Ombre cake

Ombre cakes are ALL over Pinterest. The ombre effect is made from layers of graduating colour, starting from the lightest to the darkest. This is a mini one made from three layers of vanilla bean sponge coloured with red food dye, going from dark pink to medium pink to pale pink. They’re easy to make and they look impressive, so they’re perfect as centrepieces as parties.

I made a video showing how to make this cake while reviewing the Sage Scraper Mixer, so check it out below!

This recipe is for a three layer 6″ diameter cake. If you want to do three layers of 8″ cake, then double the recipe.

You need:

• 80g stork or butter
• 280g caster sugar
• 250g plain flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 250mls whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• food dye of your choice (I used red paste dye)

for the frosting

• 450g icing sugar
• 150g butter
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 50ml whole milk
• sprinkles or cake glitter etc

1. Preheat the oven to 190°c.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until you have a sandy texture.
4. Measure out the milk and crack the eggs into the jug. Add the vanilla paste and beat with a fork until smooth.
5. Turn the speed to low and gradually add the milky eggy mixture. Scrape down the edges and beat on low until combined. Do not over beat!
6. Split the mixture evenly between three bowls. Weigh them out if you can.
7. Add a small amount of dye to the first bowl and stir until it’s evenly dyed. Add a bit more dye to the second bowl, and then more still to the third bowl. You want to have three bowls of gradually darker cake mix.
8. When they’re ready, grease your 6″ cake tins and pour each batch of coloured mix into its own tin. If you only have two tins, you will need to do this in two rounds.
9. Bake for 20-30 mins or until the cakes are springy and a skewer comes out clean.
10. When you take them out of the oven, leave them to cool for 10 mins in the tins before turning out.
11. Next, make the frosting. Pop the icing sugar and butter in a stand mixer and beat with the whisk until sandy. Measure out the milk, add the vanilla, and whisk with a fork until smooth. Turn the speed to low and gradually add the milk to the buttery sugary mix. Once the mixture is combined, turn it up to medium and beat for four mins or until it’s very fluffy.
12. When the cakes are cold, pop the darkest layer onto a cake plate and pop some frosting on the middle and outside. Add the middle coloured layer and frost. Add the palest layer to the top of the cake and then frost the whole cake so that it’s completely covered in white frosting. Sprinkle with glitter or hundreds and thousands or whatever you fancy.
13. If you need to travel with the cake, you can put it in the fridge for a couple of hours to get the icing to firm up, which will prevent it from sliding around too much. Otherwise, leave to dry in the open air before storing in an air tight container.

The cake is best served on the day you make it but it will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container!