So, a few posts ago I showed a few pics of a cake I made for a baby sprinkle. Well, several people have asked me how I made it. I figured I’d blog about it, and then just direct them here.

Let me start off by saying this recipe is easy and not easy at the same time. It could be considered easy because I used a box mix for my cake. (Which is actually my personal preference for white cake). And it’s not easy because it’s still a 5 layer cake, that needs to be cut and stacked efficiently to look pretty.

Ombre Layer Cake Directions

Make 2 boxes of white cake mix, according to the directions

I measured 1 and 1/2 cups into five separate bowls for the layers

I knew I wanted the bottom layer to be white, so I colored the four other layers with Wilton’s icing gel color. I started with one toothpick of gel for the lightest and increased to my preference from there.

This is all 5 layers stacked. I cooked each layer. They cooked fairly similarly since it was the exact same amount, but I still cut the tops off with a serrated knife for a more even look. I then put a little icing between each layer, and then began my crumb coat next.

If you’ve never done a crumb coat, basically you cover the cake in icing and then refrigerate it for 30 minutes, all the crumbs get stuck in that coating, so you can frost again and it will be clean and smooth looking.

After that I just frosted again with a swoopy motion to get a kind of cloud effect. My scrap book sign attached to a dowel actually goes through the cake on each side to give it some support. I didn’t really think it would fall over, but we were traveling in the car…

Here is the inside, so fun! I hadn’t actually seen it until we cut in, so it was a surprise for me too, and it’s so happy looking. This totally made it worth it.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting Saga

I used Wilton’s Buttercream Frosting as my frosting. It was actually not my first choice, it’s my “go-to” buttercream because it’s very easy and has a great consistency for spreading, but I actually tried to make my very first Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting that was suggested in my model cake. She actually only made a Swiss Meringue, I got to that step perfectly and it was beautiful, but it was a little too light and sweet for my taste, so I decided to go to the next step and add butter. Needless to say, it was a disaster. I read every tip in the book to get it to come back together, keep beating, refrigerate, add more butter. I probably beat it for 30 minutes and it just kept separating. 🙁 See pic below. So, I used my ole’ trusty recipe in a pinch, but I wish the other had worked out. I will tackle it again sometime, cause now I HAVE to make it and succeed. But regardless it was LOTS of fun to make, and actually if my SMB frosting had worked out, this project probably would have seemed even easier, but making two frostings is a kick in the pants. Stink, now I’m hungry for cake!
Enjoy and lots of love for baby Caleb on the WAY!

The sad remains. 🙁 Yes, that is supposed to be frosting. Boo.