I’ve been working on cake decorating lately… a lot. In fact, I’ve been making 1-2 huge, multi-layer cakes like every single weekend. Anyone want some cake?
Basically, I’m not great at cake decorating. I can hold my own with cupcakes, but full cakes are a whole new beast for me. So, I’m working with simple techniques while I get better at leveling and building the cakes, and there’s definitely been some improvement!
This is one of my best so far- looks wise and taste wise. We’ve got a super fluffy vanilla bean cake with a light coffee buttercream. Mocha cake is a super delicious variation of this as well, if you want to go with chocolate cake, or chocolate buttercream with the addition of coffee. I prefer vanilla though, which is where I went today.
To decorate, I just used a small off-set spatula and dragged it around the frosted cake in rows. It’s probably the second-easiest method I’ve tried so far, with just a rough frost as number one.
Honestly, even if this doesn’t turn out super pretty for you (I have made so many ugly cakes in the last few months, seriously it’s a skill in it’s own way) it still tastes amazing!
On another note, if you already have the ability to decorate really pretty looking cakes, I totally envy you.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 4 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
- 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp. vanilla bean paste (optional)
- 1 cup egg whites (about 8 eggs)
- 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
- 2 cups sugar
- For the coffee buttercream:
- 6 sticks room temp butter
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup instant espresso powder
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and grease and flour 4 8inch round cake pans (or you can bake in batches like I did and prepare 2 pans at a time).
- In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Add in the vegetable oil, milk, water, and vanilla, and beat with a stand mixer or hand mixer for 2 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peeks form.
- Slowly add the sugar into the egg whites and beat until they are stiff and silky.
- Then, gentle fold the egg whites into the flour mixture until fully combined
- Pour the batter into your greased cake pans. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-27 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool completely before building and frosting your cake!
- For the frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add in the espresso powder and vanilla.
- Then, beat in the heavy cream until the frosting becomes fluffy.
- Frost your cake!
Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!
This cake certainly looks well-decorated to me! Haha, I am practicing too and I am still very much a novice at frosting cakes. It's hard!
Thanks so much! It's totally hard, we'll get there though haha!
I don't think it's ugly , I think it's pretty and unique . I like the color of the frosting ,grey never seen before.
Thanks so much! This is one of my better tries so far! 😀
I'm curious why this was split into 4 layers – would it work as a 3-layer 8-inch cake?
Hi Amy- I just like the look of it with 4 layers, but you can absolutely make it as 3 layers. Your cakes will need to bake for slightly longer because they'll be thicker, so you'll want to just be sure to use a cake tester!