This watermelon cake looks just like a real watermelon! With green frosting and a red cake center with chocolate chips as seeds, you will adore this fun summer cake.
Baking a cake can be so much fun. My kids and I love to set up all of our supplies and spend the weekend creating something beautiful. The Hershey Bar Cake and our Chocolate Cheesecake Cake are two of our most favorites.
Watermelon Cake
I think this would make such a great treat for a summer BBQ or a birthday party.
This watermelon cake doesn’t just look like a watermelon, it tastes like it, too. Want the secret? It’s watermelon flavored Jello!
To create the vibrant watermelon coloring, you’ll want to mix two colors of dye together: red and neon pink. It works perfectly to make your cake look like a watermelon. You’ll also use the same coloring to make the icing that goes in between each layer.
The Best Cake Baking Tips
- It is always best for your cold ingredients (butter, eggs, milk, etc) to be at room temperature. Try to set them out for a bit before starting your cake.
- Scoop your flour out gently without packing it – if not you’ll end up with too much flour.
- To keep your chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the cake batter, coat them in flour first.
- Don’t put your cake in the oven before it’s done preheating.
- Always try and use real vanilla extract, not imitation – the flavoring is so much better! To find the right vanilla, just look for the word “pure” on the bottle.
Following just a few simple tips will make your cake come out perfect every time.
This watermelon cake is one that looks so impressive but truly doesn’t take a ton of skill to make. Everyone loves the way it looks and better yet, how it tastes!
Here are the printable instructions:
Watermelon Cake
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup canola oil
- 4 cups sugar
- 9 ounces watermelon Jello (2 4.5-oz jellos)
- 6 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 6 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 cups buttermilk
- 6-8 drops Red Gel Food Coloring
- 6-8 drops Neon pink gel food coloring
- 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
Frosting
- 3 cups unsalted butter softened
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 5-7 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 drops green gel food coloring
- 2 cups mini chocolate chips
- 6-8 drops red gel food coloring
- 6-8 drops neon pink gel food coloring
Instructions
Cake Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 3 9inch round cake pans with baking spray, set aside.
- Using a standing mixer, beat together the butter, oil, sugar and jello until combined and smooth.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time until combined.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Alternating between the dry ingredients and buttermilk, mix after each add in.
- Mix in the red and neon pink gel food coloring until combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter between the three pans and bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely.
Frosting Directions
- Using a standing mixer, beat together all ingredients except the food colorings and chocolate chips until combined, smooth and stiff peaks.
- Scoop 3 C of the frosting into another bowl.
- Using the remaining frosting in the standing mixer, mix in the red and neon pink gel food coloring until combined.
- Mix in the green gel food coloring into the bowl of the other frosting until combined.
- Remove the cake layers onto a 10 inch cake board.
- Use a cake leveler to cut the domes off.
- Place one cake round onto the cake board.
- Scoop 1 C of the pink frosting onto the top of the cake leveler.
- Smooth evenly with an angled spatula.
- Place the second layer of cake on top.
- Repeat the steps with more pink frosting.
- Place the last layer of cake on top of the second layer.
- Scoop 1/2 C of green frosting into the piping bag.
- Scoop remaining frosting onto the cake and frost entire cake.
- Smooth evenly using the angled spatula.
- Pipe dollops of frosting onto the top of the cake.
- Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips onto the bottom of the cake.
- Enjoy!
Last Step:
Please leave a rating and comment letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business to thrive and continue providing free, high-quality recipes for you.Equipment
- 1 10-inch cake board
- 1 Cake leveler
- 1 large piping bag with star tip
Nutrition
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