Strawberry Rosé Ombre Cake
Moist white cake becomes peachy-pink ombre perfection with layers of juicy strawberry filling and light, fluffy, subtly sweet whipped cream mascarpone frosting.
Servings 12 to 16 servings
Calories 745kcal
Ingredients
Strawberry Rosé Ombre Cake
Three Layer Ombre Cake
- 3 cups + 2 tablespoons cake flour
- 1 ½ cups whole milk room temperature
- 9 large egg whites room temperature
- 2 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 ¼ sticks unsalted butter cubed, softened but still cool
- Wilton Cake Icing Peach
- Wilton Cake Icing Pink
Strawberry Rosé Filling
- 2 lbs fresh strawberries hulled and sliced in half
- 1 ½ cups dry rosé wine
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 to 3 teaspoon fruit pectin brand such as Sure Jell
Whipped Cream Mascarpone Frosting
- 16 ounces mascarpone cheese softened but still cool
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste vanilla extract can be substituted
- Optional: White Sprinkles Sparkling Sugar for decoration
Instructions
Three Layer Ombre Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare 3 8-inch baking rounds with butter and flour.
- In a large bowl, combine milk, egg whites, and extracts. Mix with a fork until ingredients are combined, about 1 minute.
- Using a standing mixer* fitted with the paddle attachment, add cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to the mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
- With mixer on low speed, add cubed butter to the dry ingredients a few cubes at a time. Mix on low for 1 to 2 minutes. Texture will resemble coarse sand.
- Add most of the milk mixture to the mixing bowl, reserve about 1 cup. Beat on medium speed for 1 full minute. Add remaining wet ingredients and mix on medium speed for an additional 1 minute.
- Pour ⅓ of the batter into prepared pan. Return the mixing bowl to the standing mixer and make your lighter colored layer - a light pink color.
- Using a toothpick, dip just the tip of the toothpick in each of the Wilton Cake Icings (Peach and Pink) and add to the batter. Beat for 20 seconds and check the color. Cakes will lighten as they bake, add additional color if necessary. If color is correct, mix for an addition 20 seconds until color is thoroughly combined. Pour ⅓ of the batter into prepared baking round.
- Repeat Step 7 with remaining ⅓ of batter.
- Bake for 27 to 30 minutes at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.**
- Let cool fully, about 30 minutes, before frosting.
Strawberry Rosé Filling
- In a large sauce pan, add strawberries, rosé wine and granulated sugar. Stir over high heat, until sugar dissolves.
- Cook for 10 minutes over high heat, uncovered and stirring occasionally. Add fruit pectin and stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until mixture is thick. Mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Let cool completely, about 15 minutes, while preparing the frosting.
Whipped Cream Mascarpone Frosting
- In a chilled mixing bowl, add mascarpone cheese and heavy cream. Mix on low speed until mascarpone cheese thins out and heavy cream begins to thicken, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Add confectioners sugar and vanilla. Gradually increase speed to medium-high over the course of 2 to 3 minutes. Frosting should be stiff enough it does not fall off the beat or paddle attachment when raised.
- Remove just over ⅓ of the white frosting and transfer to a large piping bag.
- Repeat the dyeing process used when making the cake. Using just the tip of a toothpick, add Peach and Pink colors to the frosting. Mix on low to medium speed until incorporated - be sure to avoid over beating. Transfer ½ of the dyed frosting to a large piping bag.
- Repeat Step 4 with remaining frosting, making the color just a touch more vibrant.
Assembling your Strawberry Rosé Ombre Cake
- Pipe a small dime sized dollop of frosting on your cake stand or cardboard base to 'lock in' the bottom layer. Pipe a thin, but high layer on the outer edge of the top of the layer. This will keep your strawberry filling from spilling out as weight is added to the cake.
- Add half of the strawberry rosé filling to the center of the cake and smooth out to the piped edge.
- Repeat Steps 1 and 2 on the next layer.
- Using the white frosting pipe the top of the cake and down the sides of the top layer. This does not have to look pretty, the cake scraper will smooth out the imperfections. Reserve ¼ cup to ½ cup of the white frosting if you plan to pipe rosettes on the top of the cake.
- Lightly smooth the top of the cake and scrape the sides to create a light 'crumb' coating.
- Using the lighter of the two colored frosting, pipe the outside of the middle of the cake. Repeat with the darker color on the bottom layer of the cake. The entire cake should have a crude, thick piped frosting all over. Reserve ½ cup to ¾ cup of each of the peach-pink frosting for rosettes.
- Using a cake scraper, smooth the top of the cake and continue down the sides. Wipe off any access frosting with a hot, wet towel.***
- In a large piping bag fitted with a large star tip, empty the contents of the white frosting and the lighter frosting at the same time into the new bag. Repeat with the darker colored frosting and what is left of the lighter colored frosting. Use this to pipe rosettes on the top of the cake and a ribbon along the bottom.
- Optional: Use sparkly or white sprinkles to decorate the top of the cake.
Notes
*Cake can also be made using a hand mixer with standard mixing attachments.
**Bake Even Strips are recommended for evenly baked cakes.
***Wiping the cake scraper with hot water will help smooth the frosting more easily.
Nutrition
Calories: 745kcal | Carbohydrates: 95g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 691mg | Potassium: 277mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 67g | Vitamin A: 1175IU | Vitamin C: 45mg | Calcium: 252mg | Iron: 1mg