Two Years of Lil Cupcake Monkey: Pink Ombre Cake with Confetti Buttercream Frosting

• Flour – 180gm
• Butter – 150gm
• Sugar – 170gm 
• Eggs – 3
• Baking powder – 2 teaspoons
• Vanilla extract – 2 teaspoons
• Milk – 125 ml
• Food colouring – rose and Electric Pink

Vanilla Buttercream Filling:

• Butter -100gm
• Icing sugar – 250gm
• Vanilla extract  - 1 teaspoon

Confetti Buttercream Frosting:

• Butter – 100gm
• Icing Sugar – 250gm
• Vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon
• Confetti, jimmies and 100’s& 1000’s – 50-75gm

Method:
Ombre Cake:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line the cake tins with parchment sheet (on the bottom and side).
• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light, pale and fluffy.
• Add and beat one egg at a time. 
• Add vanilla extract. 
• Sift the flour and baking powder alternating between the milk and mix thoroughly. 
• Divide the batter equally into 5 small bowls. 
• Add the food colour to form a gradient. 
• Use 1 drop of rose (pink-wilton) in the first bowl, then gradually increasing. 
• I used a combination of electric pink and rose for the dark and darkest shades. 
• Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 12-15 minutes. 
• Using a skewer, check for doneness. Once baked, let it cool. 

Vanilla Buttercream Filling:

• In a bowl, cream the butter until pale and smooth. 
• Add the icing sugar in small batches and whip until mixed. Add the vanilla and add the last batch of icing sugar and whip for a couple of minutes. 
• Add the confetti, jimmies and 100’s& 1000’s and fold it into the buttercream. 

Assembling the cake:

• Once the cake is cooled, cut the top of the cakes to make them uniform so that the cake stands straight. 
• Place the cake board on a cake turntable, put a spoonful of filling buttercream on the cake board and place the bottom most (darkest ) cake layer on it. 
• Crumb coat the top of the layer with a thin coat of buttercream, add a generous dollop of the crumb coat and spread it with a angled spatula uniformly. 
• Repeat this until all the layers are stacked. ( I literally sat with the fridge door open and frosted these cakes, its so hot here that the buttercream melts as soon as you put it on. The temperature here right now is above 42 degrees celsius. 
• Once the layers are filled, crumb coat the outside with a thin layer and let it sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour. 
• Using the confetti buttercream, frost the outsides. 
• Sprinkle some confetti to garnish on the top! 
• Let it cool for 30 minutes, so it sets completely.