Strawberry Ombre Cake

Strawberry Ombre Cake
93
9 Reviews
Creating the graduated color of the layers in this cake is easier than you think.
30 min
Prep Time
1:30
Total Time
16 servings

Ingredients

Strawberries

1 (16-ounce) package
fresh strawberries*, washed, hulled

Cake

1 (15.25- to 16.5-ounce) package
white cake mix
1/4 cup
Land O Lakes® Butter, melted
3
large Land O Lakes® Eggs (whites only)
3 tablespoons
water
Red food color

Frosting

1/2 cup
Land O Lakes® Butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package
cream cheese, softened
6 cups
powdered sugar
 
Sliced fresh strawberries, if desired
 
*Substitute 1 (16-ounce) package frozen strawberries, thawed, drained.

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour 2 (8-inch) round baking pans; set aside.
  2. Place strawberries into 5-cup blender container. Cover; blend until smooth.
  3. Combine 1 cup prepared strawberries, cake mix, 1/4 cup butter, egg whites, water and 3 drops food color in bowl. Beat at low speed 30 seconds or until mixed. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 2 minutes or until well mixed.
  4. Spread about 3/4 cup batter into 1 prepared pan. Add 5 drops red food color to remaining batter; beat until well mixed. Remove about 3/4 cup batter; spread into another prepared pan.
  5. Bake 9-12 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely. Clean pans; grease and lightly flour pans.
  6. Repeat with remaining batter adding 9 drops food color to third layer, 12 drops to fourth layer and 15 drops to fifth layer. Bake and cool cakes as directed above.
  7. Combine 1/4 cup prepared strawberries, 1/2 cup butter and cream cheese in bowl; beat at medium speed until well mixed. Add powdered sugar; beat at low speed until smooth.
  8. Assemble cake by placing 1 tablespoon frosting in center of serving plate; place darkest layer, bottom-side up, in center of plate. Spread about 1/2 cup frosting evenly over layer; top with next darkest layer. Continue with cake layers and frosting until all layers are stacked; frost top and sides of cake.
  9. Top with fresh sliced strawberries, if desired. Store refrigerated.

Recipe Tips

Read more about this recipe on Recipe Buzz® Blog.

Nutrition Facts (1 serving)

Calories
440
Cholesterol
40mg
Carbohydrates
71g
Protein
3g
Fat
17g
Sodium
320mg
Dietary Fiber
1g

Recipe Comments and Reviews

Rating

I made this cake for sunday's meal and the cake is delicisous. I added 1/2 cup of cool whip to the frosting and chilled the frosting before I frosted the cake. I made sure the cake was completed cooled. I used 8inch cake pans as well.

Posted April 29, 2013 by Linda

Rating

Karen - it is really important to grease the pans well and lightly flour each one. The flour helps to make the cake release from the pan easier. Otherwise, another suggestion would be to line each pan with parchment since that will come out of the pan very easily.

Posted April 24, 2013 by Cindy

Rating

Karen,I'm sorry that you had some problems with this recipe. Since each of the layers is thin anyway, it is important to use 8-inch cake pans so each layer would be slightly thicker.

Posted April 24, 2013 by Cindy

Rating

Also, every layer stuck to the pan even though tne pans were prepared properly!!!

Posted April 23, 2013 by Karen

Test Kitchen Comment
From: Cindy
Karen - it is really important to grease the pans well and lightly flour each one. The flour helps to make the cake release from the pan easier. Otherwise, another suggestion would be to line each pan with parchment since that will come out of the pan very easily.
Posted April 24, 2013

Rating

Unfortunately, I used 9" cake pans and the layers were waaaay too thin which caused them to crack and fall apart..my mistake!! So I put the thinner layers together to create one layer. I ended up with three layers so I lost the layered effect. That said, I wasn't that thrilled with the flavor. Just seemed to be missing something. Not sure I will make again.

Posted April 23, 2013 by Karen

Test Kitchen Comment
From: Cindy
Karen,I'm sorry that you had some problems with this recipe. Since each of the layers is thin anyway, it is important to use 8-inch cake pans so each layer would be slightly thicker.
Posted April 24, 2013

Rating

took lots of time, but well worth it. I think it tasted better the next day - the strawberry flavor was more intense. Can't wait to make it this summer with fresh local berries.

Posted April 16, 2013 by Andrea

Rating

I MEAN NO ONE CAN MAKE IT LIKE ITS ORGINAL BAKER, BUT DARN NEAR CLOSE

Posted April 15, 2013 by JACQUELINEKAY

Rating

The highlight of my Easter meal, the frosting and cake were so delicious!!!!

Posted April 12, 2013 by Sara

Rating

Had similar problems with the icing being too soft to support the layers. I addied more powdered sugar to get it to stiffen but that did little to help. Layers still slid. Even put a bamboo skewer in throught the layers as i was icing, but that didn't help either. I thought possibly the problem was because I used 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese. But that may not be the issue if others had problems with the icing too. But the cake and icing were delicious -- even if the results were visually more like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Posted April 10, 2013 by Jane

Rating

The layers of this cake are very narrow and will not rise very high like it would if you were baking the entire cake in one layer. From the cake mix you will bake 5 layers, each a different shade of color.

Posted April 08, 2013 by Cindy

Rating

A bit time consuming, but worth it . Lots of compliments went over great for Easter. While frosting, the frosting got soft and starting sliding down the sides of cake making puddles. Had to cool than make repairs. But cake was very good.

Posted April 01, 2013 by Anna S.

Rating

I will make this recipe but will color the batter with 8 drops red food color, then bake 3/4 cup in two pans. Then I will add 12 drops of the red food color to thew remaing batter and divide into three pans and bake. I will then stack and frost the layers with alternating light and dark layers. The coloring is the only change I will make.

Posted March 19, 2013 by Samantha

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