Pink Ombre Cake
Four beautiful layers of ombre pink cake made with my favorite bakery-style white cake recipe, paired with pink ombre vanilla buttercream on the outside. It's the ultimate pink cake for Valentine's Day (or Galentine's Day), a baby shower, or to celebrate anyone who loves pink.
Servings 15 slices
Equipment
- Four 6-inch cake pans
Ingredients
Pink Ombre Cake Layers
- 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 Cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 Cups (300ml) full-fat buttermilk*, room temperature DIY recipe in notes
- pink food coloring see notes for natural options
Vanilla Buttercream
- 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
- 4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 Cup whole milk, room temperature
- pinch of salt, or to taste
- pink food coloring see notes for natural options
Garnish (Optional)
- 2 Tbsp pink ombre sprinkles
Instructions
Make the Pink Ombre Cake Layers
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and prepare four 6-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 vanilla, 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.
- Divide the batter evenly between four bowls. You should have about 310g of batter per bowl. Add 4-6 drops of pink food coloring to one bowl and mix it in to create the darkest pink color. Add a little less (2-3 drops) to the next bowl, a little less to the third bowl (1-2 small drops), and the smallest amount to the last bowl (1 small drop).
- Pour each bowl of tinted batter into its own prepared cake pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 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 Vanilla 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 one cup at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each cup is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Add the vanilla, milk, and salt and mix on low for another minute until fully incorporated. Don't add the pink food color gel until step 2 of the assembly instructions.
Assembly
- Once the cake layers are completely cooled, level them to get rid of any domed tops and create even layers. Add a swipe of vanilla buttercream onto a cardboard cake circle and place the first cake layer on top. Fill and stack the cake layers with the vanilla buttercream, starting with the darkest pink cake layer on the bottom and ending with the lightest pink cake layer on top. When you get to the final cake layer, place it upside down on top of the stack, then crumb coat the cake with vanilla buttercream. Refrigerate the cake for 15-20 minutes to let the crumb coat firm up while you prepare the rest of the buttercream.
- To create the pink ombre buttercream finish: divide the remaining buttercream between three separate bowls with a little less than half of the buttercream in one bowl, then the remaining buttercream divided equally between the second and third bowl. To the first bowl, mix in 4-5 drops of pink food coloring until you achieve a deep pink color. To the second bowl, add 1-2 drops of pink food coloring to create a nice mid toned pink. For the third bowl, dip your spatula into the darkest color pink buttercream and mix it in until you achieve a really light pink color.
- Add some of the lightest pink buttercream color to the top of the cake and smooth it down with an angles spatula until it reaches over the edges. Then, starting at the bottom of the cake, add the darkest pink buttercream to the bottom third of the cake. Add the mid toned pink to the middle third of the cake, followed by the light pink buttercream on the top third of the cake. Use your angled spatula to blend the colors together where they meet as described in the tutorial above. Smooth the buttercream with an icing smoother to create a smooth finish.
- Mix the rest of the buttercream together to create a new pink color and add it to a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 1M. Use it to pipe a swirl border on top of the cake, then sprinkle with pink ombre sprinkles, if using.
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. Keep in mind that if you do use the homemade version, the gram measurement will weigh more (295g instead of 265g) since all-purpose flour is heavier than cake flour.
*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.
*Pink food coloring: any pink food coloring will work for this, but I particularly love AmeriColor Deep Pink. If you're looking for a natural option that doesn't contain Red 40 or Red 3, I love this one by Enco Naturals as well.
Make ahead tips:
- The 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 vanilla 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.