Baby Shark Cake — The One I’ll Bake for Caleb’s First Birthday

Caleb is eleven months old and I am in Huntsville for the long weekend. He is standing and cruising — holding the furniture with one hand and walking sideways along it with considerable confidence. He looked at me across the living room on Saturday morning and I could see him calculating the distance and the question: could he make it without the furniture? He decided no. He will decide yes sometime in the next few weeks and when he does he will walk toward a kitchen and it will be this kitchen or mine, and the whole trajectory of what cooking has meant in this family will arrive in a new pair of legs.

Shanice is planning his first birthday party. August tenth. I asked what she needed from me and she said: the cake. She wants me to make the cake. I asked what kind. She was quiet for a moment and then said, a smash cake — the small one for him to put his hands in — and a full sheet cake for the guests. For Caleb's smash cake she wants coconut, because the coconut cake was the engagement cake, the first major milestone cake, and she wants to start his birthday traditions connected to the family's traditions. I said, Shanice, that is exactly right. She said, I know. She knows these things. She has been paying attention since she walked into this family and she has absorbed more than she knows.

I drove home Sunday with half a plan and a recipe already running in my head. A small round coconut smash cake, perfectly tender, with the white frosting he can put his hands in. And a full sheet of the same. One month from today.

The coconut version is what my heart wants — and that cake will be ready in August — but when I sat down to think through the decorating, I kept coming back to this Baby Shark cake I’d saved months ago, because Caleb lights up every single time that song comes on. The structure of it is exactly what I need: a small round for his hands and a sheet for the crowd, soft crumb, white frosting you can tint any color, and a design even a grandmother working alone in her own kitchen can pull off beautifully. I’m writing this one down now so I have it locked in before August tenth arrives.

Baby Shark Cake

Prep Time: 45 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min | Servings: 24 (sheet cake) + 1 small smash cake

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
• For the frosting:
• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 4–5 tbsp heavy cream
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• For decoration:
• Blue and teal gel food coloring
• Yellow gel food coloring
• Shark fin candy decorations or fondant cut-outs
• Blue sprinkles or edible pearl sprinkles
• Piping bags and tips (star tip and round tip)

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour one 9x13-inch sheet pan and one 6-inch round cake pan. Line bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Mix dry ingredients. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 4–5 minutes until pale and very fluffy. Scrape down the sides as needed.
4. Add eggs and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract.
5. Alternate dry and wet. With mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the milk (flour, milk, flour, milk, flour), beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until combined — do not overmix.
6. Fill pans and bake. Pour approximately 1 1/2 cups batter into the 6-inch round pan and the remainder into the sheet pan. Bake the 6-inch round for 22–25 minutes and the sheet cake for 28–32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before frosting.
7. Make the buttercream. Beat softened butter on medium speed for 3 minutes until smooth. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time on low. Add heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat on high for 3–4 minutes until light and fluffy.
8. Frost the sheet cake. Apply a thin crumb coat of white buttercream over the sheet cake and chill 20 minutes. Divide remaining frosting into portions; tint most of it in shades of blue and teal for an ocean effect, and a small portion yellow. Apply blue frosting to the sheet cake using a spatula or piping bag in wave-like sweeps.
9. Frost the smash cake. Leave the smash cake frosted in plain white buttercream — soft, smooth, and easy for small hands. Add a single shark fin decoration on top.
10. Decorate. Press shark fin decorations into the sheet cake, pipe wave details with the star tip, and scatter blue and pearl sprinkles across the surface. Pipe “Baby Shark” in yellow buttercream if desired.

Nutrition (per serving, sheet cake)

Calories: 420 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 54g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 115mg