Easy strawberry ombre cake recipe

Vegan.

Who wants a slice of this strawberry ombre cake?…I do!

Make Mothers Day & Valentines Day memorable with this 5 tiered pink ombre layer cake, filled with strawberry jam, topped with roses, desiccated coconut and edible glitter!

The beautifully coloured sponge cakes are 100% vegan which are coloured with vegan pink food gel. I also coated the whole cake in my light & fluffy vanilla buttercream and layered the tiers with strawberry jam! Absolutely delicious!

Why not serve this gorgeous cake with some rosé or pink lemonade? It compliments the cake beautifully.

This was my first time ever making an ombre cake and I am so impressed with how it turned out. 

I wanted to show you how I plan recipes. This is a little drawing I did on Instagram and I based this whole cake on it. Don’t judge my artistic talents, haha. 

The cakes are fluffy, light and flavourful, considering the cakes contain food colouring.

I use the Rainbow Dust ProGel Pink gel which is Nut Free, GM Free, Gluten Free, Suitable for Vegetarians & Vegans, Kosher and Dairy Free. This isn’t sponsored, but I want to mention it as its ultra-pigmented and so good in cakes! 

This cake looks technical but it’s actually pretty simple and I’m sure whoever you make this delicious bake for will be more than impressed!

Preparation- 30 minutes

Baking time- Approximately 20-25 minutes

Serves- 15-20

Level- Medium

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Ingredients for the cake

-720ml of dairy-free milk (I use almond milk)

-3 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar

-630g of self-raising flour 

-300g of golden caster sugar

-1 & 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

-1 &1/2 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda

-180g of coconut oil (Melted)

-Pink food gel

Ingredients for the buttercream

-400g of dairy-free butter (I use Tomor)

-650g of icing sugar

-2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

-Dairy-free-free milk (if needed)

Toppings

-Strawberry Jam (for the filling)

-Unsweetened desiccated coconut

-Fresh roses (for decoration only)

-Edible glitter

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To make the cakes

Step 1- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c and line six 8inch cake tins with greaseproof paper.

I did end up using only 5 cakes and used the other to make pink cake pops!

If you don’t have six cake tins, you’ll have to bake them in stages.

Step 2- In a small bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined.

Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.

Step 3- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

Mix well to combine.

Step 4- Add the melted coconut oil to the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.

Step 5- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until a smooth batter.

Step 6- Separate the batter into 6 separate bowls and tint the batter different shades of pink, gradually getting lighter until you leave the last cake plain.

This creates your ombre effect. 

Step 7- Pour equal amounts of batter into the lined cake tins.

Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.

Step 8- Pop the cakes into the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Check them after 20 minutes.

You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.

Step 9- Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully before frosting.

To make the buttercream

Step 1- In a bowl/stand mixer, cream the butter on high then add in the icing sugar and vanilla.

Add in a splash of dairy-free milk if too thick. 

You want the buttercream light and fluffy.

Step 2- Stack and fill the cakes with strawberry jam and buttercream, then crumb coat the whole cake and then pop into the fridge to set.

This will take around an hour.

Step 3- Once the crumb coat is set, apply another coat of buttercream and level until smooth. I use a cake scraper and large pallet knife.

Watch this amazing video on how to perfectly crumb coat a cake.

Step 4- Press desiccated coconut onto the sides and top of the cake then pop back into the fridge to set. 

Step 5- Once the final layer of frosting is firm, I added some of my homemade royal icingonto the top of the cake and pressed on some fresh roses.

Don’t push the stalks into the cake. I layed on the rose buds. 

I also sprinkled over some edible glitter.

Serve fresh or store in a sealed container, the buttercream will firm up at room temperature. 

Best eaten within a few days of making!

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Holly Jade