How to Make a Beach Cake

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Cake is great, but a cake with a theme is even better! Celebrate your special occasion with this fun and easy Beach Cake recipe. All you need is frosting, candy, and a few toy accessories to recreate your favorite summer days on a beach cake.

There are so many fun homemade birthday cake ideas to choose from. With a theme, you can elevate a delicious dessert to something a little more fun.

close up of toy surfer atop frosting wave on cake.

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If you’ve ever ordered a grocery store bakery cake, you know that you’re paying for a mediocre cake and frosting with a few cheap plastic figures stuck in the top. Currently, themed birthday cakes at my local Ralphs range from $32.99 to $69.99!

You can make it cheaper, better, and a heck of a lot cuter when you make your own Beach Cake — and your kid gets to keep any cool toys you purchased for cake toppers. We’re partial to Playmobil here.

Making your own Beach Cake is the only way to go!

chocolate layer cake decorated like a beach with palm tree and shark.

Why Make This

It’s fun! Why not celebrate a special birthday or summer party with a Beach Cake. In a pinch, it can be a fun and casual wedding cake, too. Just adjust which toys you choose to put on top. The mermaid set is pretty cool.

It’s easy. Some frosting, some candy, and a few toys make for an easy themed dessert. Think elementary school diorama, but on a cake!

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need for a basic Beach Cake:

baked cake on board with tubs of frosting, candy, and toys on table nearby.
  • a sheet or layer cake, baked from scratch or from a cake mix
  • vanilla and chocolate buttercream frosting, canned or homemade frosting
  • blue and green sprinkles or colored sugar
  • blue paste food coloring to dye the vanilla frosting
  • assorted Playmobil beach-themed toys
  • a small tube of white frosting
  • Nemo or other fish-shaped fruit snacks
  • candy rocks
  • brown sugar and graham cracker crumbs for sand
  • toothpick, paper flag, and scotch tape for optional sand castle flag

Step-by-Step Instructions

Decorating a beach cake is super easy!

Dye the vanilla frosting (if using) blue. If you choose to use all chocolate frosting, you’ll just need lots of blue and green sprinkles.

Bake the cake and cool completely. If making a layer cake, adhere the two layers together with frosting.

Frost a crumb coat over the entire cake.

Then lay out your beach line. Your cake can be half ocean, half beach or more one than the other. Frost one part with chocolate and the other blue.

beach cake on kitchen table with number 6 candle inserted.

With your knife or spreader, rough up your ocean a bit so that you’ve got some waves going. If you have a surfer toy, make sure he can catch a wave.

Sprinkle blue and green sprinkles all over the “water” side of the cake.

Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs or brown sugar over the “beach” side.

Place candy rocks along the shore line. You can also use toy rock formations if you have them.

Using the small tube of white frosting, pipe some “sea foam” where the ocean meets the shore. Pipe more along the tips of the “breakers” that you roughed up in the blue frosting.

Pack brown sugar into a small cylinder container (such as a toy bucket or sauce cup) for a sand castle.

Craft a paper flag and tape it to the toothpick. Insert it into your sandcastle.

Place your other toys and candies on the cake. Fruit snacks can represent fish swimming in the sea.

brown sugar sand castle on cake next to toy bucket.

More Fun Cakes to Make

beach cake closeup of lifeguard on beach with pelican and crab toys.
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5 from 1 vote

Beach Cake Recipe

Celebrate your special occasion with this fun and easy Beach Cake recipe. All you need is frosting, candy, and a few toy accessories to recreate your favorite summer days on a beach cake.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: beach birthday cake, beach cake, birthday beach cake
Servings: 12
Calories: 300kcal
Author: Jessica Fisher
Cost: $5

Equipment

  • assorted Playmobil beach-themed toys
  • toothpick, paper flag, and scotch tape for optional sand castle flag

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet or layer cake, baked from scratch or from a cake mix
  • vanilla and chocolate buttercream frosting, canned or homemade frosting
  • blue and green sprinkles or colored sugar
  • blue paste food coloring to dye the vanilla frosting
  • small tube of white frosting
  • fish-shaped fruit snacks
  • candy rocks
  • brown sugar and graham cracker crumbs for sand

Instructions

  • Dye the vanilla frosting (if using) blue. If you choose to use all chocolate frosting, you'll just need lots of blue and green sprinkles.
  • Bake the cake and cool completely. If making a layer cake, adhere the two layers together with frosting.
  • Frost a crumb coat over the entire cake.
  • Then lay out your beach line. Your cake can be half ocean, half beach or more one than the other. Frost one part with chocolate and the other blue.
  • With your knife or spreader, rough up your ocean a bit so that you’ve got some waves going. If you have a surfer toy, make sure he can catch a wave.
  • Sprinkle blue and green sprinkles all over the “water” side of the cake. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs or brown sugar over the “beach” side. Place candy rocks along the shore line. You can also use toy rock formations if you have them.
  • Using the small tube of white frosting, pipe some "sea foam" where the ocean meets the shore. Pipe more along the tips of the "breakers" that you roughed up in the blue frosting.
  • Pack brown sugar into a small cylinder container (such as a toy bucket or sauce cup) for a sand castle.
  • Craft a paper flag and tape it to the toothpick. Insert it into your sandcastle.
  • Place your other toys and candies on the cake. Fruit snacks can represent fish swimming in the sea.

Notes

Nutritional values are approximate and will vary widely depending on the cake, frosting, and candy elements used.
Be sure to remove all toys and plastic bits and the paper flag and toothpick prior to serving the cake.
collage of two beach cakes with text overlay.

This post was originally published July 16, 2008. It has been updated for content and clarity.

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3 Comments

  1. Seriously, I could never get a cake to look that awesome! I think some people have it and some people don’t…I am one of the don’ts…lol 🙂 But I do enjoy the photos of your masterpieces.