Ombre Wedding Cake Decorating: A Step-By-Step Guide

Ombre wedding cakes are a beautiful and elegant choice for a wedding. They are made by creating an ombre effect with the buttercream or icing, which can be done by adding gel food colouring to the mixture. The cake is then decorated with swirls, a partial ganache drip, and mini macarons. This article will provide a step-by-step guide on how to create this stunning cake.

How to make ombre buttercream

To make ombre buttercream, you will need to add a small amount of gel food colouring to your buttercream. Start with a small squirt and stir until the colour is even. You can add more colouring to deepen the shade. Cover the top of the cake and a quarter of the side with the lightest colour. Then, add another small squirt of colouring to the remaining buttercream and spread a ring of this darker shade underneath the lightest colour. Gently blend the two shades together with a small offset spatula. Repeat this process two more times, until you have four deepening shades of frosting covering the cake. Use a bench scraper to smooth the frosting and then decorate as desired. You can also pipe lines of different colours around the cake and use an icing spatula to slowly and evenly smooth the frosting, blending the colours together.

How to pipe ombre icing

To pipe ombre icing, you will need to make buttercream in several shades of the same colour. Start by covering the top of the cake and a quarter of the side of the cake with the lightest shade of buttercream. Then, add a small amount of gel food colouring to the remaining buttercream and mix until you have a darker shade. Spread a ring of this darker buttercream underneath the lightest colour with a small offset spatula, gently blending the two shades together where they meet. Repeat this process two more times, using increasingly darker shades of buttercream, until you have four deepening shades of frosting covering the cake. Use a bench scraper to smooth the frosting, then pipe swirls on top of the cake with a Wilton 1M tip.

Alternatively, you can pipe lines of each colour around the cake, starting with the lightest colour at the bottom and working your way up to the darkest. Use an icing spatula to slowly and evenly smooth the frosting along the sides of the cake, blending the colours together as you go. Finish by using the spatula to even out the layers of frosting, smoothing until the ombre effect is to your liking.

How to blend ombre shades

To create an ombre effect on your wedding cake, you will need to use gel food colouring to dye your buttercream icing. Start by covering the top of the cake and a quarter of the side of the cake with the lightest colour of buttercream. Then, add a small squirt of gel food colouring to the remaining buttercream to create a darker shade. Spread a ring of this darker shade underneath the lightest colour with a small offset spatula. Gently blend the different shades of frosting together where they meet. Repeat this process two more times, adding more gel food colouring and spreading it underneath the previous layer each time. This will create four deepening shades of frosting covering the cake.

You can also pipe lines of different-coloured icing around the cake and then use an icing spatula to slowly and evenly smooth the frosting along the sides of the cake, blending the colours together.

How to decorate an ombre cake in advance

To decorate an ombre wedding cake in advance, you can follow these steps:

Firstly, you will need to bake the cake layers. Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C and line four 7" or three 8" pans with parchment rounds, greasing them with non-stick baking spray or homemade cake pan release. Mix 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 3 cups of sugar, 2 1/2 tsp of baking powder, and 1 tsp of salt together in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or hand mixer until fully combined. Then, mix in 1 cup of room temperature, unsalted butter slowly into the dry ingredients on a low speed.

Once the cake layers are baked and cooled, you can make the ombre buttercream. Add a small squirt of gel food colouring to a bowl of buttercream and stir until evenly coloured. Cover the top and 1/4 of the side of the cake with this lightly coloured buttercream. Add another small squirt of gel food colouring to create a darker shade, and spread a ring of buttercream underneath the lightest colour with a small offset spatula. Gently blend the different shades of frosting together where they meet. Repeat this process two more times, until there are four deepening shades of frosting covering the cake.

To decorate the cake, you can use a bench scraper to smooth the frosting, and then pipe some swirls on top with a Wilton 1M tip. You can also add a partial ganache drip and some mini macarons, or any other decorations of your choice. If you are making the cake in advance, it can sit at room temperature for up to a day or be stored in the fridge for up to a week.

How to make an ombre cake from scratch

To make an ombre cake from scratch, you will need to bake a cake and make buttercream. Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line four 7" or three 8" pans with parchment rounds and grease with non-stick baking spray or homemade cake pan release. Mix 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 3 cups of sugar, 2 1/2 tsp of baking powder, and 1 tsp of salt together in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or hand mixer until fully combined. Mix in 1 cup of room temperature, unsalted butter slowly into the dry ingredients on a low speed.

While the cake chills, make the ombre buttercream. Add a small squirt of gel food colouring to the bowl and stir until evenly coloured. Cover the top of the cake and 1/4 of the side of the cake with the lightly coloured buttercream. Add another small squirt of gel food colouring, then spread a ring of buttercream underneath the lightest colour of buttercream with a small offset spatula. Gently blend the different shades of frosting together where they meet. Repeat 2 more times, until there are 4 deepening shades of frosting covering the cake.

Use a bench scraper to smooth the frosting, then decorate as desired. You could pipe some swirls on top of the cake with a Wilton 1M tip and add a partial ganache drip and some mini macarons. If you’re making this cake in advance, it can sit at room temperature for up to a day or be stored in the fridge for up to a week.

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