Did you know that you can enjoy birthday cake when it is not your actual birthday? That’s the great thing about adulthood, you have the free will to spend your own money however you like!
You can buy birthday cake every week if you wish.
The only real downside to birthday cake is that, like any kind of cake, it does not keep fresh for long, no matter how well you store the leftovers. Luckily there are plenty of ways for you to get your use out of leftover birthday cake.
6 Things to do with Leftover Birthday Cake
Birthday cake can be any kind of cake you want, really. Though generally speaking, the standard birthday cake is a plain 2 or 3-layered vanilla cake with sprinkles mixed into the batter.
As vanilla cake is a very basic cake, it is very versatile and can be used as more than just a birthday cake:
1) Birthday Cake Milkshakes
When your leftover birthday cake is far too stale for even ice cream to soften, there is only one thing left to do. Combine the cake with a load of milk and ice cream to make a birthday cake milkshake!
Everyone loves a milkshake, no matter the time of year.
So long as there is no mould growing on the cake itself, you can make a milkshake out of your leftover cake at any point. You can use as much or as little cake as you like to flavour the milkshake; you just may need to add more liquid for the milkshake to be drinkable.
The more cake you use in the milkshake, the stronger the birthday cake flavour will be.
Due to the primary flavour of a birthday cake, you can use the cake as a base for other milkshake flavours to help use up any leftover snacks you may have from a birthday party. Try adding some strawberries or chocolate to the milkshake alongside the cake.
2) Freeze It… As Ice Cream!
Similar to the milkshake method, you can use your stale leftover birthday cake to make birthday cake-flavoured ice cream.
Because you will be mixing the cake with cream and then freezing it, the staleness of the leftover cake itself will not be an issue.
Making ice cream at home is easier than you may think. All you need is some double cream and the flavour you want to make your ice cream, in this case: leftover birthday cake. You can add some of the cake’s frosting or icing to the mix for extra thickness and sweetness.
Whip the cream until it is thick, and then crumble a generous amount of your leftover birthday cake into the cream. Use a spatula to fold the cake into the cream and add the frosting if you wish. Then transfer the mixture to a container to freeze for several hours until you have ice cream!
3) Cake Pops
A key element to any impressive birthday cake is the frosting (or icing, whichever you prefer). If your leftover birthday cake has ample leftover frosting, then its uses may be a little more limited. However, you can always turn to the trusted cake pop.
There are entire bakeries and businesses dedicated to making cake pops but you can easily make the treat yourself with little effort. The extra icing or frosting left on your birthday cake will make the cake pops perfectly moist and make the cake itself last longer.
You will need to use some chocolate to cover the cake pops and stop them from falling apart completely. But otherwise, all you need is your leftover birthday cake.
4) Add To Other Bakes
A plain vanilla birthday cake can be delicious and impressive by itself. But it can also be used as a secret ingredient to take other baked goods to the next level.
Crumble the cake itself up into bite-sized pieces and treat them as you would chocolate chips. Add the pieces to brownies or cookie bars before you bake them.
The cake will crisp up and provide a more diverse texture to your bake while adding bursts of vanilla.
Of course, keep in mind that the texture or taste of the cake may only work in some baked goods. You wouldn’t want to find random bits of crispy cake in your smooth chocolate mousse, for example. So just be mindful about how you use the cake in other treats.
5) Birthday Cake Crust
You can use your leftover birthday cake in place of a sweet crust instead.
Now, this use of your spare birthday cake will not work as well if your cake is only a day old. But this is a great use of leftovers for the slightly stale cakes.
Obviously, a cake is not the same shape as a pie dish so you will need to cut the cake into thick pieces and layers for this to work. Layer the cake slices at the bottom of a pie dish or baking dish, doubling the layers for extra stability. Then you can use any pudding or filling you like to fill the crust.
6) Bread Pudding (But With Cake)
Bread pudding is one of those easy go-to desserts to make when you find yourself with bread that is about to go stale. Taking that idea, you can use your leftover birthday cake to make a sweeter but just as delicious cake bread pudding by using cake instead of bread.
You can follow your favourite bread pudding recipe and replace the bread section of the recipe with cake.
Remove any extra icing or frosting from the cake before you turn it into a pudding. The frosting can be used to spread on top of the pudding to add an extra layer of sweetness.
Leftover Birthday Cake FAQs
Do you still have questions about what to do with leftover birthday cake? Then these FAQs might help you out:
You can use chocolate birthday cake to make milkshakes, ice creams and cake pops. You can even use it in a bread pudding.
Yes, it’s a good idea to pop leftover cake in the fridge, especially if it has a cream/butter based icing.
Sources
Where we obtain our information and verify the facts in this article:
Cooking Classy
Birthday cake milkshake recipe.
Sally’s Baking Recipes
Birthday cake pop recipe.
My Name Is Snicker Doodle
Homemade birthday cake ice cream recipe.
Acacia may be a freelance writer by day, but they are a food fanatic by night. They are always trying out new recipes or finding different ways to elevate classical dishes. But their biggest culinary aim is to educate others on the basics of the kitchen so that they too can enjoy delicious food.
