Watermelon Cake with Whipped Cream
on Jul 19, 2016, Updated Jul 26, 2024
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Watermelon Cake is a colorful and healthy “cake” made with whipped cream! It won’t heat up your kitchen and looks amazing.
Watermelon plus fresh whipped cream frosting is delicious together! It doesn’t require any baking, looks amazing, and is a healthy and delicious dessert. Frosting a watermelon is the perfect dessert for the summer.
Healthy Rainbow Popsicles and Easy Strawberry Frozen Yogurt are wonderful alongside a watermelon cake for a summery dessert bar. Or, if you are looking for a more traditional cake, I recommend making Lemon Chiffon Cake, Fresh Orange Cake with Orange Vanilla Bean Icing or Flourless Chocolate Cake.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s an easy way to make a no-bake cake.
- Healthy and delicious dessert.
- Gluten-free.
- Perfect for celebrating summer birthdays or holidays.
Recipe Ingredients
- Watermelon: Get a whole watermelon that’s small to medium sized.
- Heavy cream: It must be heavy cream or heavy whipping cream – regular whipping cream will not work.
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Decorations: Sprinkles, toasted coconut, or fresh fruit would all be good options.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make a Watermelon Cake
- Step #1. Cut the rind off the watermelon making sure that the top and bottom are flat and the sides rounded so it looks like a cake.
- Step #2. Place the watermelon on your serving plate and lightly blot the outside with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture
- Step #3. Make the frosting by whipping the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer on high until peaks form (about 3 minutes).
- Step #4. Cover the outside of the watermelon with the freshly whipped cream and decorate.
Recipe FAQs
Look for a watermelon with a yellow spot, which is where it rested on the ground. When the watermelon is ripe this spot should be a nice, creamy yellow color.
Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream is best for this frosting because it’s more stable. Regular whipping cream works better if you’re going to use the whipped cream right away (like for strawberry shortcake or to top a pie).
Yes. Heavy cream and heavy whipping cream are the same product but regular whipping is not. Regular whipping cream has a slightly lower fat content and won’t stick to the watermelon cake as well.
Yes! I made this and stuck it in the fridge and it held up very well overnight. It’s a good idea to protect it in the fridge with an airtight cake container and then it’s ready to travel easily, too.
Expert Tips
- To help the frosting stick to the watermelon cake, use paper towels to absorb the extra moisture before spreading on the frosting made with heavy whipped cream.
- Be sure to store the watermelon cake in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve it because heat can cause the frosting to melt and slide off of the cake.
- If you don’t have a good stand mixer, I love this KitchenAid stand mixer.
More No Bake Dessert Recipes to Consider
No Bake Desserts
Berries and Cream
Dessert Recipes
Banana Split
From Scratch Recipes
Banana Pudding
Candy
Oreo Balls
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Watermelon Cake with Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 1 small to medium watermelon
- 2 cup heavy whipping cream, very cold
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup toasted coconut
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- Cut the watermelon into the shape of a cake by cutting away the rind and making the top and bottom flat. (See video for further tips on cutting.) Place the watermelon on your serving plate. If you watermelon is very juicy, lightly blot the outside with a paper towel to remove extra moisture before adding the whipped cream.
- To make the whipped cream frosting, place the heavy cream in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Whip on high until peaks form, about 3 minutes.
- Cover the outside of the watermelon with the freshly whipped cream. Decorate with toasted coconut and sprinkles.
Video
Notes
- Be sure to use heavy whipping cream or heavy cream (they are the same) because it’s more stable and stays whipped better than regular whipping cream.
- If your watermelon is too wet, the frosting will not stick to the watermelon cake so take the time to soak up some of the excess moisture with some paper towels.
- Feel free to get creative with your decorations – berries and chopped nuts are another beautiful way to decorate this cake.
- Store the cake in the fridge until ready to serve.
Awesome resources. Thank you for sharing your experience
You’re right. Mr Squishy sure is cute. Adorable actually. I hope he has a wonderful birthday with lots of mess!
My husband’s family has always done a smash cake for the one-year-olds (though they don’t call it that). I don’t do a full-size one but a small personal one. I use my two-cup Pyrex glass storage bowl and it seems just the right size. Then I bake the rest of the batter in a 9 x 13 pan and frost it for everyone else. The tradition is chocolate cake with chocolate frosting so the baby gets good and messy. It’s fun. 🙂 I’ll have to show the watermelon cake to my almost-seven-year-old…she might want that for her birthday next week. Thanks for sharing! I’ve seen those before but haven’t been brave enough to try making them. But if you tried it and liked it I may give it a shot. Thanks for sharing!
Oh my gosh…. I’ve never heard of this but we are definitely trying it! Thanks so much. Your cake is super cute with the sprinkles on top and coconut at the bottom!
Now I know what kind of birthday cake to make my sister who has to be gluten-free! Never in a million years would I of thought of this! My mom made all of us a smash cakes for our first birthdays…..I carried on the tradition with my own kids and took a roll of 36 pictures in nothing flat. I put the dogs in charge of clean-up duty for both the floor and the kid!
Looks like we need to get a dog! That sounds so cute and what a fun tradition. I’m king of wishing I would have done it with the other kids!