Gradient Purple Vanilla Cake

When you bake any cake it is very important to accurately measure the ingredients and for all the ingredients to have them at room temperature before starting.

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Butter and line with parchment paper 2, or 4 if you have them, 8-inch cake pans. I have 2, so I baked the cake in 2 rounds. Cake recipe makes 4 cakes.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup milk and the vanilla. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electrical mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and remaining milk (1/2 cup) and mix on low speed until combined, then beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Add the egg white mixture, in 3 separate batches, beating for 20 seconds after every batch, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Your batter should look smooth. If it curdles it means you had too much liquid in the batter. I don’t know if it will work adding just a little more flour, like 1-2 tablespoons, because it never happened to me, but you can give it a try if you have a curdled batter.

Divide the batter equally into 4 separate bowls. You can do this using a kitchen scale. I don’t have one yet, so I just divided it using a large ice cream scoop. It is important to have equal amounts of batter to make sure your layers will be equal in thickness when baked.

Put one drop of pink food coloring in the first bowl, one pink plus one purple in the second, 2 purple drops in the third, and 3 drops of purple in the fourth. Mix each bowl well, with different spoons/forks/spatulas. You can do this using whatever colors and combination you want. This is a fun cake to make!

Bake the 4 different colored batches of batter. You can bake more layers if you like, and have a higher cake, it would be awesome! I put two pans at once in the oven, on the same rack, in the middle of the oven. Bake for 16 minutes. Baking time depends on your oven as well, so make sure to check them around minute 14. At this point, if you insert a toothpick into the center and it comes out clean, it’s done. It can be 15, 16 or 17 minutes. Is important not to over bake, and this is easy to do, because the layers are quite thin. So keep a watchful eye on them.

After baking the first two layers, let them cool in the pans, then delicately take them out of the pans. The layers are thin and very delicate. The colder they are the easier it will be to take them out. Parchment paper helps you a lot in this step, so it is important to use it. Put the cakes on a wire rack to cool completely.

Wash the pans, then dry, butter and line them with parchment paper. Follow the above instructions with the remaining 2 bowls of batter and bake the other two layers. When done, let them cool too, and here you have 4 beautiful different colored cake layers.

For the frosting:
Whip the heavy whipping cream using and electric mixer, using the wire whip attachment, until you have stiff peaks. Put it aside in a bowl. In the same bowl of the electrical mixer beat the cream cheese using the paddle attachment, on medium speed, until fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar gradually into the cream cheese, and then add the vanilla, and beat on medium (4 on my KitchenAid) for 7-10 minutes, until light and fluffy. Fold in the whipped cream and mix well.

I love cream cheese frosting, but I wanted it to be a little more light and airy, so I thought of combining it with whipped cream, and this is now my favorite cake frosting! It will work great on cupcakes as well, I can’t wait to try!

Place the darkest lavender colored cake layer (the one with 3 drops of coloring) on the cake stand, or serving platter you will use for the cake. Using the same ice cream scoop place two dollops of the frosting in the middle of the layer, and spread evenly using a spatula.

Place the cake layer with two purple coloring drops on top, spread with another 2 dollops of frosting, then add the cake with pink and purple coloring and spread with frosting. Finally add the last pink layer on top. Frost the whole cake with a thin layer of cream cheese frosting, to crumble coat it. This will ensure that no cake crumbs will get into your final layer of frosting, and have a perfect result. Place in fridge for 30 minutes to set. You can then finish frosting it with the remaining cream frosting.