Strawberry Ombre Cake Recipe 455

OMBRE STRAWBERRY CAKE

Steps:

• Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Butter five 8-inch round cake pans; line with parchment. Butter parchment, then dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until well combined. Continue beating while gradually adding butter until mixture is crumbly, about 3 minutes.
• Slowly add half of milk mixture; increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly add remaining half of milk mixture, scraping down bowl as needed. Beat until incorporated, about 1 minute more. Remove bowl from mixer; divide batter evenly among five bowls (about 1 heaping cup per bowl).
• Tint four of the bowls with pink food color, starting with a small drop and gradually adding more to each bowl to create a gradient of shades.
• Transfer batter from each bowl to one of the prepared pans, spreading to edges with a small offset spatula. Tap pans on counter to release any air bubbles. Bake until a tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 15 minutes per cake. Transfer pans to wire racks; let cool completely. Turn cakes out of pans and remove parchment. In a small saucepan, heat jam and lemon juice and zest until warm.
• Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, 6 egg whites, and a pinch of salt in the heatproof bowl of a mixer set over (not in) a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch and feels completely smooth when rubbed between fingertips, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Transfer bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; whisk on low speed until foamy. Increase speed to medium-high and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form and mixture has cooled completely, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; add 4 sticks butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, whisking until fully incorporated after each addition. (Don't worry if buttercream appears curdled after all of butter has been added; it will become smooth again with beating.) Whisk in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
• Switch to paddle attachment; beat on low speed until air bubbles are eliminated, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic, and let stand at room temperature. Repeat process twice more with remaining ingredients, using the same amounts each time, then combining all three batches of buttercream in the large bowl and covering with plastic.
• Add pink food color, a drop at a time, until desired shade of light pink is reached.
• To assemble cake, place darkest layer, bottom-side down, on an 8-inch cardboard cake round. Using a pastry brush, brush cake with a thin layer of jam mixture; top with 1 cup buttercream, spreading evenly to cover completely. Repeat process with three more layers, stacking darkest to lightest. Finish with lightest cake layer, bottom-side up. Evenly spread top and sides of cake with a 1/2-inch thickness of buttercream, smoothing sides with an offset spatula. Refrigerate until chilled, about 20 minutes.
• Transfer remaining buttercream to a pastry bag fitted with a large petal tip (such as Wilton #127). Hold bag perpendicular to top of cake, with the wider part of the tip opening at the bottom. Pipe a petal in a circular pattern so that it adheres to top of cake. Simultaneously, rotate cake, and continue piping petals so that the end of each petal overlaps the beginning of the previous petal, until top of cake is covered completely. Next, pipe petals onto sides of cake: hold bag perpendicular to side of cake and pipe around cake, slightly overlapping each layer of frosting as you work from top to bottom of cake to cover completely.

RECIPES

Steps:

• Step 1:Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C)/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease 2 x 20cm (8in) diameter sandwich cake tins and line the bases with baking paper. Step 2:In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until pale and light. Add the sugar then cream together until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs a spoonful at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla paste and milk and stir in. Sift the flour and baking powder together, then fold in. Step 3:Divide the mixture equally between the prepared tins. Gently tap the tins on the work surface to expel any large air pockets and level the tops. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Turn out on to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.Step 4:When the cakes are completely cold, slice each in half horizontally. Whip the cream until it holds its shape, then fold in the sugar and vanilla extract. Spread a layer of strawberry preserve over the 2 bases, then spread a layer of cream over each. Spread a layer of cream only over the remaining 2 cake halves. Sandwich 2 halves together on a serving plate, starting with a jam and cream layer, followed by a cream-only layer. Repeat the layers. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours before decorating.Step 5:Meanwhile, make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until soft and creamy. Stir in the vanilla extract, then sift the icing sugar and gradually mix in. Divide the frosting between 4 small bowls. Leaving one bowl of frosting uncoloured, add different amounts of red food colouring to the other 3 bowls to form different shades of frosting (see picture). Transfer each to a separate piping bag fitted with a large star-shaped piping nozzle.Step 6:To decorate, use a palette knife to cover the cake all over with a thin layer of the uncoloured frosting, saving some for the final decoration. Starting with the darkest-coloured frosting, pipe large circular rosettes around the base of the cake. Take the next darkest frosting and pipe another row of rosettes above the first row. Use the palest-coloured frosting to pipe a final row of rosettes to cover the top of the cake. Use the remaining uncoloured frosting to add a few smaller rosettes on the top and edges of the cake. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour before serving.Step 7:Tip ~Make sure that the eggs, butter and cream cheese are at room temperature before you begin.

STRAWBERRY OMBRE CAKE RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour 2 (8-inch) round baking pans; set aside. Place strawberries into 5-cup blender container. Cover; blend until smooth. Combine 1 cup prepared strawberries, cake mix, 1/4 cup butter, egg whites, water and 3 drops food color in large bowl. Beat at low speed for 30 seconds or until mixed. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 2 minutes or until well mixed. Spread about 3/4 cup batter into 1 prepared pan. Add 5 drops red food color to remaining batter; beat until well mixed. Remove about 3/4 cup batter; spread into another prepared pan. Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely. Clean pans; grease and lightly flour pans. Repeat with remaining batter adding 9 drops food color to third layer, 12 drops to fourth layer and 15 drops to fifth layer. Bake and cool cakes as directed above. Combine 1/4 cup prepared strawberries, 1/2 cup butter and cream cheese in large bowl; beat at medium speed until well mixed. Add powdered sugar; beat at low speed until smooth. Assemble cake by placing 1 tablespoon frosting in center of serving plate; place darkest layer, bottom-side up, in center of plate. Spread about 1/2 cup frosting evenly over layer; top with next darkest layer. Continue with cake layers and frosting until all layers are stacked; frost top and sides of cake. Top with fresh sliced strawberries, if desired. Store refrigerated.