Ombre Cake

Other than the popular Elsa and Anna characters from Frozen, my girl has been hooked onto My Little Pony. For her 6th birthday, I decided to bake a cake with My Little Pony decoration for her to bring to school. I had done a Red Velvet Cake and a Rainbow Cake in her previous birthdays and I wanted to give her a surprise. Hence, I decided on an Ombre Cake.

The children, especially the girls, were beaming with surprise at the Pinky Pie figurine and the pastel-coloured Ombre Cake. It was such a delight watching their excited expressions. My girl was especially happy as she gets to have another My Little Pony toy!

The cake was very well received. Some of children even went for second helping!

Come, let's eat cake!

Ombre Cake
makes a 8" round cake

For the Cake

Ingredients:
226g unsalted butter
400g sugar
5 large egg white
2 tsp vanilla extract
426g plain flour (can replace with cake flour)
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup milk

Method:
1. Preheat oven at 180ºC.
2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
3. Beat in egg white a little at a time, ensuring it's well mixed.
4. Mix in vanilla extract.
5. Add 1/3 of the sifted flour and baking powder and mix well.
6. Add 1/3 of milk. Mix well.
7. Repeat step 5 & 6 until all well incorporated.
8. Divide into 3 equal portions.
9. Add colouring to the 3 divided portions (I used Blue - Violet - Pink)
10. Pour each colored batter into individual 8" round pans and bake for 25 minutes.
11. Cool all cake layers completely before assembly.

For the Filling and Crumb Coating
Ingredients:
240g dairy whipping cream
40g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
1. Beat whipping cream with sugar till firm and stiff (I beat in a cold metal bowl so that it becomes stiff easier)
2. Add in vanilla extract and mix well.

For the Frosting - Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
80g confectioners' sugar
160ml cold heavy whipping cream

Method:
1. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
2. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and beat until smooth.
3. Using the whisk attachment, gradually add the heavy cream and whip until the frosting is thick enough to pipe.
4. Add more sugar or cream as needed to get the right consistency.

Assembly
1. After the baked cake layers are completely cooled, frost each layer with the chantilly cream starting with the darkest layer at the bottem to the lightest at the top. I have Blue, followed by Violet and then the Pink layer on top.
2. After all the 3 layers are assembled, crumb-coat and then leave in fridge to set for at least 1 hour.
3. Decorate the cake as desired. (I used cream cheese frosting. Swiss meringue buttercream, which is more stable in our hot climate can also be used)
4. Refrigerate till ready to serve.

Note:
Keep the cake chilled as the whipped cream may 'melt' and the layers may 'slide' off. That has not happened but I always have this fear.

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