Pink Ombre Cake with Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Pink Ombre Cake with Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• White Cake
• Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream

White Cake

Makes 1366 g (6 cups)

• 198 g (1¾ cups) unsalted butter, room temperature, extra for greasing tins
• 325 g (3¼ cups) cake and pastry flour, extra for dusting tins
• 18 g (4½ teaspoons) baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
• 180 g (6 large) egg whites
• 270 ml (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) whole milk
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 394 g (1¾ cups) caster (superfine) sugar
• Food colouring, gel or powder (I used powder)

1. Preheat oven to 180° C (350° F). Using pastry brush, grease base and sides of four 18-cm (7-inch) baking tins. Line the base of each tin with a non-stick baking circle, grease paper and then lightly dust each tin with flour, tapping out any excess. (You may have to prepare tins in stages if you don’t have four of the same size). 
2. Using fine mesh sieve, sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk together to well combine.
3. In large liquid measuring cup, whisk together egg whites, milk and vanilla extract just until combined.
4. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter at medium speed until smooth, 2 minutes.
5. With mixer running, gradually add the sugar in a steady stream; continue to beat at medium speed until light and fluffy, 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides, bottom of bowl and paddle attachment.
6. Reduce mixer speed to low, add the flour in 4 additions, alternating with the egg mixture in 3 additions, begin and end with flour and beat at medium speed until just combined after each addition. Scrape down the sides, bottom of bowl and paddle attachment after each flour addition and egg mixture addition.
7. Divide batter equally (about 1½ cups per bowl) between four bowls, tint with food colouring creating four different shades. (I recommend creating the darkest shade first then reduce the amount of food colouring as you work with each remaining bowl of batter. After all the batter is tinted, adjust the intensity of the shades accordingly if necessary).
8. Transfer each bowl of batter to prepared baking tins. Bake each layer until cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 22 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack allowing cake layers to cool in the tins, 10 minutes. Turn out layers on to wire rack, remove baking paper, and turn layers over so that the top of the cake is facing up. Let stand until completely cooled.
10. Wrap each layer in plastic and transfer to the freezer. Let chill 30 minutes prior to assembly.

Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Makes 2040 g (about 9 cups)

This is a large batch of frosting but the larger yield is necessary if you plan on decorating the cake using the petal technique. If you are not going to use the petal technique you could use the ingredient yields in this recipe instead.

I find having the butter and egg whites at the appropriate temperatures ensures perfect results. I recommend cutting the cold butter into cubes and returning to the refrigerator, then separate the cold eggs; place the whites in stand mixer bowl and the yolks in airtight container. Cover and refrigerate yolks for another use. Cover the stand mixer bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature, 30 minutes.  When it’s time to attach the bowl to the stand mixer and beat the whites, remove the butter cubes from the refrigerator.

• 300 g (10 large) egg whites, room temperature
• 563 g (2½ cups) caster (superfine) sugar
• 908 g (2 pounds) unsalted butter, cut int0 1 cm (about ½-inch) cubes, cool but not cold
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded (reserve pod for another use)

1. Fill small saucepan with water (about 5 cm or 2-inches deep); bring to a simmer over medium heat.
2. Place egg whites and sugar in stand mixer bowl; whisk to combine well with a balloon whisk. Set the mixer bowl over the saucepan (make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water) and heat, continuously whisking the mixture, until the colour of the mixture is milky white and the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Test by rubbing a small amount of the mixture between your thumb and index finger, the mixture should feel smooth.
3. Remove the bowl from the heat and attach to stand mixer fitted with whip (whisk) attachment, beat on high speed until the mixture has cooled completely and formed stiff peaks, 10 to 12 minutes.
4. With the mixer running at high speed, add the butter one-cube at-a-time, and beat until incorporated after each addition. (Don’t be concerned if the mixture appears curdled during or after all the butter has been added with continued beating it will become smooth again.) Add the vanilla seeds and salt, and beat to just combine.
5. Replace the whip attachment with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed (to remove any air pockets that may have formed), 5 minutes.
6. Divide the frosting between 4 small bowls, 566 g (about 2½ cups) in the first bowl (for crumb coat), 453 g (2 cups) in the second bowl, 453 g (2 cups) in the third bowl and the remaining 566 g (2½ cups) in the fourth bowl (for the lightest shade, a little more frosting is needed because this shade is used for the surface of the cake as well).

Assembling and Decorating Cake using Petal Technique

I recommend watching Leslie’s {The Hungry Housewife} Petal Cake Decorating Technique Video Tutorial before assembling the cake. Leslie demonstrates the technique in detail. I couldn’t believe how easy it was.

I chose to keep the frosting its natural colour for layering and crumb coating the cake but if you prefer you can choose whichever colour you prefer.

1. Remove cake layers from freezer. 
2. If necessary, using a large serrated knife, trim the tops of each cake layer to make the surface even, brush away any crumbs with a pastry brush.
3. Transfer the darkest cake layer, right side up or trimmed side up, to round cake board (slightly smaller than the size of the cake) or directly to cake stand or cake plate. (If decorating directly on cake plate or cake stand, I recommend tucking a few overlapping strips of baking paper under the edge of the base cake layer; this will keep the cake stand or plate clean as you frost.)
4. Evenly spread about 113 g (½ cup) of the reserved frosting (566 g or 2½ cups) onto the surface of the cake layer (to the edges) with an offset spatula. Place the second darkest cake layer on top of the first frosted layer (make sure to centre). Repeat, spreading 113 g (½ cup) of frosting between each cake layer (going from darkest cake layer to lightest cake layer).
5. To crumb coat cake, using the remainder of the reserved frosting (about 226 g or 1 cup), spread a thin layer of frosting over the surface and sides of the cake, removing any excess frosting with offset spatula to ensure the cake surface and sides are smooth. Transfer the cake to the refrigerator and let chill, 30 minutes.
6. To decorate the cake with an Ombre look tint the remaining 3 bowls of frosting in various shades of one main colour. I chose to use three shades of red. Again, please make sure to tint the bowl with 566 g (2½ cups) of frosting with the lightest shade because you will need a little extra frosting to decorate the top of the cake.
7. Transfer the darkest shade of frosting to large pastry bag fitted with large plain tip (Wilton 1A).
8. To decorate using the petal technique, pipe three large dots in a vertical row starting at the base of the cake (make sure to mark this spot and continue using it as your starting point for each shade). Using a large offset spatula held in a horizontal position and placed in the centre of the dot, press down and smear one-half of the dot toward the right. Clean off the spatula between smears. Pipe another three dots in the same fashion, starting about 6 mm (¼ inch) from the beginning of the smear. Continue the pattern around the cake.
9. Transfer the next shade of frosting to another large pastry bag fitted with large plain tip. Repeat the same pattern as above.
10. Transfer the remaining bowl of frosting (lightest shade of tint) to another clean pastry bag fitted with large plain tip. Repeat the same pattern as above. (I was only able to pipe two dots vertically; depending on how big your dots are the amount of dots can vary.) To decorate the surface of the cake, pipe one dot smear, pipe another dot, smear and repeat going around the edge of the cake surface. Start your next row and repeating the pattern until you get to the centre of the cake, finish with one dot in the centre. (If you have any leftover frosting of the darker shades you could continue with the ombre look on the surface going from lightest shade to darkest shade.)
11. Buon Appetito!