It is time for my sister-in-law’s baby cake. We are doing an explosion of pink, and the Pink Ombre Mini Cakes were one of our dessert options. I originally saw a version of this at Glorious Treats and fell in love with the look. For this cake, I used my white velvet cake recipe. It’s definitely a favorite of mine. It has never failed me. I would also encourage you to check out my Cake Making 101 post for tips to making a fabulous cake.
Today I just had Abby helping me while the other two were suppose to be sleeping. I need to tell you that it’s one of my most favorite times cooking with Abby. We took it to the next level without the little ones not there, and it was very rewarding to see some of the fruits of my labor in the kitchen. She was doing a lot of the measuring with little assistance. I was able to do dishes while she was measuring and dumping the ingredients. She even was reading the recipe and trying to figure out the right cups or spoons we needed (sorry the video cut off – out of space on my phone…need to do something about that):
We made three batches of cake mix and just added more pink to make the darker colors. I put my batter in a huge cake pan (16 inches) because I had one that size. You could easily do them in 9×13 inch pans. Remember this batter will raise to double in height when baked, so you’ll want to pour a bit more than 1/2 an inch in the pan if you want a 1 inch tier. I would do a bit extra just to insure your height. Once the cake is out of the oven, cool completely. Then, level off. I’ll give you a tip for leveling off a larger cake in the next post.
Use a cookie cutter (I used 2 inches) to cut out your circles. At this point, I put them in air tight plastic containers and froze them until the day of the party.
On the day of the party, I took them out of the freezer. You don’t need to let them defrost all the way before decorating. Put a bit of frosting in the center. You don’t want the next layer to squeeze it out the sides, so do not frost all the way to the edge. The top is piped with a 1M tip. Normally, I decorate a cupcake by starting on the outer edge and spiraling in toward the center. A rosette is done the opposite way. You start in the center and spiral out to the edge.
* My one warning is to make sure your cakes are level and are frosted evenly. I had some problems with tippy ones that I had to prop up until right before the party. The ones that were leveled well had no problem.
I was featured:
These look amazing! I’m going to head over and look and your tips page, I struggle making cakes in a high alitutude.
If you get a chance come link up at my Pin Party.
http://sarahdawndesigns.blogspot.com/2012/07/pintastic-monday-link-party-2.html
Beautiful! These could be a great centerpiece for lots of different kinds of parties. You are a talented woman and your daughter is such a good reader. How old is she? Thanks for linking up at Mom’s Library!
Thanks so much! She’ll be starting kindergarten in the fall. I have been lightly working with her on learning letters, sounds and beginning to put it together. Recently, she just took off and is full on reading. It’s pretty exciting to watch. The most important thing for me is that she enjoys learning right now. I really don’t want to push her, and so I try and make everything fun while letting her progress as her own pace and interest.
Thank you for linking up to last weeks craft, create and inspire linky party …
Your project is featured this week 🙂
Looking forward to seeing what projects you have been upto this week
Claire x
These are gorgeous, Jodi!!
Thank you so much for sharing at {nifty thrifty sunday}!
You will be featured at this week’s party!
xo! Vanessa
I would love it if you came and shared this at my link party at http://www.twiggstudios.com/2012/08/sunday-show-off-linky-party.html?m=0
they look amazing xxx
how gorgeous! 🙂 and i love how your little assistant is also suitably decked in pink! 🙂
have a wonderful weekend!
xx
Indeed a very gorgeous creation! love the shades of pink!
These little cakes are so cute and I planned to serve them for a girl’s birthday celebration. The recipe did not turn out as shown for me. I followed the recipe exactly but the cake was so soft it broke over and over. I put the baked cakes into the freezer to later use my cookie cutter and that did not work either. I finished making the circles and put them in the freezer and then took them out to frost them just before the party. Prior to serving them I checked them and they had all fallen over so they could not be served. I hope those of you who have tried them had better luck.
I am so sorry you had so much trouble. I know how frustrating that can be in the midst of a party on the horizon. Stressful. I feel really bad that I was at the root of your frustration. I am shocked about the cake. I really have never had a problem, and a lot of people have commented on the success they’ve had with that recipe. I wonder why it didn’t work. I’m at a loss. To stack these cakes, they do need to be perfectly level and frosted evenly too. I had some leaning too, that I propped up to stabilize prior to the party beginning. It wasn’t a problem in the ones that were leveled better though. There was obviously something wrong with the integrity of the cake you baked that resulted in a bigger disaster. I apologize for the bad experience. I really take it to heart to only pass on recipes that I really know work, so I’m just feeling bad that you didn’t have a great experience with it.
I’m the 400th follower- yea me! and so glad I am to be here.. what gorgeous looking cakes! Will deffo give these a try 🙂 *waves hello* Hazel x
Yeah for my 400th follower! I love those milestones. I hope you give these a try. My one warning is that they do need to be very level and frosted very evenly or they begin to tip. I had to prop a number of them up before the party. Most of them I had no problem with though.
How long have you kept cake in the freezer before serving? I wan to (try to) make these for a bridal shower and if I can make anything ahead to save time that would be great. Also, have you done this with any different shapes, I was thinking possibly a heart shaped cookie cutter.
Thanks, Megan
I keep my cakes in the freezer for up to 3 months. It makes it really convenient. The important thing to know about these ombre cakes is that every layer has to be cut super even or they won’t stand up straight. I had a little issue with this and was propping some of them against the side of my back splash before the party. Another reader had a lot of problems because hers weren’t level. An idea is to cut a plastic straw a little shorter than the height of all three and put that through the center. I haven’t tried other shapes, but I think it could be really cute. I hope I wasn’t too discouraging, but I really want you to have success!
Hi. I absolutely love the end results. Could you tell me how many mini cupcakes your recipe yielded? Thanks
Hello! I just really be better at writing these details down while I’m doing the activity. It was a while ago. From what I can tell, I doubled my white velvet recipe (https://meaningfulmama.com/2012/02/white-velvet-cake.html) for each color of the tier. I basically, therefore made 6x the batter and ended up with about 20 of the stacked ombre mini cakes. I hope that helps!
Thank you so much. I plan to make these for my sister’s baby shower in about two weeks. Fingers crossed that they come out as beautiful as yours.
Thanks so much. The biggest advice is to make sure they are leveled well. They can get super tippy if you are not careful and consistent. Enjoy!