Two-Tier Balloon Vanilla Cake (Printable Version)

Moist vanilla sponge layered with creamy buttercream and balloon toppers for an elegant celebration cake.

# List of Ingredients:

→ Vanilla Sponge Cakes

01 - 4.5 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 3.5 teaspoons baking powder
03 - 0.5 teaspoon salt
04 - 2.5 cups granulated sugar
05 - 1.5 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
06 - 8 large eggs, room temperature
07 - 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
08 - 2 cups whole milk, room temperature

→ Buttercream Frosting

09 - 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
10 - 8 cups powdered sugar, sifted
11 - 0.5 cup whole milk or heavy cream
12 - 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
13 - Pinch of salt
14 - Gel food coloring, optional

→ Decoration

15 - Balloon cake toppers
16 - Edible confetti or sprinkles, optional

# How to Make It:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line two 8-inch round cake pans and two 6-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
03 - In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, approximately 3 to 5 minutes.
04 - Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract.
05 - With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and milk in three additions, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until just combined.
06 - Divide the batter evenly between the 8-inch and 6-inch pans. Tap pans gently to release air bubbles.
07 - Bake 8-inch cakes for 35 to 40 minutes and 6-inch cakes for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
08 - Allow cakes to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
09 - Beat butter until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating well. Mix in vanilla, salt, and milk or cream 1 tablespoon at a time until smooth and spreadable. Tint with food coloring if desired.
10 - Level cake tops if needed. Place one 8-inch layer on a cake board, spread a layer of buttercream, top with the second 8-inch cake. Repeat for the 6-inch cakes.
11 - Apply a thin crumb coat of buttercream to each cake. Chill for 20 minutes.
12 - Frost cakes smoothly with remaining buttercream. Stack the 6-inch cake tier centered on top of the 8-inch tier, using dowels or straws for support if needed.
13 - Decorate with balloon toppers and edible confetti or sprinkles as desired.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The vanilla sponge stays impossibly moist for days, so you're not stuck baking the morning of the party.
  • Buttercream frosting tastes like the real thing, not overly sweet, and it's forgiving enough for beginners to smooth out.
  • Two tiers feel fancy and complicated but honestly require just patience and decent support dowels—no special skills needed.
  • Balloon toppers do all the heavy lifting decoration-wise, meaning you can focus on getting the cake itself right.
02 -
  • Don't skip the crumb coat or chill step—it sounds fussy but makes the difference between a polished cake and one that looks homemade in the rough.
  • Dowels or straws are absolutely necessary if you're stacking; without them, gravity wins and your top tier slowly crushes into the bottom tier over the course of the party.
  • If your kitchen is warm, chill the frosted cakes in the fridge before stacking so the frosting firms up and holds the weight better.
  • Balloons add so much personality that nobody's scrutinizing whether your frosting swirls are perfect, which is honestly freeing.
03 -
  • A cake turntable makes frosting dramatically easier because you can spin the cake toward you instead of reaching around it awkwardly.
  • If your frosting is too soft, chill it for 10 minutes; if it's too stiff, warm the bowl over a pot of hot water for 20 seconds, stirring gently.
  • Dowels should be trimmed flush with the top of the bottom tier so they don't poke through your frosting when you stack the top tier on top.
Go Back