What is a Birthday Cake Lasagna? Glorious cream cheese batter mousse combined with whipped topping and graham cracker crust! This will be a birthday cake recipe that you will come back to again and again! You may also like my Piggy Pie Dessert!
This recipe is all about texture, flavor, and fun! A fabulous way to treat your loved one who is celebrating. There are three main components to this cake:
- Pudding Layer
- Filling Layer
- Graham Cracker Crust Layer
When these three components come together it’s absolute magic!
Tips for making this Birthday Cake Lasagna
As you may have noticed, I substituted graham cracker for the Belgian waffle crisps in the recipe. The graham crackers do not stay firm when surrounded by the mousse, but they still taste pretty great!
Give yourself some time for this. There are a few steps and it’s perfectly fine to make the pudding a day ahead of time. You can also use instant pudding if you want to save some time.
I let mine sit overnight and absolutely loved the result. The flavors melded together in a magical way!
Ingredients
Pudding
- 3 large egg yolks slightly beaten
- ⅔ cup (128 g) granulated sugar
- 4 tbsp. (31 g) vanilla cake mix
- 2 tbsp. (19 g) cornstarch
- Dash of salt
- 2 cups (473 ml) heavy whipping cream
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Filling
- 2 cups (473 ml) heavy whipping cream
- ⅔ cup plus 2 tbsp (99 g) of vanilla cake mix
- 3 tbsp. (43 g) sprinkles
- 8 oz (227 g) cream cheese, softened
- 18 full sheet graham crackers
- ½ cup (113 g) sprinkles
Instructions
Pudding
- Measure out all of the ingredients for the pudding prior to starting. Place the egg yolks in a separate bowl. (You will temper them with the pudding later)
- In a medium-size saucepan, combine sugar, vanilla cake mix, cornstarch, salt, heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract.
- Heat the mixture on the stove top over medium-low heat, whisking constantly to dissolve the dry ingredients in the mixture.
- Once the mixture is warm (but not boiling), pour about ¼ cup (59 ml) into the bowl with the egg yolks and whisk vigorously to temper the egg yolks. Immediately pour the egg yolks into the saucepan and continue whisking over medium-low heat to prevent the eggs from cooking. Whisk until the pudding starts to thicken. It will happen very quickly.
- Strain the pudding through a fine sieve into a medium-size bowl. This step is optional, but it will help catch any lumps of ingredients that did not get blended. Immediately cover the top of the pudding with clear plastic wrap (directly on the surface of the pudding) and poke a few holes with a toothpick.
- Allow to cool on the counter for at least 1 hour before refrigerating. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours until the pudding has cooled and is firm.
Filling
- Place the mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes to chill.
- Pour the heavy whipping cream into the chilled bowl and use an electric mixer to beat the heavy cream on medium-high speed until the cream gets bubbly.
- Slowly add the vanilla cake mix and continue beating on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Next, gently fold the sprinkles into the whipped cream with a spatula.
- Separate out 2 cups (150 g) of the whipped cream for the filling and save the rest for the top layer of the dessert.
- Keep the whipped cream refrigerated while you are completing the remaining steps.
- Beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes until it’s light and fluffy, and then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add 1 cup (75 g) of cooled pudding into the cream cheese and beat on low speed just until combined.
- Lastly, add the 2 cups (150 g) of prepared whipped cream and fold it gently into the mousse using your spatula.
Assembling
- Line the bottom of a 9-inch (23-cm) square dish at least 2 ½ inches (6 cm) tall with parchment paper. Line the bottom of the dish with 1 layer of graham crackers, cutting if necessary.
- Using half of the remaining pudding, spread a thin layer of pudding over the waffle crisps. Top this layer with half of your cake batter mousse.
- Repeat these steps for the second layer using all of your remaining pudding and mousse.
- Lastly, add a third layer of waffle crisps and top with the remaining prepared whipped cream.
- Garnish with sprinkles. Cover and return the prepared dessert to the refrigerator for at least 3 to 4 hours to allow all of the layers to set.
