Wow your friends and win the birthday cake game with this beautiful ombré ruffle cake.
Lately it seems like the more the color the better when it comes to desserts: Moist Lazy Daisy Cake! Lemon Curd Cupcakes! Ombré cakes, cupcakes, toast. But the mother of all multi-colored desserts is the super-trendy Pinterest-ready Ombré Ruffle Cake.
This cake might look like it's for the pros only, but learning how to make a ruffle cake isn't actually that tough. And giving it some color love and the ombré treatment is as simple as picking up a few bottles of food dye. Just follow this primer, and you'll be ruffling in no time.
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This cake might look like it's for the pros only, but learning how to make a ruffle cake isn't actually that tough. And giving it some color love and the ombré treatment is as simple as picking up a few bottles of food dye. Just follow this primer, and you'll be ruffling in no time.
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Gather The Supplies
For the ultimate ombré effect, make both the cake and frosting ombré. This means baking four layers of cake, in varying shades. Choose your favorite yellow or white cake, then dye it in varying shades. I suggest using Americolor gel food colors, or another high quality food dye. You also need to make enough buttercream to crumb coat the cake as well as pipe the ruffles. I prefer Swiss buttercream for the crumb coat, because it is softer and easier to work with. But for the ruffles, a stiffer, American-style buttercream is better. Traditionally that's equal parts butter and vegetable shortening, plus powdered sugar; this is the frosting traditionally used for icing roses, piping borders, and it's perfect for ruffles.When decorating cakes, I find a rotating cake stand to be invaluable. Couplers will also come in handy, as they allow you to swap the tip out from pastry bags without having to empty it out, making the process smoother and faster. In order to make the ruffle shape, use a 104 piping tip with large pastry bags. And as with frosting any layer cake, it's helpful to use a cake board and small and large offset spatulas.
Here's a handy list of all the supplies you need:
- 4 (four) 8" round cakes, dyed in varying shades
- 5-6 cups buttercream for crumb coat
- 5 cups American buttercream, dyed in varying shades, about 1 cup per color
- 5 large pastry bags
- 5 couplers
- 104 piping tip
- Rotating cake stand
- Cake board
- Long and small offset spatulas
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Crumb Coat
The first step in icing any layer cake is the crumb coat. For step-by-step photos of this process, check out my more comprehensive guide; here's the basic process:Secure a cake board to the cake stand by placing a wet paper towel, folded in half, under it. Choose now what style ombré you want—dark-to-light or the opposite—and work with the cakes in that order. Place a dollop of frosting on the cake board, then place a trimmed cake on top, bottom-side up, so you have a flat surface. Add 1 cup buttercream and use an offset spatula to spread the buttercream to the edges. Place a second cake, bottom-side up, on top of the frosted cake and top with 1 cup buttercream, using the offset spatula to spread to sides. Repeat with remaining two cakes. Once all cakes have been added, use the offset spatula to spread and smooth the buttercream from around the edges over the sides of cake, using an additional 1 cup buttercream to cover sides completely. Use a long offset spatula to smooth off top. Chill for 15 minutes.
Add another 1 1/2 cups buttercream to top of cakes and use offset spatula spread down sides evenly so cake is completely coated. Use a bench scraper to even out buttercream in a smooth layer. (If you want a simpler decor than ruffles, you can finish the cake at this point, using the back of the spoon or offset spatula to create waves and swooshes with the extra buttercream.)
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Chill
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Ruffle
Now that we've gotten our base cake assembled, you've got to master how to make a ruffle cake. Place a platter or flat, round plate on the cake stand, securing it with a wet paper towel. Place a dollop of frosting in the center of the platter (any color is fine) and place the chilled cake on top. Place the 104 tip in the corresponding bottom color of the cakes. Twist the bag in the middle, creating a small bag which you can push down on from the heel of your hand. Hold the bag almost parallel to the cake, so that the tip's small end points down and the large end touches the cake. Pipe a border at the end of the cake, gently pushing with the heel of your hand to release buttercream and moving the bag in a slight up and down motion to create ruffles. Use the other hand to slowly turn the cake stand as you work. After you have completed one row, place the tip halfway up that row and repeat ruffling with that color for 2-3 more rows.To switch colors, remove the coupler ring and 104 piping tip and rinse the tip out. Attach to the next color bag of the buttercream, release a bit of frosting to make sure the tip is completely clean, then repeat ruffle piping with the new color for 3-4 rows.
Pro tip: there are many styles of ruffles, depending on how quickly you pipe and how much you move your hand up and down as you pipe the ruffles. To test out different ruffle styles and practice making ruffles, wrap a straight-sided bundt cake pan in aluminum foil, place on the cake stand, and pipe ruffles. There are also plenty of YouTube tutorials to watch for inspiration.
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Ruffle The Top
When you reach the top of the cake, angle the tip against the top edge to pipe a ruffle around the border. Next, hold the tip at a 45-degree angle and, with the fat side up, pipe ruffles around the top of the cake, working from the outside and piping inward, finishing with a tight circle in the center.
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Chill
Pop the cake back into the fridge and chill at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.7
Slice!
To slice any cake, using a hot knife will guarantee smooth, even slices. Run a large, sharp chef's knife under very hot water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then wipe knife off with a towel. Carefully cut a slice and use an offset spatula to lift the slice off the cake board and onto a plate. Serve with ice cream and enjoy!
