Cake/Cookie How To's · Entertaining · Party/Tablescapes

A Succulent Succulents Cake For An 80th Birthday Party

Earlier this year, I threw a Quilt Themed Party for my mother’s 80th birthday. So, when my father turned 80 in June, I wanted to celebrate him as well. My dad and stepmother had rented a large vacation home in the Chesapeake Bay area in Maryland for the last week of June and asked all their kids and grandchildren to join them. My sisters and I decided that this would be the perfect time to celebrate Dad’s birthday since most of our far-flung family were planning to be there.

I am a big fan of having a theme for a party because it makes it easier to coordinate all the elements from decorations, to the menu, to the cake. However, I had used a lot of the obvious party themes for my dad in previous years. Because my dad likes to golf, I made a huge golf ball cake for one of his birthdays.

Giant golf ball cake studded with colorful golf tees
Giant Chocolate Golf Ball Cake

Another year, I threw a movie-themed party for my film buff dad, complete with an outdoor showing of “Hopscotch” (one of his favorite Walter Matthau movies) and a cake that looked like a stack of film reels. I do not have a great picture of the Film Reel Cake because I made the cake in North Carolina and transported it 8 hours to Pittsburgh in a hot car. Needless to say, it did not travel well. The fondant kind of wilted, and we joked that it ended up looking like that Salvador Dali painting with the melted clocks.

“The Persistence of Memory,” Salvador Dali, 1931

Since I was fresh out of Dad-specific themes, I decided to jump on the current trendy succulent bandwagon. I reasoned that my dad would appreciate succulents because they are mostly green –his favorite color. And they have an architectural look that is a bit more masculine than flowers. Frankly, after seeing all the cool cakes on Pinterest, I was dying to try my hand at making some buttercream succulents of my own. Since many succulents are native to the Southwest, we decided to go Texmex with the menu and serve Enchiladas, a spicy corn dish, tortilla chips, Guacamole, and Margaritas. My sisters agreed to make the food, and I said I would make the cake and handle the decorations.

The Cake

Because of the Film Cake fiasco, I was very concerned about how to transport the cake successfully. I researched and finally resolved to prepare the cake layers and the buttercream succulents in advance and freeze them. Then, I would frost and finish the cake on site. I knew that the cake layers would freeze fine, but I was worried about how the buttercream plants would fair. To make a succulent, you pipe it onto a parchment square affixed to a flower nail with a bit of frosting. Wilton has an excellent tutorial on making different kinds of succulents, but it is not a beginner project.

After I had made each plant, I placed the succulent topped parchment squares in a single layer in the bottom of a covered pie plate carrier and popped them in the freezer. They didn’t slide around in the carriers when I transported them because the dab of frosting that had adhered the parchment square to the flower nail also served to “glue” it in place in the pie carrier.

To further prepare for transport, I made 6 cups of base icing, tinted it gray, and put it into a Tupperware container. The different colored icing that I used to make the individual succulent varieties was already in the piping bags. So, I just covered the ends of the bags with plastic wrap and put all them all in another Tupperware container. I carefully placed all of this in a large cube cooler with lots of ice. In addition, I brought with me a variety of piping tips, frosting spatulas, a cardboard cake round, and my cake decorating turntable.

Much to my amazement, everything survived the trip unscathed. When I arrived at the vacation home, everything went in the freezer until the day of the party. On the morning of the party, I thawed the cake rounds, frosted the cake with the gray icing, and arranged the still frozen buttercream plants on top. I also piped some additional succulents onto the sides and top of the cake.

Succulent Cake with five different buttercream plants for Trendy Succulent-Themed 80th Birthday Party
I piped five different kinds of succulents in advance for this cake and then added the trailing plants as well as a few filler “flowers” after frosting and assembling it on site.
Succulent cake with textured base created for a Trendy Succulent-Themed 80th Birthday Party
I added texture to the sides of the cake by creating vertical ridges with a narrow spatula.
Cake for A Trendy Succulent-Themed 80th Birthday Party
To view more of my cakes and cookies, see the Cake Gallery.

Birdseye view of buttercream cake for Trendy Succulent-Themed 80th Birthday Party

A variety of colorful buttercream succulents adorn a cake for a Trendy Succulent-Themed 80th Birthday Party

Other than the gray icing turning sort of a lavender color, I was pleased with how it turned out. It is a lot less nerve-racking to transport a deconstructed cake than it is to try to travel with a fully decorated one. Freezing the buttercream succulents worked so well that I will definitely freeze flowers in advance for future cakes, even if I don’t need to travel with them.

Table Decorations

Since I had to schlep everything from home and didn’t know what the dining space would be like, my decorations were kind of minimal. We set the party up on the screened porch, which had one large table and two smaller wooden tables. This setup serendipitously provided the exact number of places to accommodate all the guests.

Disposable bamboo plates and cutlery add another natural element to the Trendy Succulent-Themed 80th Birthday Party.
Disposable bamboo plates and cutlery added another natural element to the succulent-themed party.

Faux succulent wreath and candles are the centerpiece of for a Trendy Succulent-Themed 80th Birthday Party.

I used burlap runners to create texture and a natural tone for all the tables. The place settings consisted of disposable bamboo plates, cutlery, and leaf green paper napkins. I wrapped the cutlery in the napkins and tied it all together with burlap ribbons topped with 3D paper succulent stickers I purchased from Michaels.

Paper succulent sticker and burlap ribbon serve as a napkin ring for Trendy Succulent-Themed 80th Birthday Party
I found these 3D Succulent stickers in the clearance bin at Michaels. They don’t have them anymore, but you can find something similar on Etsy or Michaels has a tutorial for making your own paper succulents.

I made a faux succulent wreath for the centerpiece on the large table and placed three large pillar candles in the center. It was just dumb luck that I had brought two rustic boxes with pots of faux succulents for each of the smaller tables. I also had a number of votive candles which I scattered around all of the tables. I wished that I had some balloons or garland to decorate the space further, but there was only so much my little car could hold. In the end, nobody felt the lack of additional decorations, as everyone just enjoyed being together to celebrate my dad’s special birthday. I know I feel very blessed to have been able to be there for my dad.

Buttercream succulent topped birthday cake for Trendy Succulent-Themed 80th Birthday Party

How to make and transport a succulent cake long distance by car for a birthday celebration--featheringmyemptynest.com

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38 thoughts on “A Succulent Succulents Cake For An 80th Birthday Party

  1. Wow. Just spectacular. I’m so impressed that you were able to transport all that. I feel like if I tried anything like this it would be such a disaster. Major props to you, Obi Wan.

  2. This is one of the most beautiful cakes I have ever seen! You are so talented. Thanks so much for sharing at Project Inspire{d}. Have a wonderful week.

    1. Thank you so much for your kind comment about my succulent cake and thanks for hosting a great party.

  3. Lisa,
    Another amazing cake creation! What a creative idea! I’m glad the cake turned out well. It looks like assembling the cake there made the difference.
    Creating memories!

    1. Thanks so much. It was a fun cake to make and I think my dad really liked it. I was a nervous wreck about getting the buttercream succulents I made in advance there intact but it did work out well.

    1. Thanks so much. I do think my dad liked it. It was fun to try my hand at making succulents and I learned a lot about freezing buttercream.

  4. Oh be still my beating heart. How abSoooooLutely beautiful. Please can you make one for my birthday? I know I stay far away so the cake will probably not survive the trip, but this is gorgeous.

  5. What a fabulous cake and no doubt your Dad was thrilled. The love you put into decorating this cake is obvious and the golf cake from last year …. outstanding! I am visiting from Best of Weekend. Pinning your succulent cake. Joan-My Cookie Clinic

    1. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. It was a fun and easy party to put together. My sisters joked that cactuses were perfect for my dad because he’s gotten a bit prickly in his old age.

    1. Thanks so much. Luckily for me, succulents are weird and fantastical looking so it wasn’t too hard to make them look real.

  6. This is the most beautiful cake. I thought you used real succulents creating a planter to look like a cake. Imagine my surprise to learn you made each and every one of them. It is amazing.

    1. Thank you so much. It was such a fun cake to make. I am glad that you found my succulents to be realistic looking. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment.

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