Back-to-School Pencil Cake

Celebrate the start of a new school year with this Back-to-School Pencil Cake. It is the the perfect after school snack on the first day of school for your kids or grandkids!

Each year since my oldest daughter started Kindergarten, I make a Back-to-School cake or treat for the first day of school.

It started with a Bus Cake, an idea I got from a friend in a mom's group. She made one for her kids each year, and I was so excited to start this tradition with my girls.

Now that my girls are not taking a bus, I had to pivot to other ideas for back-to-school treats. This Pencil Cake was very fitting!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Assemble the Cake
• Decorate the Cake
• Storage
• Gluten Free Option
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 boxed cake mix, baked in a 9x13-inch pan according to package directions
• 3-4 batches of Easy Vanilla Buttercream
• Yellow, pink, and tan/light brown food coloring gels
• Store bought black frosting

For the black frosting, I prefer to buy it already made. I have colored vanilla buttercream with black food gel before and it takes a lot of food coloring gel.

You can start with chocolate frosting and add the black gel to that to lessen the amount of coloring.

I find it easiest to just buy it, and since it's not a major part of the cake, no one minds that it's not homemade.

Assemble the Cake

I chose a Funfetti cake mix because I thought the colors would be fun for the girls. Bake the cake in in a 9x13-inch pan, making sure to use a good non-stick baking spray (like Pam for Baking) so that the cake does not stick.

After the cake has cooled in the pan for 10 minutes, flip it out onto a cooling rack.

Using a long, serrated knife, slice the cake lengthwise into a section of about 3.5-inches wide.

Then slice another section about 3.5-inches wide. These two pieces should be identical because they will stack on top of one another to make two layers of cake.

Smear some buttercream on a parchment covered baking sheet or cake board. Place one of the long rectangular pieces of cake on top of the buttercream, which will prevent the cake from sliding.

Slip small pieces of waxed paper underneath all of the edges of the cake. This will protect the serving platter.

Spread some buttercream in an even layer on top of the pieces of cake, then place the second layer on top.

Add buttercream on top of the second layer and smooth the top. Carefully cut the tip of the pencil by slicing off two of the corners on the narrow end on one side of the cake.

Coat the entire cake, including the sides, in an even layer of buttercream, smoothing it out. This is essentially a crumb coat that will be covered with colored buttercream.

You do not need the small sliver of cake that remains or the two corners that we cut off.

Decorate the Cake

To decorate the cake, start with the black sections because you can cover any imperfections with the other colors.

The store bought frosting is softer and stickier than my homemade buttercream, so it is more difficult to pipe with a star tip.

For that reason, at the tip of the pencil (the part that is the lead), I used a small offset icing spatula to spread the icing on.

You could also do this for the black section under the eraser. I did my best to pipe this part with a large star tip like a Wilton 2D.

Place about 1 ½ cups of buttercream in a medium bowl and color with the yellow food gel.

Place about ½-3/4 cup of buttercream into each of two small bowl to tint pink and tan for the eraser and pencil wood, respectively.

Transfer the tan buttercream into a disposable piping bag with a large star tip. Pipe the "wood" of the pencil, which should cover the section of cake that had the corners removed, except for the black tip.

Transfer the yellow buttercream into a piping bag with a large star tip. Pipe the yellow on the main portion of the cake between the tan section and the black band next to the end that will become the "eraser."

Lastly, transfer the pink buttercream into a piping bag with a large star tip and pipe the "eraser" at the end of the cake.

Storage

The cake can be stored uncovered at room temperature. Ideally you should serve it the day it is decorated. If you plan to serve it the next day, carefully place toothpicks in the cake and loosely cover in plastic wrap. The toothpicks should be spaced to prevent the plastic wrap from touching the buttercream.

Leftover cake can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Note that if you refrigerate the buttercream, it should be brought up to room temperature before serving.

Gluten Free Option

Use a glute free cake mix for the cake. The buttercream is naturally gluten free.

📖 Recipe