Blue Ombre Cake Tutorial

August 26, 2012 by 19 Comments

One of my closest friends celebrated her husbands birthday this past weekend and asked me to make his birthday cake and cupcakes.  Jody didn’t want anything special, “just something simple… vanilla is good!” he told me.  Hmmm… I don’t do simple .  Ha!  But… I do make a killer vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream!  And a blue ombre cake would be even better!  This is an easy ombre cake tutorial that anyone can follow!

So, simple cake it is… but definitely not simple decorating! I decided that I’d use this cake as another opportunity to make an Ombre style cake.  This cake, however, couldn’t be like my last cake… pink and girly.  This cake had to be fit for a soldier and a man!  Blue ombre cake layers covered in blue ombre buttercream.  PERFECT!

I found the process to make this cake pretty easy.  Only a few extra steps were needed to color the cake layers and the buttercream frosting.  Having a cake turntable and the right supplies really helped the process too!

 How to Blue Make Ombre Cake Layers

Supplies:
Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes & Buttercream (I used a double batch)
Wilton Food Color Gel in Sky Blue
Toothpics
4 bowls & spatulas

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Use 4 8in cake pans and grease, flour and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Step 2: Prepare batter as recipe described.  Divide batter evenly into 4 bowls.  Set one bowl aside, it will not be colored.

Step 3:  Dip a toothpick into the food coloring gel and transfer a very small amount of food color gel into one bowl of batter.  Use spatula to incorporate until uniform in color.  Set aside.

Step 4: Dip another toothpick into the food color gel and transfer a slightly larger amount of gel into a second bowl of batter.  Use spatula to incorporate until uniform in color.  Set aside.

Step 5: Finally, dip one last toothpick into the food color gel and transfer a large amount of gel into the last bowl of batter.  Use a spatula to incorporate until uniform in color.

Step 6: Spread batters evenly in the 4 pans.  Bake about 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Step 7:  Cool in pans for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.


How to Frost a Blue Ombre Cake

Supplies:
4 Cake layers (double batch of the recipe above)
Buttercream (triple batch of the recipe above)
Wilton Food Color Gel in Sky Blue
Toothpicks
4 bowls & spatulas
Small offset spatula
Cake turn table

Step 1: Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap & freeze for about 30 minutes or until ready to use.  Spread a generous layer of buttercream between each layer of cake and apply a crumb coat of buttercream to the outside.  Freeze for another 30 minutes.  Remove from freezer and place cake on a cake turntable.

Step 2:  To prepare buttercream into Ombre colors (light to dark), separate the buttercream into 4 parts (reserve a little extra for the white) and place in 4 bowls.  Set aside the white buttercream.  Using Wilton Food Color Gel in Sky Blue, dip a toothpick into the food gel getting a VERY SMALL amount of color onto the pic.  Smear the pic into one bowl of the buttercream and use a spatula to incorporate until uniform.  Set aside.  Repeat this process for the rest of the buttercream, but use a little bit more gel color on the tooth pic each time.  In the end, you should have three shades of blue and white buttercream.

Step 3: Begin with the darkest shade of blue.  Using a small spatula (I used an offset spatula), spread an even 1/2 inch thick layer of buttercream around the bottom 1/3 of the cake.  Using the edge, hold the spatula flush against the dark layer to smooth out  any massive bumps of buttercream.  Wipe the spatula clean before moving on to the next color.

Step 4 & 5: Repeat Step 3 using first the next lightest shade of  blue buttercream to spread on second 1/3 of the cake.  Overlap just slightly the two colors where they meet.  Finally, use the lightest shade of blue buttercream to spread on final 1/3 of the cake.  Remember to smooth the sides with the edge of the spatula.

NOTE: Leave a 1/4 border of non-frosted cake at the top.  You’ll need room for the white to come down from the top in the next step.

Step 6: Using the white buttercream, spread 1/2 inch layer of bc on the top of the cake making sure to cover all the way to the edges. It’s okay if the buttercream goes over the edge, you want to fill in that 1/4 inch of cake that you left unfrosted in Step 5.  Using the edge of the spatula, smooth side and top of the white buttercream.

Step 7:  Create the ribbon effect by holding the tip your spatula sideways against the darkest color & bottom edge of the cake.  Pressing gently,  slowly & smoothly spin the cake turntable while simultaneously dragging the spatula up the side of the cake.   You may need to stop and wipe any excess frosting after each revolution if you are pressing too hard.  Continue turning the cake and dragging the spatula up until you reach the top of the cake.

Step 8:  Wipe the spatula clean.  Gently press the tip of the spatula into the middle of the top of the cake and spin the turntable while simultaneously dragging the spatula towards the outside of the cake.  You may have some excess frosting along the edges, simply press your spatula on the edge where the top and side meet and spin the turn table until it is smooth.

NOTE: Imperfections are very easy to cover up with with style of decorating.  Don’t be afraid to go over the ribbon of swirls until the colors have smoothed together how you want them.

Step 9:  Place cake back in freezer for about 20 minutes so that the buttercream sets up.  Transfer cake to your cake stand or plate for serving.

Filed Under: buttercream, buttercream, cakes, decorating ideas, desserts, frosting and icing, ombre, tips & tricks, tutorials

Chocolate Raspberry Ombre Petal Cake

August 17, 2012 by 19 Comments

Since I’ve been on a cake kick lately, I’ve been daydreaming non stop about what flavor to make next.   I’ve been craving my favorite chocolate cake recipe and my fridge is fully stocked with raspberries so I knew I had to incorporate them into this cake.  Next week I’m baking a cake for a birthday and thought today’s cake would be the perfect opportunity to practice a new decorating technique before I have to make the birthday cake!

I really took my time putting this cake together.  I started it about 11am and finished it around dinner time.  The most time consuming part was the frosting, not making the frosting, but decorating with the frosting. The cake itself only requires 2 bowls and a small pot, no mixer required.

Ombre is a style of decorating where you use several shades of the same color to frost your cake, beginning with the darkest and continue with lighter and lighter shades of your color until it becomes white.  This cake being raspberry, I figured pink would be the best choice.  I used Wilton Gel color pink, separated my frosting into four parts, thentinted my frosting three shades of pink and left one white.

The Petal Technique uses a round tip on your piping bag and a small spatula to create the effect.  It’s a simple process, just very time consuming.

Since I’d never made a cake like this before, I did my homework and read several blogs about how to successfully create these looks on a cake.  My favorite was from The Hungry Housewife.  She posted a tutorial on her blog that demonstrated both the ombre and petal effect to decorate a cake.  So, I watched this video, prepped my frosting and got to work!

I’m not going to include my step by step on how I decorated the cake, I’m going to let you read what The Hungry Housewife wrote… why reinvent the wheel.  But, I will give you the recipe for the cake I made and the raspberry filling.

Let’s talk about the cake for a second…

Dark chocolate, rich, dense and moist.  This is my FAVORITE chocolate cake recipe OF ALL TIME.  Yah, it’s that good.  And like I said before, no mixer required to make this cake… which makes it even better.  I’ve used this recipe for cupcakes before, but I’d never transitioned it into a cake, but it preformed wonderfully in cake pans!

Raspberry filling… nothing better next to chocolate than this raspberry filling.  Can I tell you a secret?  Last night, after the cake was finished, I spooned this raspberry filling onto extra pieces of chocolate cake and shoveled it into my mouth.  Actually, I made raspberry sandwiches with it… two pieces of cake filled with raspberry.  Decadent.  Heavenly.

A few things I realized during this cake that will make your cake making process a lot easier…

  1. PLAN AHEAD!  Decide what colors you want to use, what cake flavors you want to use and go over all your recipes and tutorials before you begin.  Be thorough so there are no surprises.
  2. Make sure you have all your tools ready.  You really want to have enough bags with the same tip prepared and ready to go when you start piping.  It will make this process 100x easier.
  3. Go slow.  Take your time.  Don’t rush it.  I know I get excited making new things and sometimes rush… but really, take your time.  Breathe and enjoy the process!

I really hope you try this cake for your next special occasion.  Your friends will be super impressed.  I’m even impressed with myself.  :)

 

Print
Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Ingredients

    Chocolate Cake
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
  • 1 1/2 cups brewed coffee
  • 1 Tbsp espresso powder
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 2/3 cup sour cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
    • Raspberry Filling
  • 4 cups fresh raspberries
  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • juice of a lime
  • 2 Tbsp corn starch
  • pinch of salt
    • Vanilla Buttercream for filling
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1-2 Tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1lb powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • vanilla bean - split the bean and scrape seeds from one half of bean
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 2-3 Tbsp milk
    • Vanilla Buttercream for icing
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 Tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup shortening
  • 2 1/2 lbs powdered sugar (about 10 cups)
  • 2 Tbsp vanilla
  • seeds of 1 1/2 vanilla beans
  • 1/4-1/2 cup milk
  • Wilton Food Coloring Gel - Pink

Instructions

    Dark Chocolate Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease and flour 4 8in cake pans.
  2. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the coffee, espresso powder, cocoa powder, and vanilla and whisk until combined. Set aside to cool slightly.
  3. In a large bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream and the eggs. SLOWLY add a few tablespoons of the chocolate mixture to the sour cream and eggs. Whisk to combine. In a slow stream, whisk in the remaining chocolate mixture until combined completely.
  5. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in wet. Using a whisk, stir until no more lumps remain.
  6. Divide the batter evenly into the 4 prepared pans. Each pan should get about 1 1/2 heaping cups of batter.
  7. Bake 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing from the pans to cool on a wire rack.
  8. Once the cakes have cooled, but are still warm, using a cake leveler to cut off the round mound on the top of the cake. Make sure all four layers are the same size.
    9. Raspberry Filling
  9. In a large pan, melt the butter.
  10. Add the raspberries, sugar and lime and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stir continuously so that the raspberries begin to break down.
  11. Add the corn starch and stir to combine. Continue to cook until the raspberries thicken, about 2 minutes.
  12. Stir in the salt.
  13. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before filling cake.
    14. Buttercream (you'll use the same method to make both buttercreams)
  14. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese (shortening too if you're making the bc for the outside of the cake).
  15. One cup at a time, add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
  16. Mix in the vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds and salt.
  17. Add enough milk until you reach your desired consistency. Mix on high for about 5 minutes.
    18. To color the frosting:
  18. Divide frosting into four bowls. Set one aside that will remain white. Using a toothpick, dab a VERY SMALL amount of the pink dye into one bowl and mix until uniform in color. Use a little bit more color in the next bowl and even more color in the final bowl. The colors should get gradually darker.
    19. To assemble the cake:
  19. Place the first layer of cake on a cake board/cake stand. Using the first batch of buttercream, make a border of frosting on the top of the cake along the edge. This will create a space for the raspberry filling and keep it from oozing out the sides.
  20. Fill the top open space with 1/2 cup of raspberry filling, spreading evenly.
  21. Place the second layer of cake gently on top. Spread a 1/2 inch thick layer of buttercream evenly on top.
  22. Place the third layer of cake on top of the frosting and repeat the process used for the first raspberry layer.
  23. Finally, place the last cake layer on top. Using the remaining frosting to crumb coat the cake.
  24. Freeze cake for 20 minutes before frosting.
    25. Petal Cake Frosting Technique
  25. Visit The Hungry Housewife for a complete petal cake frosting tutorial.
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Filed Under: buttercream, cake, cakes, chocolate, chocolate cake, dark chocolate, decorating ideas, featured, fruit filled cake, ombre, ombre cake, petal cake, raspberries, raspberry, recipes