Woodland Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting | Free Printable

Whether you are celebrating a first birthday, baby shower or any occasion, this woodland cake with cream cheese frosting will certainly get you in the mood for flannel, hiking and the great outdoors!

I never considered myself an outdoorsman. I grew up in the burbs of Houston, Texas. As an adult, I’ve lived in Tucson, Miami, Los Angeles and San Diego. None of these cities evoke images of towering trees, majestic mountains or furry little critters.

But I love being outdoors, losing myself in nature, hiking in the woods. I am able to relax, decompress and get inspired all at the same time when I am immersed in a beautiful setting.

My niece, is quite the opposite. She admits wholeheartedly that she is not a nature girl and that nothing could convince her to go ever go camping in the woods.

Now she is a beautiful momma to two sweet baby boys. Her youngest just turned one. Keeping up with our tradition, I made her boy his very own personal birthday cake.

And the theme for this baby’s birthday and the decor for his baby room? Woodlands, of course. The irony is ridiculous.

Why you should make this cake

This woodland cake inspiration came from Whisk and Wander. Because I was making an individual cake for a one-year old to destroy on his own, I didn’t need to make a three tiered cake.

You can bake a cake from scratch or use box mix cake, whatever you prefer. Although I did use a box mix for this cake, it was for a one-year old. My usual go-to birthday cake recipe is my vanilla olive oil cake.

Since my niece wanted a white frosting, I made cream cheese frosting. And homemade frosting is way better than the canned stuff you can buy at the store.

My niece chose the animals for the cake. I created the bunting with my baby nephew’s name. I have a free printable for you if you want to make the same bunting cake topper for your woodland cake (link below).

City Momma loved the cake. I loved the cake. Baby really loved the cake. It was tremendous fun putting this woodland cake together. I hope you find an occasion, ANY occasion, to make one for yourself!

Ingredients and supplies you need

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• One 6-inch 2-layer cake: You can use a box mix or my vanilla olive oil cake.
• Frosting ingredients: butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract
• Graham cracker crumbs and matcha powder: This makes the mossy green ground cover for the cake.
• Fresh rosemary: The trees on the cake are sprigs of rosemary. Use varying heights.
• Woodland animals: My niece bought grizzly bear, reindeer and fox from Michael’s, but you can also find similar items on Amazon
• Bunting cake topper: I made this with my free bunting printable, some baker’s twine, glue and a couple of twigs.

Step-by-step directions

1. Mix and bake your 6-inch cakes and cool to room temperature on a cooling rack. You can use 2-layers or 3-layers.

2. Using an electric mixer whip butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly mix in powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.

3. Place one layer of cake on cake stand and frost. Place second layer over first and continue frosting to desired finish.

4. If you want a naked cake, continue to scrape off excess frosting. If you want a more covered cake, chill your cake after the crumb coat is complete. Then give it a second layer of frosting to completely cover the cake.

5. In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and matcha powder until crumbs are all moss green. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over the top of the cake.

Place animal figures over the matcha covered crumbs and add sprigs of fresh rosemary to resemble trees.

If using free printable pennant, print it out and assemble on a piece of string. Tie string pennant to two twigs and place in the cake.

Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.

Recipe tips and FAQs

Since this is an easy cake to decorate, I suggest leaving the final touches (adding the graham cracker crumbs and animals) til the day you are serving your cake. Since the bunting is rather tall and if you are short on space in the refrigerator, add that right before presenting the cake.

Other woodland touches you can make for your cake:

• Dust your rosemary trees with powdered sugar.
• Candy your rosemary trees: brush with egg whites and coat with granulated sugar.
• Add chocolate rocks. I use these all the time on my camping themed cakes.
• Don’t have rosemary? Frost an ice cream cone with green frosting for your tree.

PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.

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