Pink Ombre Peach Layer Cake
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake:
- 2 � cups All-purpose flour
- 2 � tsps Baking Powder
- � tsp Salt
- � cup Unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 � cup Granulated Sugar
- 3 large Eggs, room temperature
- 1 � tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 cup Buttermilk, room temperature
Peach Filling:
- 2 cups Chopped peaches approximately 2 peaches
- 2 tsp Lemon juice
- 2 tbsp Light brown sugar packed
- 1 tsp Cornstarch dissolved in 1 tsp cold water
Peach Buttercream:
- 5 large Egg whites
- 1 � cups Granulated Sugar
- 2 cups Unsalted butter cubed (room temperature)
- 2 tsp Peach liqueur
- Americolor Peach color gel
- Wilton Buttercup Yellow color gel
Instructions
Vanilla Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease and flour three 6" cake rounds, line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (2-3mins).
- Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition. Do not overmix.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pans. Smooth the tops with a spatula.
- Bake for approx. 30mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
Peach Filling:
- Place 1 cup of the peaches, sugar, and lemon juice into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Mash peaches to break down into a puree. Add remaining 1 cup of peaches and cook for 5 minutes. Add cornstarch slurry and simmer until thick. Cool completely before using on cake.
Peach Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.
- Place bowl over a hot water bath on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins).
- Place the bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth. Add peach liqueur and whip until smooth.
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake onto a serving plate or cake stand. Top with a thin layer of buttercream and pipe a dam around the outside using a large round tip to hold the filling. Place 1/2 cup peach filling inside the dam and spread evenly. Repeat with the next layer. Top with the final layer and crumb coat the cake. Chill for 30mins.
- Portion remaining frosting into 4 bowls with one having slightly more than the other 3 (the white frosting).
- Add drops of the color into each bowl and mix thoroughly.- 7 drops of peach into one- 3 drops of peach into one- 3 drops of yellow into one
- Starting with the bottom and the darkest color, spread roughly onto bottom quarter of cake with a small offset spatula.Clean spatula and do the same with the lighter peach colored frosting and the yellow frosting on the middle sections. Clean spatula add the remaining white buttercream to the top of the cake and upper third.
- Try to ensure all layers have the same amount of thickness. Take a bench scraper or a large offset spatula and smooth the sides and blend colors. Use a small offset spatula to create a swirl pattern on the sides and top.
Notes
Ensure there is NO trace of egg yolks in your whites and that your mixer bowl and whisk is completely grease free or your meringue won't stiffen. The buttercream may look like it's curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth.
Peach filling recipe adapted from Epicurious