“50 Shades of Pink” – Mini Valentine Ombre Cakes

Ok so maybe not fifty shades.  But just enough and, in this case, that’s four shades.  Oh, and the answer is “no”.  No, I am not going to post ALL Valentine’s projects for the next month.  Working on some yummy Flank Steak Bites w/ Roasted Red Pepper Sauce for the Superbowl, too and a great new series on Time Management, Setting Goals & Saving Money on food! (random, I know – that’s how I roll).

So I am not sure if you have seen some of the gorgeous Ombre cakes out there over the last few years?  As someone who loves to bake, I have looked longingly at all of them (mainly because I want to eat them but also because they are beautiful) and I have wanted to try making one for a while now.   Fun fact:  The word “Ombre” is a French term that originally referred to a graduation of color in the fashion world.  Life is art, apparently, so at some point the Ombre concept carried over into the pastry world.

I like art.  And I like it even better if I can eat it.

I will tell you up front that I started this project as a test and then it worked so well that this has now become a “semi-homemade” recipe using two boxed cake mixes along the way.  Bonus.  But this can be made using your own favorite cake recipes – I know I have both red velvet cake and white cake recipes that I love.  With the (fresh) strawberry filling, there is no lack in homemade flavor here.  Not to mention, “Ombre” takes a little extra time. “Ombre” wants attention.  And “Ombre”… may be the most interesting man cake in the world.  So using the boxed mixes will save a little time but this recipe does take some extra effort!  Thank goodness I got my baking supplies all organized back during my “31 Days To An Organized Home” series.

So here is how it’s made – there are 4 layers in these mini cakes.  They end up being about the size of two cupcakes stacked together – perfect for sharing with your honey while watching the sun set (or, in our case, our favorite show!). You’ll find a link to the full recipe at the end, by the way.

For the first three layers, I started with a box o’ white (not yellow) cake mix. I did NOT follow the package directions, so please be sure to see the recipe at the end.  Once I had it all mixed, I separated the batter into three separate bowls:

I then added two drops of red food coloring to the first bowl:

I was very happy with this first shade of the color I never get to buy because I have three boys pink so I went on to add 8 drops to the second bowl.  I think that ended up being 15 drops in the end but this is the part where you mix and play.  Just remember, you can ADD the color, but you can’t take it out!  Bowl #3 ended up being around 24 drops or so.  Sounds like a lot?  Guess how much is in Red Velvet cake?  More. Here are the three shades I ended up with:

Once I had the colors I liked, I lined a 7 x 7 square baking pan with parchment paper and started with the first batter, the lightest pink:

Baked and lifted out easily, thanks to the parchment paper, and then I followed with the two other “Shades O’ Pink” batters.  Once all three had baked I had three pretty amazing little cakes:

The last layer is red velvet cake.  Fun fact: Most red velvet cakes, in a nod to the traditional origin story of the cake, contain buttermilk and a very small amount of cocoa powder. These ingredients give the cake a subtle, yet distinctive and delicious flavor that is not quite chocolate and not quite plain vanilla.

I did not add buttermilk but I DID add a half cup sour cream to the boxed mix (which was also adjusted) to add extra moist yumminess as you will see in the recipe.   I divided the red velvet batter in half and used a 13 x 9 pan to bake one half of it.  The extra cake AND the extra batter are being used in another recipe so don’t you worry your pretty little {red velvet} hearts.  I actually wish I had just used the 7 x 7 pan for the red velvet since that layer ended up being slightly thinner but it worked out. I have adjusted the recipe to reflect the learnings from this:

So there’s the red velvet cake.  Now let’s get to assembling this Ombre bad boy!

I used  a heart cookie cutter to cut 5 heart shapes out of the first three pink colors.  I was aiming for 6 but that’s not the way it played out:

Then I also cut five hearts out of the red velvet (half) sheet cake.  Ended up with 5 of each color and must say I swooned a bit at this point.  My pretties:

In love with these little cakes {and resisting the urge to eat them}.  And if you are wondering what I am going to do with the cake scraps I have a few ideas on those too!

I then took one of my decorative heart cutters and cut a little insert in the middle of each heart {because I am a “heart breaker” like that}.  Haha :

I have had these decorative cutters from Williams Sonoma for about 12 years now. Round, Round Fluted and Heart Shaped.  I use the round cutters all the time in both sweet and savory recipes so… a good investment if you bake a lot!

After cutting out the center of each, I set aside the mini cake hearts for now (PS: You have to be careful with the cakes.. they are even more fragile now that the center is cut out):

So then we come to the {even more} yummy part!  I was going to make a sweet whipped cream filling to go between the layers but remembered we had some Cool Whip (that’s right, that’s what I said) in the fridge from Christmas!  In keeping with this somewhat semi homemade theme, that’s what I used.  Doesn’t Cool Whip just take you back to the DAY??  There’s probably a reason that stuff is still around.  Worked like a charm for this.  I spread a layer of the Cool Whip on the first layer:

Then proceeded to stack the next layers and do the same:

Little tower of goodness, right there!  But it gets better.  Next I made a strawberry cream cheese filling with fresh berries and piped it into the center of each little “Heart Tower”:

I filled the cake all the way so that the filling was flush with the top, and then managed to NOT get a picture of the filled cake!  Then I took one of the mini heart cut-outs and trimmed off a little thin layer to make a “lid” to cover the filling:

I used a thin layer of the Cool Whip to ice the top:

And then gently placed my mini heart cutter on top as a “stencil” and added sprinkles (by hand) and then removed the cutter:

 And there you have it – an adorable (and delicious) little Valentine Ombre cake!

Thinking about a chocolate cream filling or shaved chocolate on top, too – YUM!  Lots of fun you can have with these. You can find the full recipe HERE.

I just love making holiday themed desserts and food.  If you are looking for a delicious St. Patrick’s Day idea, don’t miss my Irish Steak and Mushroom Pie recipe, inspired by our trip to Ireland.

Have you ever tried any Ombre cake recipes?  I would L-O-V-E to hear about them so please let me know in the comments!

xoxo,

Claire

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Tagged as: Ombre cake, strawberry cream cheese filling, Valentine's Heart Cakes, Valetine's Cake