Ombre cakes seem to be all the rage, especially on Pinterest lately. Since I’m not nearly as trendy and creative as my Pinterest boards would tell you, I am quite trendy when it comes to food!

If you saw me now, I’m currently in my work clothes (a.k.a. fat pants, a t-shirt and fluffy neon socks…I need a makeover, obviously). But, my plate is another story.

My plate has a slice of this beautiful half eaten green ombre cake on it. The icing is literally melting in my mouth. Come to think of it, the cake is too. Give me 2 minutes and the plate will be clean…and not because I used a sponge…more of the tongue variety. Mmm!

Okay. I’m full and officially on a sugar high now.

So, let’s talk cake.

I opted for a boxed cake mix since I knew the remainder of the cake would be time consuming. Of couse, feel free to use your favorite white cake recipe instead. As I always say, homemade is always better. 🙂 So, the cake itself is quite easy to make. It really just takes some arm muscles, stirring all of the different color batter and icing bowls!

With the help of McCormick’s food coloring and vanilla extract, the ‘Seven Shades of Green‘…and in this case cake four on the inside and three on the outside…comes to life just in time for St. Patrick’s Day!

Alright. Go make your ombre cake and let your eyes and tongue be simply amazed at its beauty!

Green Ombre Cake

Inspired by McCormick and frosting recipe slightly adapted from Sweetapolita

Ingredients

• 1 (16.5 ounce) box white cake mix 
• 22 drops of McCormick Green Food Coloring
• 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 3.5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon McCormick Vanilla Extract
• (optional) sprinkles

How-To

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. Place parchment paper circles in the bottoms of four 6″ cake pans and spray with canola spray. I only have one 6 inch cake pan, so I baked them one at a time.
3. Mix the cake mix according to the packaged instructions.
4. Divide the batter evenly into four bowls.
5. Place 1, 3, 6, and 12 drops of green food coloring in corresponding bowls. Of course, if you want them lighter or darker shades of green, feel free to adjust accordingly.
6. Pour the corresponding bowls of batter into the prepared pans.
7. Bake for 15-30 minutes, being sure to check the cakes with a cake tester every once and a while to see if it comes out clean, making sure not to over cook. Baking time with differ depending on how many cakes you have in the oven.
8. Once baked, allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 5 minutes before gently flipping over onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
9. Once the cakes have cooled, level the cakes off with a sharp bread knife or cake leveler.
10. Meanwhile, make your frosting.
11. (Frosting) First, in your stand mixer fitted with your paddle attachment, beat the butter for 8 minutes on medium speed (KitchenAid speed 4) until light and pale.
12. (Frosting) Add in the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and beat on low (KitchenAid speed 2) for 1 minute until the powdered sugar has mixed in.
13. (Frosting) Beat on medium speed (KitchenAid speed 4) for 6 minutes until light and fluffy.
14. Now, assemble the cake by placing the first and darkest green layer on a cake plate on top of some parchment paper strips that will allow for your plate to not get frosting on it.
15. Spread enough frosting on the cake layer to cover it.
16. Place the next layer on top, spread with frosting and repeat with the remaining layers.
17. Once all of the layers are assembled, spread enough frosting on the top and sides of the cake to make a crumb coat (thin coating).
18. Place the crumb coated cake in the fridge to chill for at 30 minutes.
19. Meanwhile, separate the remaining frosting into three bowls (I had about 3/4 cup of frosting for each bowl).
20. Leave one bowl of frosting white and put 3 drops of food coloring in the second and 7 drops of food coloring in the third bowl. Of course put in as much or as little as you’d like. The color will also vary by the amount of frosting you have left from filling and crumb coating your cake.
21. Next, spread almost all of the white frosting on the top of the cake and just 1/2″ down the side of the top of the cake, all the way around.
22. Now, with your darkest green frosting, gently spread a thick 1″ layer on the very bottom of the cake, all the way around.
23. Finally, with the middle green frosting (one with 3 drops of food coloring), spread between the dark green and white layers on the side of the cake, all the way around.
24. Now take a long spreading knife, holding it vertically, smooth out the frostings on the cake. Be sure not to smooth too much, as you’ll mix the colors too much.
25. Finally, going around your cake with the tip of your rounded spreader knife, spiral your way to the top of the cake. It’s okay if you pick up and start spreading again. That will allow the cake to have a rustic feel.
26. (Optional) Spread a few different types of sprinkles on the top of your cake for added flare.
27. Keep at room temperature and eat within two days.

Note: icing instructional video on Sweetapolita

This post has been sponsored by McCormick. I received samples and compensation for this post.  All opinions stated are my own.