Haley Post my moonstone kitchen whimsical tea party birthday

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Last week, my little (definitely not so little anymore!) sister Skye celebrated her 22nd birthday! This year, she asked me to throw her a garden tea party for her special day, complete with tea, a lemon raspberry cake, and an assortment of desserts from her favorite French bakery, Antoinette Boulangerie.

The birthday tea party was an amazing success—the weather was great, Skye was super happy with her party, and the snacks and desserts were delicious. And getting dressed up to go outside and eat sweets and drink tea out of cute little teacups felt like reliving my childhood!!

Here’s everything you need to know to throw your own birthday garden tea party!

Haley Post whimsical garden tea party my moonstone kitchent

The Menu

Here’s our menu from the tea party—if you’re inspired, feel free to download it and use it for your own celebration! Following traditional tea standards, we wanted to include a variety of both sweet and savory bites, as well as several teas to choose from. And since it was Skye’s birthday, we also had to serve a cake, of course!

Lemon Raspberry Cake

I was thrilled when Skye asked for a Lemon Raspberry Cake for her birthday, because it’s one of my favorite cakes to make—and eat! :)

To save time, I decided to use a white cake box mix from Aldi (however, any brand of white cake box mix will work) as my base for the cake. However, instead of using vegetable oil and water like the instructions called for, I swapped out the oil for equal parts melted butter and the water for equal parts milk. I also added the zest from one lemon and a teaspoon of lemon extract to the batter to make it a lemon cake.

I buttered and floured five 6-inch layer cake pans, then divided the batter between them. I recommend baking at the same temperature the box calls for, but checking your cakes with a toothpick after about 10-12 minutes to see if they’re done (mine only took about 12 minutes to bake). Let the cakes cool completely.

For the frosting, I made this amazing Whipped Cream Frosting recipe from Baking a Moment. I put the cakes in the freezer while making the frosting (this will help keep crumbs from forming when you go to frost them). Then, I scooped the frosting into a piping bag and began layering the cakes. On top of each layer, I added a thin layer of frosting, followed by fresh raspberries, then repeated with all five layers.

I frosted the outside of the cake with a thin layer of frosting for a “naked cake” look, then placed raspberries and carnations on top for garnish. So pretty, and SO delicious!!

Assorted Sweets

We aimed for a variety of our traditional tea party favorites, as well as some of our favorite sweets. Since I was making the cake and savory bites myself, I took advantage of some of our amazing local bakeries and bought these sweets from the store:

Macarons and tarts from our favorite local French bakery, Antoinette Boulangerie
Store-bought cupcakes with pastel frosting
Store-bought petit fours

Drinks

There’s no such thing as a tea party without the tea, right?! I recommend boiling a tea kettle full of water and keeping it on the table alongside an assortment of teas (either bags or looseleaf tea in jars).

We also made a pitcher of cucumber lemon water and served it in a glass teapot, which looked so cute! Skye also picked out a bottle of sparkling rosé, which was the perfect light and festive drink to go with our menu.

Here’s a handy overview of our tea party drink menu:

Assorted tea
Cucumber water in a teapot
Sparkling rosé (optional), if you’re having an adult tea party!

Haley Post whimsical birthday party tea party

Savory Bites

In traditional tea party fashion, we wanted to serve some classic tea savories alongside all of our sweets. Here’s what we made:

Beef bites with horseradish cream (recipe from Epicurious). Although I don’t eat beef, Skye loves it, and she said these beef crostini were one of her favorite things on the menu!
Cream cheese cucumber sandwiches (recipe from Spend with Pennies). These traditional tea party sandwiches are SO good—and a total crowd-pleaser. I highly recommend making them for your party!!

Top tier: macarons; middle tier: cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches; bottom tier: petit fours and tarts

Beef crostini bites with horseradish cream

Setup & Decorating

We set up our table outside in the shade and decorated it with a tablecloth and fresh flowers that matched our pastel, garden-themed color scheme.

We placed the lemon raspberry cake on a wood slice cake stand and arranged the tea sandwiches, macarons, and tarts on a three-tiered tea party stand. Then, we put the teacups, saucers, and teapot on the table.

Our tea party tableware and decor checklist: