Ruffle Frosting White & Black Cakes for Easter (AKA Longest Cake Post)

Call me ambitious. Call me crazy. Call me relaxed. I spent a few hours in the kitchen baking earlier this week and it felt so good. My day-to-day life is kind of chaotic because I am at the mercy of a toddler, that getting in the kitchen and baking makes me feel like my old self. The person who was in control of things and the person who used to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Who would have thought that following a recipe and measuring out ingredients would help me feel like I am taking command of my life?

For the longest time I had wanted to try the Ruffle Frosting Technique; cakes looks so beautiful and vintage and whimsy with that type of frosting. I normally don't like to make cakes because we are more of a snacking-dessert kind of household, but I found the perfect medium: mini cakes! These cakes were doubly good because they not only gave me the opportunity to test out this frosting technique but they also proved to be great Easter gifts. Oh, I lie. They were triply good because with the leftover cake I was able to make cake balls dipped in chocolate for Alex to take into work. In frosting I learned that I suck at making straight rows and that when I rush, I miss spots.

Like I said earlier, I was ambitious. I made two types of sheet cake: chocolate and white. The recipes below are the the halved recipes I made (cook time was still the same). I did, however, make the full frosting recipe and that was just enough to frost all five cakes. I used a 4-inch circle cookie cutter to cut out the cakes.

Both cakes were light and flavorful. You really couldn't ask for more out of the cakes because of how classic the flavors are. I had some of that Oreo frosting stashed away so I used that as the frosting between the layers. I struggle with frosting in general (I'm not a frosting girl), so I think the frosting was too sweet for the cakes. Cati completely disagreed with me and loved the frosting more than the cakes.

The best compliment cake from Alex. He saw the cakes and said they looked professional and warned Publix to watch out for them!

Chocolate Sheet Cake
Source: The Pioneer Woman

1 cups flour
1 cups sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp (heaping) cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cups buttermilk
1 whole beaten egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together. Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake for 20 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool to room temperature.

White Cake
Source: Baking Bites

1/2 cup milk, room temperature
3 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp flour
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar 
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper and coat with cooking spray.

Combine milk, eggs whites and extracts in a small bowl with a fork. Set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in an electric mixer and mix at slow speed with a paddle attachment. Add butter. Continue beating at slow speed until mixture looks like wet sand (If you’re doing this by hand, sift the dry ingredients together and rub in butter).

Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining milk mixture and beat for an additional 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary. Do not overmix.

Pour into pans and gently shake to smooth batter. Bake 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes then invert onto rack to cool completely before frosting.

Buttercream Frosting
Source: Bakingdom

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 lb. confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 Tbsp milk
2 drops of red food coloring

Beat the butter and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar until combined. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and whisk on high for 4 minutes. Add food coloring and beat until mixed in.