Cotton Candy Cake
The most whimsical cake, inside and out: layers of fluffy cotton candy flavored cake and cotton candy frosting, decorated with dreamy pastel watercolor buttercream.
Servings 15 slices
Ingredients
Cotton Candy Cake
- 2 1/2 Cups (265g) sifted cake flour* DIY recipe in notes
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 Cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 Cups (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp Amoretti Natural Cotton Candy Artisan Flavor
- 1 1/4 Cups (300ml) full-fat buttermilk**, room temperature DIY recipe in notes
- 1 drop blue food coloring (optional)
- 1 drop pink food coloring (optional)
Cotton Candy Buttercream
- 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp Amoretti Natural Cotton Candy Artisan Flavor
- 4 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 small drop blue food color gel
- 1 small drop purple food color gel
Topping
- 1 Cup cotton candy
Instructions
Make the Cotton Candy Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/177°C and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with baking spray and fitting a parchment paper circle to the bottom of each pan.
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and cream it together with the butter at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl and paddle at the halfway point. Turn the mixer to low and add the egg whites one at a time, mixing until they are just combined and scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the vegetable oil and Amoretti Natural Cotton Candy Artisan Flavor, increase the mixer speed to high and beat for 1 minute.
- Turn the mixer off and add the flour mixture all at once. Mix the ingredients on low speed until just combined, then slowly pour in the buttermilk. Continue mixing at low speed for about 30 seconds, until the batter is uniform and combined. The batter will be slightly thin.
- Color the Cake Batter: divide the batter equally into 2 separate bowls. Add one drop of pink food color gel into the first bowl and whisk until the color is uniform. Add one small drop of blue food color gel into the second bowl and whisk until the color is uniform. Note that the blue color will probably look more purple when mixed with the pink batter. Even though this cake batter is pink from the Amoretti, the color actually bakes off in the oven, so only the blue color will remain. This is also why it’s important to add the pink color gel to that first bowl, even though the batter already looks pink.
- Using a ½ Cup measuring cup, add a scoop of the pink batter into each prepared cake pan. Use a separate ½ Cup measuring cup to add a scoop of blue batter into each pan. Continue alternating adding the batter colors in a random pattern into each pan until all the batter is gone.
- Bake for 28 to 32 minutes. The cakes are done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs on it. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 5 minutes, then remove them from the pans and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.
Make the Cotton Candy Buttercream
- With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each cup is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Add the milk and salt and mix on low until fully incorporated.
- If you're planning on making the pastel frosting colors: Reserve about 1 Cup of the buttercream at this point and it set aside, then add the Amoretti Natural Cotton Candy Artisan Flavor to the rest of the buttercream and mix on low speed until fully incorporated. It will become a natural pink color, and the reserved buttercream will be white so that you can add the blue and purple colors later.
- If you're NOT planning on making the pastel frosting colors: simply add the Amoretti Natural Cotton Candy Artisan flavor to the whole batch of buttercream and mix on low speed until fully incorporated.
Assembly
- Once the cotton candy cake layers are completely cooled, level them to your desired height. Add a swipe of cotton candy buttercream onto a cardboard cake circle and place the first cake layer on top. Add about ¾ Cup of cotton candy buttercream onto the cake layer and smooth it down until it’s about ½ inch thick. Place the next cotton candy cake layer on top and continue filling and stacking the cake with cotton candy buttercream. Crumb coat the cake with cotton candy buttercream, then place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let everything settle and firm up.
- To create the look pictured, divide the reserved white buttercream between two bowls. Mix one small drop of purple food coloring into the first bowl and one small drop of blue buttercream into the second bowl. Use these colors along with the rest of the light pink cotton candy buttercream to frost a watercolor finish on the cake.
- Refrigerate the cake for another 20 minutes to let the buttercream firm up. Meanwhile, fill a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 4B with all of the remaining buttercream. Pipe swirls around the top edge of the cake. When you’re ready to display or photograph the cake, top with a generous heap of cotton candy. Note that the cotton candy topping will last for about one hour before it starts to droop/shrink.
Notes
*DIY Cake Flour Recipe: if you can’t find cake flour locally, here’s how to make a homemade version using all purpose flour and cornstarch.
**DIY Buttermilk Recipe: add 1 Tbsp of white vinegar to a jar and top it with 1 1/4 Cups of whole milk. Stir and let sit for 15 minutes before using in the recipe.
Make Ahead Tips:
- The cotton candy cake layers can be made ahead and stored at room temperature, covered tightly in plastic wrap, for up to two days. Alternatively, you can cover with plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to two months before thawing to room temperature.
- The cotton candy buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency.
- The cotton candy topping cannot be added ahead of time. Wait until you're ready to display the cake to add the cotton candy on top. It will look good for about an hour before drooping/shrinking.