I love love love how this cake turned out.
Just very… pretty.
A friend had asked if I could make a cake for her parent’s 30th wedding anniversary and when she mentioned a rose cake, I just couldn’t say no. She couldn’t decide on a flavour, so I suggested that her sweet little 7-year-old daughter decide on the flavour. I think most would agree that many 7-year-olds would choose a more familiar flavour…. like chocolate? vanilla? sprinkles? Or is that just me that thinks that? Anyhow, this smart girl wanted to try a lavender cake! I know right? I wasn’t even that adventurous at 7!
This was basically a play off the Lavender & Vanilla bean cupcakes that I had previously made (check them out here). Since this was a two-layer 8-inch cake, I had just doubled the original cupcake recipe and baked it in a taller 8-inch cake pan. The baking time was just under an hour at the same temperature for the cupcakes. Similar to the cupcakes, I went with a vanilla buttercream, but used a swiss meringue version this time! (haha if you read my last little blurb about how much I love this icing, you’ll know that its currently and probably will forever be my go-to buttercream)
From making my first rose cake (check it out here), I remembered that the piped roses used quite a bit of icing to completely cover the exterior. For this two layer 8-inch cake, I made about 6 cups of vanilla swiss meringue buttercream, which was adjusted from this recipe – you’ll find the adjusted vanilla buttercream recipe at the end of this post. I had also thought of brushing a bit of lavender soaking syrup on the cakes between the layers, but didn’t end up adding it because I thought it might end up too sweet – you could do this if you’d like a sweeter and stronger lavender flavour.
So for the cakes and assembly, you’ll need:
- 2 layers of lavender cake (recipe here)
- 6 Cups Vanilla swiss meringue buttercream
- 1M piping tip + bag
- Edible pearls
- Any topper pieces that you’d like to add
- Sandwich a layer of buttercream between the two cake layers and then crumb coat the whole thing – just a thin coat of frosting to lock in all of the crumbs and don’t worry about how neat it is because you won’t even see this layer. Chill the cake for about 10 minutes.
- With the 1M tip, pipe rows of rosettes, starting from the bottom edge and work upwards towards the top centre. I found that piping the side was a little more challenging than piping the top, so I’d suggest to do a couple of practice rosettes on the side first, then scrape them off (careful not to take off any crumbs when you do this)
- Once the entire cake is covered in piped rosettes, pipe in little ‘stars’ to fill any areas between the roses.
- Optional: add on edible pearls and topper pieces
Sharing this cake with the lovely bloggers at Angie’s Fiesta Friday party – check it out here!
Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 6 large egg whites
- 1 1/4C + 1 tbsp sugar
- pinch of salt
- 5 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tsp vanilla
- purple + pink gel colouring
- Bring a small pot of water (about 1/4 full) to a simmer.
- Since we will be making a meringue with the egg whites, ensure mixing bowl, beaters, and any cooking tools are completely clean/ free of any fat residue. Add egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Place bowl of egg whites and sugar over the pot of simmering water and gently stir until mixture is heated and sugar is completely dissolved (about 3 minutes) – if you put your hand into the mixture, it should feel hot to the touch and there shouldn’t be any graininess left once the sugar has completely dissolved.
- Remove the bowl from the pot, and place into stand mixer – beat on high for about 10 minutes until you have thick glossy, stiff peaks.
- Continue beating on low/ medium speed, and add in butter, one piece at a time. Add in vanilla – mix until just combined. It may look a little broken and lumpy at this point, but don’t panic because thats normal!
- Switch to the flat beater and beat icing for another 3-5 minutes on medium until it comes together into a smooth luscious icing.
- Tint the icing if you’d like
Beautiful Janine, you use what kind of tip, 1M, they are assigned numbers here, like Ateco 365. I want to decorate the next cake I make like that I love it.
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Thank you! It’s a 1M Wilton tip… Basically a medium to large star tip, I’m not sure what the equivalent in ateco is, as I don’t use any ateco tips, but I found this link (http://www.cupcakes-plain-and-fancy.com/what-is-the-ateco-equivalent-to-the-wilton-1m-star-tip.html). Hope this helps!
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Beautiful! I am positive that they loved your beautiful cake.
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Thank you so much =)
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Wow, what a stunning and elegant cake!! Everything about this is gorgeous.
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Awe, thank you !
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G-E-O-R-G-E-O-U-S !! Absolutely amazing ! Your friend is very lucky to have you :)
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Thanks, I’m probably more lucky to have her as a friend and to know her sweet and smart daughter
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Gorgeous!
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Thank you !
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Looks so good! Very pretty. I am amazed to hear that 7 years old girl wanted to try Lavender flavor! If I had asked my 7 years old, every cake would be chocolate ones. ;)
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Thank you ! Yes, it took me by surprise as well – she certainly has more refined and adventurous tastebuds than any other 7 year old that I know!
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WOW! My daughter is desperate to have her First Communion cake decorated with roses like this- it’s FABULOUS!!
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Thank you! Oh perfect, can’t wait to see how it turns out ! It’s actually quite fun to make rose cakes! Good luck =)
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Such a beautiful cake :)
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Thank you, Natalie!
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On how! That is so beautiful 😄 lavender? At 7 years old?? I don’t think I even knew what lavender was at that age!!
Thank you for sharing this with us all at Fiesta Friday 😀
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Thank you! You and I both… Had no idea what lavendar was at her age. Haha she’s one smart and sophisticated 7 year old!
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That cake is truly a work of art! Such a masterpiece!
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Thank you =)
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Gosh. That is one beautiful looking cake! Stunning!
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Thank you so much, Selma =)
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Beautiful icing dear. The last time I made rose swirl cake, my icing went a little soft. This one is stiff and gorgeous looking.
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Thank you! Yes, that had happened to me last time as well where the icing got so soft that the roses just started to melt and lose their distinct shape. This icing was just stiff enough to hold its shape, but still soft enough to pipe easily.
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Beautiful! Love the pearl accent…adds an elegant charm to the exquisite roses! Really lovely!
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Thank you!
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Absolutely beautiful! Surreal lavender colors. Bet it taste as good too. Have you tried yam for purple color?
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Thank you so much. No, I haven’t tried yam for purple colouring, but I hear it’s supposed to be a good alternative. Have you tried it?
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What a beautiful cake!
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Thank you!
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Woooow. I was a decent “icer” in our baking class during culinary school but that is amazing!!! Wow Just wanted to let you know that I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Award; an award for and to connect blogs with promise :-)
Here are the details:
http://aberdeenskitchen.com/2015/03/14/liebster-award-nomination/
Thanks!
Aberdeen
aberdeenskitchen.com
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Thank you so much for stopping by and for the nomination! I am so flattered. I’ve decided that I won’t be participating this time round, but thank you again =)
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