Painted Buttercream Cake

“Friends knock on your door. Best friends walk into your house and start eating”

Not sure where this quote is from – but I like it! This week I baked a white cake for my best friend’s birthday.

She wanted a white cake, and it had to have strawberries somewhere. But I also knew it had to be special. When you’ve been friends with someone for almost 20 years (!), you know they deserve a darn good cake. I’m pretty happy with my frosting recipes, but I was definitely worried about the painting aspect. Most things I could find on Pinterest were painted fondant cakes. Luckily I found this blog  which helped me out with the painting.

White Cake

1.5 cups butter

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

*Pre-heat oven to 350. Prepare cake pans with non-stick spray.

*Beat butter in stand mixer until fluffy. Add sugar to combine. Add eggs, milk, buttermilk, and vanilla extract.

*Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix together salt, flour, and baking powder. Add in 3 separate parts to wet ingredients and mix until combined.

(should make 3 or 4 cake layers depending on pan size and desired thickness of cakes)

Next – the frostings

Cream cheese frosting

1/2 cup butter

8 oz cream cheese

1 tsp clear vanilla extract

4.5 cups powdered sugar

1 Tbsp milk

*Beat butter and cream cheese together in stand mixer. Add powdered sugar in 1/2 cups and mix. Slowly pour in milk until desired frosting consistency. Next – layer cream cheese and fresh strawberry slices in between cake layers. Then do a crumb coat in the cream cheese frosting and refrigerate cake for about an hour to allow it to harden a bit.

Buttercream frosting

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp clear vanilla extract

2 Tbsp milk

*Beat butter and shortening in stand mixer until smooth

*Add sugar and vanilla extract. When frosting is too thick, add milk then continue to add sugar until desired consistency is achieved.

Next – Frost the cake as smoothly as possible because this will be your painting surface! Allow the frosting to harden in the fridge for a couple of hours before painting.

Painting

desired gel food colors

paintbrushes (used only for food)

small bowls for mixing paint

a good vodka (not rubbing alcohol)

*Place about a teaspoon of alcohol in a small bowl and a couple drops of paint (the more paint, the darker the color). Mix well.

*Paint whatever your heart desires onto your yummy cake! (Make sure the cake stays cold. If it starts to warm the frosting won’t be as hard and it will be much more difficult to work with. Pop the cake back in the fridge for a while and then continue until completed)