate, optional
Instructions
Layers:
- Preheat oven to 350º F/ 180º C. Line two 7 inch/ 18 cm cake pans with circles of parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar and baking powder. Whisk until combined.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and continue whisking. The mixture will become very thick. Add the oil and mix again. Add also the sour cream. At this point you can exchange the whisk with a rubber spatula. Mix gently, until smooth.
- Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Let the layers cool completely before assembling the cake.
Frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl whip the cold heavy cream until fluffy but not too thick.
- In a separate bowl combine mascarpone, icing sugar, vanilla and almond extract. Beat them for few seconds, to combine.
- Using a rubber spatula combine the two mixtures, adding from the whipped cream to the mascarpone. Mix gently until the frosting becomes uniform.
To assemble:
- Using a long serrated knife cut horizontally the cake bases into two layers each. Then stack them evenly and half them vertically. That way you will end up with half 8 layers.
- Reserve about ½ to 1cup frosting for decoration.
- Place one half on a serving plate and spread some frosting on top. Cover with another layer. Continue the process until using all the layers. Make sure you have enough frosting to cover the cake all around (apart from the already reserved one).
Decoration:
- You can pipe the reserved white frosting directly on the cake using a disposable piping bag and a large star tip. You can also make a chocolate frosting for piping.
- To do that, melt the chocolate on a double boiler. Use a rubber spatula to add it to the reserved mascarpone frosting.
- If the resulting chocolate frosting is not thick enough for piping, place it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
- Pipe on top of the cake. Use an offset spatula with just a bit of chocolate frosting to make horizontal lines on the side where the cake is "halved".
- Let the cake stay in the fridge for 3-4 hours before serving it.
Notes
- Store the cake 2-3 days in the fridge covered with plastic wrap or portioned in airtight containers.
- If you want the cake to be pink or blue, you can colour the frosting with food dye. Add it to the mascarpone, before whipping it or just to the part that you would use for piping.
- This cake is relatively tall and is not very stable for transportation. If you want a smaller cake, bake it in one larger pan (e.g. 9 inch/ 23 cm) or use half of the ingredients and bake it in one 7 inch/ 18 cm pan. That way you will have 4 half layers.
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