O
mbre, (meaning 'shaded' in
French), is the gradual blending of
one colour hue to another, usually
moving shades from light to dark.
An ombre cake is usually a colourful cake
comprising of sponge, buttercream, or both,
graduating through a colour.
I think they are so lovely to look at and really
add something special to a bake, plus the
good news is that they are really simple to do!
I’ve gone with a purple ombre for this cake,
but this method can be used for any colour.
You’ll need to star t with a standard cake mix.
You can use any light coloured mix but I find a
Madeira to be best for this; not only does it hold
the colour well, but it also is a bit firmer which will
come in handy as we are making shallow cakes,
meaning they won’t break up when we turn
them out of the tin and stack them.
This recipe is specifically for 10x18 cm
(4x7in) thin round cakes to be stacked. This
recipe is not suitable for one 18cm (7in)
round deep cake as it would overflow the
normal tin. For any other sizes, I recommend
converting the recipe using an online
cake calculator.
Firstly I recommend lining the tins using a
circle of greaseproof paper for the base and a
strip of greaseproof paper for the inside. I stick
these down using a little Cake Release.
MADEIRA CAKE RECIPE
- 350g (12oz) self-raising flour
- 95g (3½oz) plain flour
- 350g (12oz) Stork/unsalted butter
- 350g (12oz) caster sugar
- 6 free-range eggs
- 1½ tsp vanilla
- Sugarflair Grape Violet
How to....
MAKE AN
OMBRE CAKE
Want to create a striking ombre cake? It's easier than you might
think! Britt Box from She Who Bakes (shewhobakes.co.uk) shares
her foolproof step-by-step guide to getting it right...Te
chn
iqu
e
Fo
cu
s+++1 Preheat the oven to 160°C/Gas Mark 2½.
Cream together the Stork/butter and the
sugar. Add in the eggs and mix well, then add
the flours and mix again. Finally add the
vanilla and mix on a medium speed until
all the ingredients are fully incorporated.
2 This is where things start to get colourful!
For the colour, I highly recommend using
concentrated gel food colouring because
you only need to use a small amount to get a
strong colour. They don’t change the taste or
consistency of the cake or the buttercream,
they last absolutely ages and they don’t fade
out when baked. They are a little more
expensive than the water-based colours you
can pick up in the supermarket, but they areso worth it. You can pick them up easily
online or in your local cake decorating store.
3 Divide your cake mix into four bowls. Using
a little colouring on the end of a palette knife
or cocktail stick, add colour to the bowls of
cake mix in varying amounts. I go with a tiny
amount for the first bowl, a little bit more for
the second, a bit more for the third and the
biggest amount for the fourth. Mix them up,
then adjust if necessary. When I was making
this one, my first colour was a little too pale
and my second and third were too close in
shade, so I added in a little more colour to
make four distinct shades of purple.
4 While you don’t have to work at the speed
of light here, it’s worth noting that the longerADGBEHCFIThe cake
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