This cake is adorable and perfect for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. It’s my classic vanilla birthday cake dressed up in green for the occasion.
What makes this St. Patty’s Day Cake the BEST?
- Easy to make. Layered cakes can feel intimidating, but this recipe uses simple ingredients and basic tools. With a little patience you’ll have a beautiful cake.
- Classic flavor. Instead of green velvet or chocolate-based green cakes, this is a straightforward vanilla cake that everyone loves.
- Cute, simple design. Vintage-style piping is on trend and surprisingly easy. A couple of open star tips and a bit of practice on parchment are all you need.
- Adaptable. Skip the green coloring and shamrocks to customize this cake for birthdays or other holidays—pipe daisies for a first birthday, hearts for Valentine’s Day, or tiny fruit shapes for a summer party.
Ingredients
- Butter. Use a high-quality butter. The recipe uses salted butter in the cake and unsalted for the buttercream if you prefer tighter control over salt.
- All-purpose flour. All-purpose flour works well here—no need for cake flour or self-rising flour.
- Eggs. You’ll need 3 large eggs plus 3 egg whites.
- Green food coloring. Gel colors are best. A mix of shades produces a more muted, natural green.
- Buttermilk. Buttermilk keeps the cake tender; you can substitute regular milk with a splash of vinegar or lemon if needed.
- Powdered sugar. This cake is finished with classic American buttercream, which requires powdered sugar.
How to Make a St. Patty’s Day Vanilla Shamrock Cake
Make the cake layers
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line three 8″ round pans with parchment. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, cream butter, sugar, and oil for 7 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. While the mixer runs, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Stir the vanilla and green gel coloring into the buttermilk and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg whites. With the mixer on low, slowly add the eggs to the batter, then mix 1–2 minutes until smooth. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter in five additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Finish by folding with a rubber spatula, then divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
Bake at 350°F for 25–27 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then turn the layers out onto a rack to cool completely. Once cool, wrap and chill in the refrigerator.
Make the vanilla American buttercream
Let butter sit at room temperature for 30–45 minutes so it’s soft but not greasy. Cream the butter in a stand mixer with the paddle for about 10 minutes, scraping every few minutes. Add vanilla, then add powdered sugar in halves, mixing on medium-low for a few minutes after each addition. Add heavy cream 2 tablespoons at a time until you reach a spreadable consistency, and do a brief spatula stir to release any air.
If you want green piping details, reserve about 1½ cups of frosting and tint it with gel food coloring. A tiny touch of black can mute or deepen the green if desired.
Assemble the cake
Spread 2 teaspoons of buttercream on a cake board or stand to secure the cake. Place the first layer in the center. If your layers domed during baking, level them before stacking. Spread a thin, even layer of frosting, then add the second layer and repeat with the third.
Apply a crumb coat and smooth, then chill the cake for 30 minutes to set the crumb coat. Apply the final frosting layer and smooth it well.
For vintage piping, use two open star tips (Wilton #32 and #16 are examples) and a ruffle or leaf tip for ruffle details (Wilton #67 is one option). Practice your piping on parchment if you’re new to it. For shamrocks, use a small round tip and about 1/4 cup of green frosting to pipe four-leaf clovers randomly over the cake.
Slice and serve.
St. Patty’s Day Vanilla Shamrock Cake
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- Author: Elizabeth Buuck
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 8″ 3 Layer Cake
- Category: Cake
Description
Moist green vanilla cake layers frosted with classic American buttercream, finished with vintage piping and piped shamrocks.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Green Vanilla Cake
- 1 C (227g) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 3/4 C (375g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 C (65g) vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs (about 160g) + 3 egg whites (about 102g), at room temperature
- 2 1/2 C + 2 TBSP (345g) all-purpose flour
- 6 TBSP (55g) cornstarch
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 C (250g) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 TBSP dark green gel food coloring
For the Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 1/2 C (3 sticks, 339g) salted butter
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 6 C powdered sugar
- 4–6 TBSP heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp green gel food coloring (optional)
Instructions
For the Green Vanilla Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line three 8″ round cake pans with parchment.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle, cream butter, sugar, and oil for 7 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
- While mixing, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
- Stir vanilla and food coloring into the buttermilk and set aside.
- Whisk the eggs and egg whites, then slowly incorporate them into the batter with the mixer on low. Mix 1–2 minutes until smooth and glossy.
- Alternate adding dry ingredients and buttermilk in five additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Fold with a rubber spatula, then divide batter evenly between the prepared pans.
- Bake 25–27 minutes, until a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool 5 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Wrap and chill in the fridge.
For the Vanilla American Buttercream
- Let butter soften on the counter for 30–45 minutes.
- Cream butter in a stand mixer for 10 minutes, scraping every 2–3 minutes.
- Add vanilla and combine.
- Add powdered sugar in halves, mixing on medium-low for 3 minutes after each addition.
- Add heavy cream 2 TBSP at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
- Quickly stir with a spatula to remove air bubbles.
- Reserve about 1½ cups of frosting and tint green for piping details; add a touch of black to deepen or mute the color if desired.
Assembly
- Spread 2 tsp of buttercream on a cake board or stand to secure the cake.
- Place the first layer in the center; level if necessary.
- Spread a thin even layer of buttercream, then stack the second and third layers.
- Apply a crumb coat and smooth, then chill for 30 minutes.
- Apply the final layer of buttercream and smooth.
- For vintage piping, use two open star tips and a ruffle or leaf tip for ruffles. Practice on parchment if needed.
- Pipe four-leaf clovers with a small round tip and about 1/4 cup green frosting, placing them randomly over the cake.
- Slice and serve.
If you enjoyed this St. Patty’s Day Vanilla Shamrock Cake, please leave a rating and review and tag @buuckfarmsbakery on social media to share your version.
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