Looking for a fun dessert you can make for Valentine’s Day? If so – try these mini Ombre cakes.
They are cute from the outside, and when you cut through them you’ll reveal a surprise:
different colored mini layers of cake! While these may look fancy, the good news is that they require easy to find, inexpensive ingredients and equipment.
Here’s what you’ll need.
- Boxed Yellow Cake mix (Duncan Hines was used for today’s recipe)
- Ingredients for the cake mix (Duncan Hines is: 3 eggs, 1/3 C oil, 1 C water)
- Red food coloring
- Pink food coloring
- Round cookie cutter
- 2 sheet pans/cookie sheets
- Parchment paper
- Cooking spray
For the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, you’ll also need:
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 4 C powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbs milk
- Red food coloring
- Pink food coloring
Start by preheating the oven to 350°F.
Line pans with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Prepare cake mix according to box and divide the batter evenly into 4 bowls. (3 bowls plus the one you mixed in is fine.)
Leave one the way it is, and color the remaining 3 different tints of pink and red.
Pour one color onto one half of a pan. Pour another onto the other half. Spread until they meet at the middle, as pictured above.
Repeat with the remaining two colors in the remaining pan.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until cooked through and cake starts to pull away from edges. Allow them to cool completely.
While you’re waiting for your cakes to cool, you can get started on the frosting! In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment (or using a hand mixer), whip butter for 2 minutes.
Add vanilla, sugar and milk.
Whip for another 2 minutes.
Separate into different bowl and color each with different tints of pink and red.
Now that your cakes are cooled, you can use a cookie cutter to cut circles out of each color. As a note here, the amount of cakes you will get is going to depend on the size of the pan and the size of the cookie cutter you use.
To assemble your cakes, place the darkest color down on a plate and evenly spread a little frosting.
Repeat, using the next 3 cakes in color order from darkest to lightest.
Crumb coat the cake (use a little icing over the whole cake) and place in the freezer for a few minutes.
Add your frosting and decorate!
If you give these a try, I’d love to know how they turn out for you and what you think! And, make sure to check out my Recipe page and follow me on Pinterest for even more delicious ideas!
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