This Airplane Cake is made from a simple vanilla cake recipe with buttercream frosting. It’s perfect for a baby shower or airplane-themed birthday party!
Airplane Birthday Cake
This is the most fun airplane birthday cake recipe! Of course, you can make it for other special occasions, but kids will love this fun decoration most!
Adding ‘happy birthday’ in frosted writing is optional and up to how confident and experienced you are with a thin-tipped piping bag. Either way, if you’re looking for a fun cake recipe, this is the one!
Why You’ll Love this Airplane Cake Recipe:
- Easy-to-make: The vanilla cake recipe with buttercream frosting recipe is super simple. Just bake, stack, and frost!
- Fun and kid-friendly: This airplane birthday cake is a good idea if you want the kids to be impressed by your birthday cakes! It’s a super fun and simple cake!
Email This Recipe
Enter your email and we’ll send the recipe directly to you!
How to Make an Airplane Cake
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Cake: Combine ingredients to make the cake batter, and separate into two round cake pans. Bake, let them cool, then wrap each layer in plastic wrap and chill them in the fridge.
- Frosting: Simply combine the ingredients to make the buttercream frosting.
- Assemble: Stack and frost the cake layers. Decorating is quite simple and straightforward!
Ingredient Notes
- It is important to measure out the flour accurately. Too much or too little flour will affect how the cake turns out. To accurately measure the flour, either use a food scale to measure out the grams exactly or use the spoon and scoop method. The spoon and scoop method means you put the measuring cup on the counter then use a spoon to scoop flour directly out of the bag and lightly place it into the cup. If you use the measuring cup to scoop directly from the bag, you’ll likely end up with 25% more flour than you actually need. This is because the flour gets packed down into the cup.
- The airplane cake toppers shown here can be found on Amazon
This airplane cake is a delicious vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream decorated to look like a cloud-filled sky with airplanes! It’s sure to be a hit!
You sure can! Try yellow, chocolate, strawberry, funfetti or red velvet!
Sour cream is one of those secret ingredients for great cakes you might not know about. We’re using it here to help add moisture to the cake, so it doesn’t end up dry (no one likes a dry cake). Because of the high fat content, sour cream creates a rich and delicious texture.
A dry cake can be caused by 2 things. You may have measured the ingredients incorrectly, or you might have overmixed the batter. It’s important to spoon and level your ingredients if you’re not using a scale, and it’s important to have a light hand when mixing the batter.
If your buttercream looks curdled, it is likely too cold. Place the buttercream in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water until the edges begin to melt, then whip again until it comes together.
If you don’t have a piping tip set, you can place your frosting in a sealed Ziplock bag with one corner cut off to create a DIY piping bag!
Make it chocolate
You can make the cake layers chocolate flavored if the person you’re making it for has a strong preference. The use of vanilla is primarily for aesthetic purposes, and it takes better to the colored frosted layers. No matter which route you go, the kiddos will adore it.
Make Ahead Instructions
This cake can be made up to 1 day in advance of when you plan to serve it. Cover with plastic wrap or a cake dome and store at room temperature.
The cake layers can be baked in advance, wrapped in plastic, and stored for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 3 months in the freezer. Let the cake layers defrost at room temperature.
The buttercream frosting can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Storage Instructions
Store leftover airplane cake tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or covered with a cake dome at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Let come to room temperature before enjoying.
Freezing Instructions
Freeze airplane cake whole or in individual slices tightly wrapped in 2 layers of plastic wrap and 1 layer of aluminum foil for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before enjoying.
Substitutions
- You can use any flavor cake mix you like, such as yellow, chocolate, strawberry, funfetti, or red velvet!
- If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own by measuring out 1½ cups of milk, removing 1½ tablespoons, and adding 1½ tablespoons of white vinegar or lemon juice. Stir well and let stand for 5 minutes before using.
- You can use plain or Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream.
Decorating Tips
- To create a solid base for decorating, place a bit of frosting onto the cake board/stand to secure the bottom layer of cake.
- Be sure to level the cakes by cutting off any domed parts to ensure that the cakes will stack evenly.
- Fill the cake with about ⅓ of the frosting, and save the rest for decorating.
- Crumb-coat the cake before frosting to catch any crumbs for a smoother appearance.
Tips for the Best Airplane Cake
- Measure the flour using the spoon-and-level method to prevent a dense, floury cake.
- Do NOT use regular milk in place of buttermilk. The acid in the buttermilk is necessary to create a light, fluffy cake.
- Do NOT over-mix the batter, or else you will end up with a dense, rubbery cake!
- Do NOT skip chilling the cakes or they may begin to crumble apart when you frost them.
I hope you have tons of fun making this airplane cake and whoever it’s for absolutely loves it. Let me know how it turned out or if you made any changes in the comments below!
If you make this recipe be sure to leave us a comment or rating. Enjoy!
Airplane Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 15.25 ounces white cake mix (1 box)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1½ cups buttermilk room temperature (see note)
- 1 cup full-fat sour cream room temperature
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the Buttercream Frosting
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 1½ cups unsalted butter slightly melted (3 sticks)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Blue gel food coloring
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional)
- 2 8-inch Round Cake Pan
- Hand Mixer
- Piping Tip Set
- Airplane Cake Toppers (click to buy)
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and line the inside bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir the dry cake mix, flour, granulated sugar, and salt together. Set aside for now.15.25 ounces white cake mix, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- In a separate large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the buttermilk, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract together on high until well combined.1½ cups buttermilk, 1 cup full-fat sour cream, 3 large eggs, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients on high until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Pour cake batter evenly between both prepared cake pans (about 749 grams per pan). Try to get the same amount in each pan so that the cake layers bake up to the same size.
- Bake for 33-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
- Remove cakes from oven and let cakes cool in pans for 15 minutes before removing cakes from pans. Place cake layers on a wire rack and allow cakes to cool to room temperature.
- Once cakes have cooled to room temperature, cover cakes completely in food-safe plastic wrap (wrap each layer separately) and refrigerate cake layers for two hours. Chilled cakes are easier to decorate since they don’t crumble as easily.
- Once cakes have been removed from the fridge, use a large serrated knife to cut the dome tops off both cakes so they both have a flat top. You won’t need these dome tops so feel free to snack on those while you work on the rest of the cake.
For the Frosting
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla extract on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. If the frosting is too thick to smooth onto the cake, beat in a tablespoon of heavy cream. If the frosting seems too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.5 cups powdered sugar, 1½ cups unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
For Assembly
- Place a thin layer of frosting (about 2 tablespoons) in the middle of a cake board or cake plate then place one cake (cut side facing up) on top of that frosting. This small amount of frosting helps to secure the cake to the cake plate so it doesn’t slide around during the decorating process.
- Add a generous layer of frosting on top of that first cake layer then place the second cake layer (bottom facing up) on top of the first cake layer.
- Frost a thin layer of frosting around the top and sides of cake. This first thin layer of frosting is meant as a base to help secure crumbs to the cake. This first layer of frosting should be thin so it’s okay if you can still see the cake through the frosting. To get the layers of frosting smooth, use a tool like a cake scraper to smooth the icing out.
- Place the lightly frosted cake in the freezer for 10 minutes so the frosting hardens up a bit before frosting the next layer.
- Place about 2 cups of white frosting into an icing bag with a large round piping tip (like the Ateco 808). Color the remaining frosting in the bowl blue (for this blue I used Chefmaster Liqua-gel in the color Royal Blue).Blue gel food coloring
- Remove cake from freezer and apply the second layer of frosting – this will be the blue frosting. Spread this layer as smoothly as you can using the cake scraper.
- Pipe a few white dots randomly around the sides of the cake. Not too many as we still want the cake to mostly be blue. Use the cake scraper to smear those dots smoothly onto the cake. This will give a cloudy look to the frosting.
- Use the remaining white frosting to pipe frosting around the top of the cake including a few clouds on the top of the cake. Place the airplane cake toppers on those clouds.
Notes
- Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own by measuring out 1½ cups of milk, removing 1½ tablespoons, and adding 1½ tablespoons of white vinegar or lemon juice. Stir well and let stand for 5 minutes before using.
- You can use any flavor cake mix you like, such as yellow, chocolate, strawberry, funfetti, or red velvet!
- You can use plain or Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream.
- Measure the flour using the spoon-and-level method to prevent a dense, floury cake.
- Do NOT use regular milk in place of buttermilk. The acid in the buttermilk is necessary to create a light, fluffy cake.
- Do NOT over-mix the batter, or else you will end up with a dense, rubbery cake!
- Do NOT skip chilling the cakes or they may begin to crumble apart when you frost them.
Leave a Review