First attempt at doing a Wave Ombré Smash Cake for a Baby Shark Birthday Theme Party.

For the cake itself I made a recipe from The Sprinkles Baking Book called the “Sprinkles Sprinkle Cake” which is a vanilla cake with sprinkles inside the cake. For the frosting I choose to do a vanilla frosting from the same baking book to fill the inside of the cake and do a colored (teal) crumb coat on the outside of the cake. Then for the pipping on the outside of the cake I used the Wiltons Vanilla Buttercream Frosting with teal food gel coloring. Recipes for all are below.

For the actual technique on how to pipe the waves on the cake and to color the frosting ombré I used this helpful tutorial from Krazy Kool Cakes & Designs. 

When doing cakes like this, I like to break it up in two days. First day I will bake the cakes, fill the cakes, and do a crumb coat frosting on the outside of the cakes. The second day I pipe the entire outside of the cake. It really lessens the stress and prevents mess ups if I do these kind of cakes in steps and/or days.

How To Make Wave Ombré Cake

• First, make your favorite cake and then fill and frost with your favorite frosting.
  • For this cake I choose to do “The Sprinkles Sprinkle Cake” from The Sprinkles Baking Book (recipe below).
  • I used a vanilla frosting to fill and do a colored crumb coat on the cake (recipe below).
  • I also used the Wiltons Vanilla Buttercream Frosting to decorate the cake with the waves (recipe below).
  • For this cake I used Wiltons Gel Food Coloring Teal.
• After your cakes have been baked, filled, stacked, and have a colored crumb coat on, you will make the vanilla buttercream frosting to pipe the waves on the cake. Once you have made the frosting you will need to color your entire batch of frosting with the lightest color you desire. Next you will divide the lightest colored frosting in two individual bowls, one bowl with a little bit more frosting than the other. Color the bowl with a little bit more frosting a little darker. Now divide half of that bowl with the darker color into another bowl and color the new bowl even darker. You should now have 3 different shades of your desired color.
• Now the fun part, you get to decorate the cake! For this cake I used Wiltons pipping tip 1M, a pipping bag, and Wilton® Icing Bag Ties. I pipped the “waves” staring from the bottom (darkest color) and working all the way to the top (lightest color). To get the technique on how to pipe the waves on this cake I used this helpful tutorial from Krazy Kool Cakes & Designs. I also added Teal Sprinkles throughout the cake for fun!

How To Make Sprinkles Sprinkle Cake

First, gather all your ingredients.

FOR THE SPRINKLES SPRINKLE CAKE:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened, plus more for greasing
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the pans
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 & 1/3 cups whole milk
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 large egg whites
• 2/3 cup rainbow jimmies-style sprinkles
• Optional: Non-stick cooking spray

Next, preheat the oven to 325°F degrees. Butter (or use non-stick cooking spray) two 6×3-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper cut to fit, and butter the parchment paper. Flour the pans, coating the bottom and sides of each pan, then tap out the excess flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a small bowl, stir together the milk and vanilla.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

Reduce the speed to medium-low, slowly add the eggs and egg whites one at a time, and beat until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes.

Slowly add half the flour mixture, then the milk mixture, then the remaining flour mixture, beating until just blended after each addition.

Using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold in the 2/3 cup rainbow sprinkles by hand.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake until the tops are just dry to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes.

Transfer the cakes in the pans to a wire rack and cool completely, then invert them onto cake rounds or another flat surface, like a platter, cake board, or revolving cake stand.

Using a long serrated knife, trim off any uneven or domed parts from the top of each cake layer to create a flat surface. Place one of the cakes on a serving platter or a cake board, leveled-sided up.

FOR THE VANILLA FROSTING:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
• 5 teaspoons whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 minutes.

Reduce the speed to low, gradually add the confectioners sugar, and beat until incorporated.

Increase the speed to medium, add the milk and vanilla, and beat until fully blended, 1 to 2 minutes, making sure not to incorporate too much air into the frosting.

Using an offset spatula, frost the top of that layer (with vanilla frosting), and then stack the other cake layer on top of the cake. Color the vanilla frosting the desired color and then frost the cake working from center outward, frost the top and sides of the cake. This will be the crumb coat.

After your cakes have been baked, filled, stacked, and have a colored crumb coat on, you will make the vanilla buttercream frosting to pipe the waves on the cake (recipe below). Once you have made the frosting you will need to color your entire batch of frosting with the lightest color you desire. Next you will divide the lightest colored frosting in two individual bowls, one bowl with a little bit more frosting than the other. Color the bowl with a little bit more frosting a little darker. Now divide half of that bowl with the darker color into another bowl and color the new bowl even darker. You should now have 3 different shades of your desired color.

FOR THE WILTONS VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:

• 1 teaspoon Imitation Clear Vanilla Extract 8 ounces (I used regular pure vanilla extract)
• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
• 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar, approximately 1 lb.
• 2 tablespoons milk

In large bowl, beat shortening and butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla.

Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry.

Gradually add milk or water, beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

DECORATE THE CAKE:

Now the fun part, you get to decorate the cake! For this cake I used Wiltons pipping tip 1M, a pipping bag, and Wilton® Icing Bag Ties. I pipped the “waves” staring from the bottom (darkest color) and working all the way to the top (lightest color). To get the technique on how to pipe the waves on this cake I used this helpful tutorial from Krazy Kool Cakes & Designs. I also added Teal Sprinkles throughout the cake for fun!

Tips & Tricks

• Using a cake turntable like the WIlton Cake Turntable would help out a lot when making this cake.
• My favorite go-to baking book is The Sprinkles Baking Book: 100 Secret Recipes from Candace’s Kitchen.
• I prefer using gel-based food coloring instead of liquid food coloring. I feel as if the gel-based food coloring gives a more vibrant color. You also do not have to use as much as you would if you were using a liquid food coloring. I remember using almost the whole bottle of liquid red food for one batch of cupcakes, so now I just stick to the gel-based food coloring for my cake mixes and frostings.
• I love using Wilton baking pans. I feel like they are the best quality pans out there for the price. They do not rust, are durable, and easy to clean.
• Whether you are frosting a cake or piping decorations, the consistency of the icing is key to getting the right results. Too soft and your decorations will droop. Too stiff and your icing will be difficult to spread. Go here for the 3 different buttercream icing consistencies.
• For all-purpose flour I love using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour. I first fell in love with this brand when I started eating healthy back in 2012, shortly after our twins were born. I first tried their Steel Cut Oats. Then when I had more time to bake I started using a lot of their other products such as, Almond Flour, Coconut Flour, Gluten Free Flour, Whole Wheat Flour, Pastry Flour, Bread Flour, and Xanthan Gum. They have so much more too! Baking mixes, Oats, Bars, Cereal, Granola, Grains, Beans, Seeds, Baking Aids, and more Flours! Seriously go check them out. Best quality baking products out there and no I am not getting paid to say this, I just love their products that much!
• Since I bake quite often I like to buy stuff in bulk. I love buying my flour, sugars, pure vanilla extract, butter, oil, eggs, and spices at Costco.
• Costco, Target, & Amazon are my favorite stores to shop at!

Make sure you post your photos on Instagram and tag me in them so I can see your creations from my blog #eazypeazylemonsqueezee