How to make a ruffled buttercream rainbow cake

Happy Mother's day to all the mothers out there today.

I've had a great day and I'll be finishing it off with a piece of this ruffley creamy cake tonight.

YUP creamy 'cause it's butter cream not fondant.

A while back I baked up a pretty pastel ruffle cake. It was kinda popular, but some of y'all were sad that it was fondant :(

CLICK HERE for instructions on how to make the fondant ruffle cake

So to make all those sad folk a bit happier I have made up some instructions on how you can make the same style ruffled cake with butter cream.

This one isn't a full rainbow. As it was for our mother's day celebrations it includes green and purple and I've popped a layer of pink in as well, just because it's my cake and I like pink.

Also the butter cream ruffles are never going to be as thin as the fondant ruffles, but the upside of the butter cream is that it takes around a quarter of the time.



and just so you know I'm using the term butter cream pretty loosely here. There is no butter or cream in the frosting I made up, I used a white vegetable shortening like crisco. I really like butter, REALLY LIKE it, so there has to be a good reason for me not to use it. Using the shortening results in a whiter frosting that is easier to color, it also stands up to the heat better than butter and it just plain stands up during piping better than a real butter frosting. If you prefer you can try a different type of frosting and depending on how firm it is it might work. It does work with Italian Meringue butter cream in cool weather.

Now I have to get back to the very important task of picking which Epiphanie camera bag I'll be getting as my late mother's day gift..........

Ruffled Butter Cream Rainbow Cake

Baked cake layers in pink, lilac and green *
sturdy cake board in the size of your cakes
White Frosting (recipe below)
various gel food colors (I used dusty pink, vintage blue and moss green)
off set spatula
#406 Wilton tip
3 disposable piping bags
a cake turntable or a cake stand

# the #406 Wilton piping tip is one of the large sizes that do not fit into regular couplers. It looks like a 104 petal tip but is twice the size.
* My cakes were made using the vanilla cake recipe from my book Sweets on a Stick, you can just use any cake mix you like or even packet mix colored with a little food gel, I also added some strawberry and lavender flavor to the cake mix before baking.

Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)

The night before you decorate the cake color color 1 cup each of the frosting pink, lilac and green, if you like you can add some flavor during this step. I made the pink strawberry and the lilac lavender flavor.

Cut the brown crusty edges off the cake layers.

Place the green cake layer onto the cake board and place a good dollop of frosting on top. Use the offset spatula to spread evenly around the top of the cake and place the lilac layer of cake on top of the first green layer pressing down lightly.

 Repeat the process adding more frosting and then the final pink layer of cake.

Using as little frosting as possible give the cake a coating of the white frosting using the offset spatula and smoothing the top as much as possible. Pop the frosted cake into the fridge until the frosting is firm to touch.

** I was working on a cake turntable up to this step. So that I did not have a cake board in the finished cake I used a large cake lifter, inserted it between the bottom cake layer and the cake board and lifted the cake onto my serving cake stand. You don't need to do this step I'm just explaining as some people think it's weird when I don't have a board in the instructions and then not in the pictures.**

One the frosting is firm to touch frost the top with a thin layer of pink frosting. Smooth as much as possible using the bottom of the offset spatula. If you have a special tool for smoothing you can use that instead.

Cut off the end of a disposable piping bag and place the tip in the end. Fill the bag with about 1 cup of the pink frosting.

** You might like to get a feel for the bag and tip and do a few practice squeezes onto a clean plate or parchment paper to work out how you like the ruffles. I like to attach the bottom thicker edge of the tip to the surface and then pull sideways slowly moving my hand back and forth, parallel to the surface being frosted.**

Starting at the top of the cake frost a layer of pink ruffles. Hold the larger/bottom opening of the tip to the top edge of the cake and move around the cake slowly with small up and down movements.If you are right handed it will be easier to move around the cake anti-clockwise (reverse for left handed).

I held the piping bag with my right hand and the cake stand with my left hand spinning the cake and keeping the piping bag in the same general spot just moving up and down slightly. Doing it this way a row of piping took about 15 seconds. However if you do not have a stand or turntable you can do the ruffle in sections lifting and restarting as you turn your plate around.

Pipe another 2 or 3 ruffle layers around the whole cake trying to keep the ruffles as close to the one above as possible until you can see that you have covered the top cake layer. If you have only used a thin layer of white frosting to cover the cake layers you should be able to see when you reach the end of the pink cake.

I only had one tip so I had to remove it and wash in warm soapy water with a tip cleaner.

This here is where I was fixing up the mistake, but it kinda shows how to hold the piping tip to the cake. It's really hard to take a photo of yourself piping :)

Cut the end of another disposable piping bag, place the tip in the end and fill the bag with the lilac frosting and pipe 3 or 4 layers of ruffles around the cake until you reach the end of the lilac cake layer.

Repeat the process with the green frosting around the bottom green cake layer.

If during the piping process you make a mistake, you can simply remove the messy section with a clean small offset spatula or knife and recipe just the removed section, but this should be done before the next layer is piped underneath.

The cake is best served within a day. It can be stored in the fridge, just remove an hour or so before serving to allow to come to room temperature.

White Frosting

500g  icing sugar sifted (1 lb and 1 5/8oz powdered sugar)
350g white vegetable shortening * or crisco (around 2 cups) (12 3/8 oz)
1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract (I normally use real vanilla extract but I used clear vanilla flavor in this recipe)

In the bowl of a large stand mixer using the whisk attachment, mix the icing sugar and warm water until combined.

Add the vegetable shortening and whisk at high for around 10 to 15 minutes or until the mixture is very light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.

You may add any color or flavor at this stage to achieve your desired frosting.

*In Australia white vegetable shortening can be found at cake decorating and kitchen stores like HERE
or you can buy Crisco in Australia at some good deli's, chocolate stores (the type that sell US candy sometimes sell Crisco) or here at US FOODS.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Pink Lilac and Green buttercream ruffle cake for Mothers Day

 Tomorrow is mothers day and I'm not sure if I will get enough time to get a post out so I'm sharing a picture of the pink, lilac and green ruffle cake I made for our mothers day celebration.

and YES it is buttercream this time for all of you that don't care for fondant.

The pink cake and frosting is strawberry and the lilac cake and frosting is flavored lavender and the green is.....umm well embarrassingly vanilla, but anything I had that would match the green color would have been really odd tasting with the strawberry and lavender :)

and I remembered to take pictures for a tutorial that I will type it up as soon as I get some time. It will include the recipe for the frosting and the piping tip and the colors I used....you know all that useful stuff. I'll let y'all know on my facebook page when I do it, otherwise check back here maybe next Sunday.


I just used the easy vanilla one bowl cake from my book sweets on a stick to make up the cake and added some flavor to the mix before baking.

Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)

How to make a Pink Ombre Ruffle Dress Cake for a Fashion Party

 I've still got a couple of years to go before my girls are into the whole fashion party scene.....I think.

So when my friend Naomi V Photography asked me if I could create something for her daughter's Fashion themed Birthday party I agreed but I wasn't quite sure what I was going to come up.

Luckily Naomi had arranged for Putting on a Party on come on board and they asked if I could make a dress cake and heel cupcakes.

Ummm could I? Well I wasn't sure but y'know seeing as it was for a friend I decided to give it my best try.


I'm a bit of a fan of those ruffly dresses with swathes of material that the couture houses make up for the runways and actresses to wear on the red carpets, so I thought I would go with that look.

The theme was white, silver and pink so I decided to start with white and graduate down to darker shades of pink on the skirt .

I'm pretty happy with the finished result.

Inside the cake was raspberry flavored mud cake, once again starting at white and deepening in graduated shades of pink.

The actual bodice of the cake is cake as well, I was originally going to make the top out of fondant but I knew that cake was achievable, and way tastier so I just carved it out.

If you are attempting this cake I would suggest that you should have some experience with cakes and working with fondant first.

 Pink cake stand from Clara French

Pink Ombre Ruffle Dress Cake instructions

Like always this is just the way I did it. I trimmed my cake as I was adding the layers, mostly to save ganache and for me doing it this way the end cake ends up less lopsided. Also my ganache was very, very firm as we had a cold snap the day I was making this cake. I have not provided any recipes as I am trusting that you have a little cake experience if you are making this cake. Conversion to inches approximates.

5 cakes 16cm (6 ") wide by 8 cm (3") high (mine were in graduating shades of pink and white)
1 X 16 cm (6") cake board - very sturdy
1 X 23cm (9") cake board - very sturdy
White ganache (you will need to use about 600grams white chocolate)
off set spatula
Cake dowel
Ready roll fondant (pettince)
dusky pink/ burgandy food color
Cake smoothers X 2
large rolling pin
small sharp knife
small rolling pin
ruffling/frilling tool
non stick petal pad/foam (see here for example) optional for thinner ruffles
cornflour/ cornstarch
small brush and water


* Fondant dries out very fast. You must work quickly and keep in an airtight container when not in use. Knead well before use.
**Some people may prefer to use a pasta machine to roll the ruffles very thin, that is more than ok, I say do what makes you happy and works :)

Knead the fondant well and using the food color make 4 different shades ranging from pale pink through to a deep dusky pink. Make double of the paler pink.

Cover the 23cm (9") cake board with the paler pink fondant and allow to set overnight. If you like you can attache ribbon around the edge of the board using double sided sticky tape or a hot glue gun.

Cut the brown edges of the tops, bottoms and sides of the cakes.

Place a small amount of ganache onto the 16cm cake board and press the first cake layer (darkest pink) onto the board.

Top the first cake layer with a thick layer of ganache, press on the second cake layer (medium pink) and pop into the fridge to chill a little.

Eeek I know this looks messy, but I just can't sweat the little things when I know it's all gonna get covered with ruffles, it's not in my nature.

Remove from the fridge and carve a little of the second cake layer off so that it is a bit smaller that the first layer. Add more ganache to the top of the second layer and press on the 3rd layer of cake (light pink). I trimmed my 3rd cake a bit before popping it onto the ganached 2nd layer. Place in fridge to chill.

Add the 4th layer (palest pink) using the same process and trimming as the other layers and the final white layer. As the white layer will be very small, make sure to carve it off one side as you need the rest to make the bodice. You should be able to get another 2 layers from the white cake, add them to the cake ganaching and chilling in between each layer.

Once the final white cake layer is added add a dowel down the center of the cake. To add a dowel push it into the middle of the cake piercing each layer, draw a line at the top of the cake and then remove the down and cut it down to size. Return the dowel to the center of the cake.

Make sure the ganach is well set and then carve the cake to get the dress shape you need.

Ganache around the sides and top of the cake and allow to set.

Do a second layer of ganache around the cake making sure the finish is as smooth as possible. You may need to use a hot knife, spatula or smoothing tool.

Cover the cake with white fondant. I did this in 2 sections, the smaller top bodice section first and then the skirt. It is possible to do this as the cake will be covered with ruffles which will hide any joins.

Knead the fondant and then roll out with a large rolling pin  until quite thin, trim to a circle that will be large enough to come down just under the waist. Lift the fondant over the cake, center and press is down on the cake making it as smooth as possible. I wasn't able to get it smooth enough so I trimmed some excess of at the back and rubbed over it with the smoothers until the join wasn't noticeable

OK still messy and a bit too bumpy - don't worry it's about to get covered.

Roll out more fondant, this time in a longish rectangle to wrap around the skirt joining together at the back and trimming off any excess from the back and bottom. Use cake smoothers to get the finish as neat as possible. With a knife mark on the dress little indents to indicate where you are going to change the ruffle colours.

Using some edible glue attach the white fondant covered dress cake onto the 23 cm pink covered board.

If you have a cake turntable you can pop the cake onto the turntable but it is not essential.

To Make the fondant ruffles dust the workbench with cornflour (cornstarch), take a piece of fondant about 1 1/2 tsp and shape it into a rectangle, using the small rolling pink roll in out into a long strip. As you roll you may need to press the sides in carefully with the sides/heels of you hands to stop it from getting too wide. (or if you find that is not working you can always use a sharp knife to trim it back to size) Keep rolling until the strip is quite thin. I like to pick the strip up after each roll to ensure it is not sticking to the bench and when necessary dust underneath again.

Pick the strip of fondant up and place it onto the non stick foam. Using the middle section of the frilling tool roll back and forth (like using a rolling pin) to make the strip even thinner, you will probably get it to double in length.

  Then use the edge of the frilling tool rolling back and forth to frill one edge of the strip a little more.

 For this dress I made the first couple of dark dusty pink ruffles wider than normal to look like a bit of a swishy tail at the side.

Attach this strip of fondant to your cake cone starting at the bottom right corner. As the color is graduating diagonally you will need to start the first ruffle off just on one side with a short length approximately 8 to 10 cm  (3 to 3.5 ") long. Brush on a very small amount of water to the cake cone and press the fondant strip onto the cake. I tried to gather the strip to make it appear more ruffly (see picture).

 Continue making strips of fondant and attaching them to the dress cake working your way up diagonally until you reach the indicator you have marked in the dress, then switch over to the medium pink fondant.


Cover the skirt of the dress up to the waist in this way, switching to a lighter color at each of the indicators.If your length of fondant runs out don't worry just start off with a a new strip at the same spot you finish off the last strip.

To get a full looking skirt I have in some sections added extra short lengths of ruffles ie. the ruffles did not circle the whole cake around they were only about 8 to 15cm(3 to 5 ") long.

When you get to the waist, stop working from the bottom and start attaching the ruffles from the top, 'bustline' of the dress and work down the the waist. I added 3 or 4 extra short ruffles in the bust area to fill it out a bit.


Continue the ruffles attaching downwards until you reach the waist.

Make one final strip of fondant. With this strip use the ruffle tool on both sides and attach it to the waist along it's middle so that the edge ruffles lift up at the bottom and top. Making this finish as smooth as possible without adding extra gthering.


I attached a length of non edible material ribbon to the cake with edible glue and added a flower made from some of the leftover fondant.


To make the flower I cut out 4 different sized blossoms popped them on the non stick foam and using a boning tool thinned out the flowers. I attached then together using edible glue, added a silver sprinkle and then used a modeling tool to bend the petals in a little.

If you haven't been to my site before you might not know that I have a book out called Sweets on a Stick. It's a kid friendly book with over 150 recipes for all different types of sweets on a stick including cookies, candy, pies, cupcakes and cake pops. The recipes in the book are waaaay easier that this cake. It is a US release book with metric conversions at the back.

It's lots of fun and is available here at amazon:

Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)