A simple sunflower topped cake was an easy choice for a fall cake. Sunflower because it’s our Youngest’s current favourite flower and because it is incredibly easy and forgiving to pipe.

As she is rather taken with sunflowers at the moment, she tends to spot them everywhere. And of course supplies us all with subsequent random facts about them. She even successfully grew one from seed this year. Yes, one. One tall and skinny sunflower. At least a foot and a half taller than the proud little girl who grew and requested 54 pictures with it.

Sunflower Topped Cake

In this case, making a chocolate cake also seemed like a logical, delicious choice. The chocolate icing and yellow frosting play well off of each other and give a very autumnal look. Of course vanilla icing, or really any colour, would still work just fine.

Because this was a back to school cake to welcome in grade 4, it said so around the side of the cake. HELLO GRADE 4. Grade four is kind of a big deal! But not all cakes must be welcoming grade four cakes. Anything or nothing could adorn the sides.

Frost up the cake of your choice. We went with a two layer 6″ round cake, as we are but four people. A traditional 8″ cake would simply be larger. However, I rather liked the smaller size and resulting ratio of sunflower with the 6″ cake. A round cake lends itself to having the entire top surface of the cake become the sunflower nicely.

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Once the cake is cooled, frosted and smoothed to your liking:

• Dye a traditional butter cream frosting yellow for the sunflower petals
• Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 68 tip
• Begin piping petals around the outside top edge of the cake, so they slightly extend over the rim
• Make your way all the around the edge, piping petals in a consistent size and shape
• Next make a second row/circle of petals, inside the first, pulling the tips up so they slightly overlap the first row of petals
• Continue overlapping rows and petals until close enough to the centre to make a flower proportion (about 5 rows for a 6″ cake)
• Add extra petals to any spots that look bare or uneven
• Carefully fill the centre of the cake (sunflower) with chocolate chips, in a circle, one at a time
• Use a thin writing tip to include a message on the side (if the frosting is too thick, thin with 1/2 teaspoon clear writing jell) if desired

Need another floral topped cake?! How about this Amazing Strawberry Cake or Pull-Apart Succulent Cake or even one with A Bird’s Nest?

Or looking for more back to school cake ideas? Or how to doctor a cake mix easily?