A Day at the Beach Cake is such a festive cake. It's a great way to enjoy a delicious dessert and celebrate summer. Our cake celebrates everything we love about the beach, sun, and sand!
“This post and recipe is part of #SummerDessertWeek! I was given samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine.”
Make a beach cake with the kids! This is such a fun cake. When it comes to decorating the cake, endless possibilities.
The cake is perfect for any summer party, birthday parties, and beach parties.
Summer Desserts Week is in full swing. Monday, I shared my No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake.
To keep the summer vibe going, today’s beach cake recipe is a perfect addition to the week!
We spend most of our summer at the beach. Nothing is better than sitting in the sun watching the kids jump the ocean waves. Celebrate summer fun with this tasty cake! For a great activity with the kids, get the kids involved in decorating your cake.
Beach Cake
Being Summer Dessert Week and some amazing treats from Wilton, I knew a beach cake would be made for this week. Adam's Extract is used in making the Vanilla Frosting that is tinted blue to make the sea. Sweets & Treats Boutique sprinkles add great sparkle to the cake.
How do I store the cake?
Until ready to serve the cake, keep the cake in a cake storage box.
How far in advance can I make the cake?
I prefer to make the cake early in the day.
Can store made icing be used for the frosting?
I prefer to use homemade frosting. By all means, a store made icing can be used.
Some of my other favorite baked treats you may enjoy:
Autumn Sprinkle Cake Pops: great cake pops decorated for Autumn.
Lemon Yogurt Cake - one of my favorite cakes ever!
Coconut Oil Brownies - a very popular recipe.
Baked Apple Cider Donuts - if you haven't made these tasty treats, get going!
Beach Cake Ingredients
- Use either a vanilla or yellow cake mix for this recipe. You can give the cake batter a tint of blue with food coloring.
- Top the cake with homemade vanilla cream icing that has been tinted blue.
- Get creative with your icing and decorating. Make some waves by swirling the icing with a knife or spoon.
- Use crushed graham crackers for the sand!
- Sweets and Treats sprinkles add sparkle to the ocean.
- Teddy Grahams make great "people" relaxing on the beach.
- Swedish fish can swim in the ocean.
- Sugar fruit roll are beach towels.
- Life Savers are beach floats
- Drink Umbrellas are beach umbrellas
How to decorate a great Beach Cake
- Prepare cake mix and add blue food coloring to batter if tinting cake.
- Bake cake according to directions and let it cool.
How to Make Vanilla Frosting
- Beat the powdered sugar and butter.
- Add in the vanilla and milk.
- Mix the frosting until smooth.
- Remove about 2-3 Tablespoons of the icing. Keep it white to add into the sea.
- Tint the icing blue.
- Cover cake with the icing.
- Make scrolls for waves.
- Add some of the white into the blue for white caps.
- Crush graham cracker to make sand.
- Place the crushed graham crackers on ⅓ of the cake to make a beach.
- Decorate the cake with your Teddy Grahams, candy beach towels, etc.
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📖 Recipe
A Day at the Beach Cake
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Equipment Needed:
Ingredients
- 15.0 ounce Vanilla cake mix plus ingredients required to make cake Note 1
- 3-4 drops blue food coloring, optional use if you want to color cake blue
Vanilla Frosting
- 5 ½ cups confectioners sugar
- ⅔ cup salted butter, cut into cubes and softened
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons milk
- 5-6 drops blue food coloring
Beach Cake Decorations
- 9 graham crackers, ground into crumbs beach sand
- 5-6 graham cracker teddy bears people on the beach
- 1 Tablespoon Sweets & Treats Boutique blue and green sprinkles
- 2-3 life saver beach floats
- 2-4 fruit rolls beach towels
- 4-5 Swedish fish ocean fish
- 2 tiki drink umbrella beach umbrellas
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Instructions
Bake the cake
- Follow directions on cake mix. If you want the cake to be blue, add food coloring to batter before baking the cake.
- Let cake cool completely before decorating.
How to make Vanilla Frosting
- In a large bowl add confectioners sugar and butter.
- Use a hand mixer on low setting to beat sugar/butter. Mixture will begin to blend.
- Add in the vanilla extract and milk.
- Continue to mix until frosting is smooth.
- Set aside about 2 Tablespoons of the white frosting to be used to add white caps to the ocean frosting.
- To the large bowl of frosting, add blue food coloring and mix well.
How to Decorate a Beach Cake
- Frost the cake with the blue frosting.
- Add some of the white to the ocean side of cake to add white caps to the "wave"
- Add the ground graham cracker to one side of the cake. About ⅓ of the cake should be the beach.
- Add Swedish fish into the ocean.
- Use life savers and some of the white frosting to adhere the teddy bears onto the life savers. Place them in by the edge of the sand. The bears will appear to be on beach floats.
- Set the tiki umbrellas up.
- Put the fruit rolls under the umbrellas as the "beach blankets"
- Lay the teddy graham bears on the fruit rolls
- Spread the sprinkles on the the ocean of the cake.
NOTES
- Any nutritional data I provide is an approximation and actual dietary information can vary based on ingredients and proportion sizes.
Nutrition
- Brownie Ice Cream Sundaes from Desserts Required
- Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars from Family Around the Table
- Simple Watermelon Lime Granita from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- No Churn Patriotic Funfetti Ice Cream from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
- No Churn Lemonade Ice Cream from 4 Sons R Us
- Orange Julius Popsicles from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
Summertime Pies:
- Key Lime Pie-sicles from The Domestic Kitchen
- Lemon Meringue Pie from Palatable Pastime
- Mississippi Mud Pie from For the Love of Food
Sweet Summertime Cakes and Cupcakes:
- Pineapple Coconut Milkshakes from Daily Dish Recipes
- Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pound Cake from Pastry Chef Online
- Beach Cake from Everyday Eileen
No Bake Treats:
- Banana Split Eclair Dessert from Big Bear's Wife
Baked Desserts:
- Lemon Lavender Scones from Jen Around the World
- Frosted Cookie Bars from Miss in the Kitchen
- Easy Raspberry Lemon Crumble Bars from Who Needs A Cape?
- Peach and Nectarine Torte with Almond Whipped Cream from Nancie's Table
- Cookie Bars from Back To My Southern Roots
- Bomb Pop Cheesecake Cups from Sweet ReciPEAS
- Mini Raspberry Cheesecakes from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Coconut Congo Squares from Love and Confections
Candies:
- Orange Creamsicle Truffles from Sweet Beginnings
