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Monday 21 January 2013

Pink Ombre Cake

After posting a photo on Facebook of the pink ombre cake I made recently, I was unexpectedly inundated with 'Likes' and messages from friends asking how I made it.

It wasn't without a bit of help, let me tell you. First, I trawled the Internet for ombre cake inspiration , before consulting culinary genius (and my go to Twitter lady for all things cake-related) Franky for some much-needed food colouring tips. 

And here's the finished cake, which served as a practise run before I make a four layer one for a party we're hosting next weekend:



I used this basic Victoria sponge recipe for the base, following the instructions to make the first two layers and then halving the ingredients list shown to make the third layer. 

I only own two round cake tins, so (annoyingly) it was a case of waiting for the first two layers to bake before I could start on the third.




After mixing up the ingredients, I roughly separated the mixtures into two bowls.


Now for the fun part (childish); adding the food colouring paste. I chose this Jane Asher food colouring in 'pink', as cake maker extraordinaire Franky tells me it's the best kind for baking as it doesn't weigh the mixture down.

Now, a little of this stuff goes a LONG way. I used a toothpick to add in the right amount, whisking as I went and ensuring each mixture was slighter darker in colour than the last.


Next, I spread the mixtures into two greased round tins and popped them in the oven for around 20 minutes. You've got to be careful with these ombre cakes at this stage, as the food colouring in the mixture makes it more difficult to tell when they're cooked.


I relied on a bit of guess work here and went by the smell. If it smells like cake after around 20 minutes, it's probably ready. But don't hold me to that; I don't want to be responsible for poisoning my subscribers ; )


Freshly baked cakes, out of the oven. At this point, I seriously wondered if I'd made a cock up. The cake on the left only had a slight pink tinge to it.

This one, on the other hand, is positively neon...


Still, I soldiered on regardless and layered the cakes (spreading a generous dollop of jam in between) after they'd fully cooled down.


As a result of more guesswork I made far too much butter cream.

I went for 8oz of butter and 16oz of icing sugar, mixed with a tablespoon of milk. This made more than enough to cover the top and sides of the cake.

This is where it got messy...


I then improvised by adding mini marshmallows in a tedious pink, white, pink, white formation....


before getting giddy with a tube of sprinkles... 
I'm still sweeping these up off the kitchen floor now ; )


My chap wanted to do the honours and cut into it (big kid) so I waited for him to return from work...

until....






Are you a fan of baking? What's your favourite thing to cook? Send me your links.