Let’s get Tropical! – White Cake with Swiss Buttercream

A friend of mine ordered this cake for her Dad’s birthday last weekend, and I love how it turned out! I used my favorite white cake recipe, paired with strawberry jam, fresh strawberries, and vanilla Swiss buttercream. She wanted a tropical themed cake, so I had some fun making some big flowers out of colored Swiss buttercream. I’ll take you through how I made the cake and give you some decorating tips! 🌺🌞🌸

White Cake with Swiss Buttercream

1. The first thing we need to do is make the white cake. Preheat your oven to 350℉. Measure out all of your dry ingredients in your mixing bowl, and your wet ingredients in a separate bowl. You will need the whisk attachment for your stand mixer.

2. Whisk together your dry ingredients: sugar, flour, salt, and baking soda, just to combine them and break up any clumps. Pour in your wet ingredients: buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla, and vinegar. Whisk on medium speed for about 3-5 minutes. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of your mixing bowl with a spatula halfway through mixing.

3. Prepare two 8-inch cake pans. Spray them with cooking spray and line them with parchment paper.

4. Divide your cake batter evenly between the 2 cake pans and bake for approximately 40 minutes. Check the cake is fully cooked by poking a skewer or toothpick in the center. If it’s not done, continue baking until the toothpick or skewer comes out clean.

5. Remove your cakes from the cake pans, wrap them in plastic wrap, and allow them to cool in the refrigerator. I would let them cool for at least an hour; it will be challenging to cut layers if it’s still warm. While the cake is cooling, you can make your swiss buttercream. Click the link here or at the top for the full recipe!

6. Once you have your cake and buttercream made, it’s time to stack and fill this bad boy! First, we need to cut the cake into layers. It’s easiest to do this using a cake turntable or lazy Susan. Hold your knife steady along the edge of the cake and turn the turntable while your knife slices a layer in the cake. Cut each cake in half, for a total of 4 layers. I like to cut off the top hump as well, so each layer is flat.

7. Slice up some fresh strawberries and get some strawberry jam. You’ll also need a piping bag, an offset spatula, and an 8-inch cake board. Place your cake board on the cake turntable, spread a small amount of buttercream onto the cake board, and center one layer of cake on top.

8. Pipe a border of butter cream along the edge of your cake layer. Fill the center with strawberry jam (about 1/2 cup per layer), and spread it evenly. Then add buttercream on top, about two large scoops, and spread that evenly over the top of the jam. It might get a little messy! Next, arrange the sliced strawberries on top of the buttercream to cover the whole layer.

9. Add another layer of cake and repeat this process until you have 3 layers of filling and 4 layers of cake.

10. Scoop several heaping scoops of buttercream on top of the cake and use an offset spatula to spread it over the top and down the sides. This will be your crumb coat, so keep it relatively thin. I like to use a large bench scraper to make sure my sides are nice and straight! Put the cake in the refrigerator to set the crumb coat for about 30 minutes.

11. After your cake has cooled, apply another layer of buttercream, this time making sure the cake doesn’t show through. Smooth it with a large bench scrapper or offset spatula. Once you have nice clean edges, it’s time to start decorating!

12. I used a leaf pattern on the sides of this cake. I have an edible image printer, so I can print these at home, but I know most people don’t have that option! Etsy sellers have a variety of patterns available if you like the way this looks! Simply peel off the backing of the edible paper and carefully place it on the buttercream. It will sort of melt into the buttercream as it sits.

13. Now, for the flowers! Mix up some buttercream with some food coloring. I like to start with one green, and a few warmer colors and then turn the warmer colors into cooler colors once I’m done with them. You will need piping bags and petal or leaf tips for this. I recommend getting a set that’s meant for flowers.

14. Put a piece of parchment on a sheet pan. We’re going to pipe some flowers right onto the parchment paper, and then refrigerate them so we can easily pick them up and place them on the cake. We’re making a hibiscus like flower for this cake design. Use a petal tip and make 3 little piles of green buttercream as the base for the leaves. Then, holding the fat side of the tip towards the center of your base, and the thin side facing outward, lightly fan the buttercream around the base.

15. Now, using another petal tip, fill your piping bag with the petal color you want to use. I like to mix two colors for some extra interest in the petals. Make 5 petal bases on top of your leaves. Then, with the fat side of the piping tip towards the center of your flower and the thin side facing outward, zigzag/fan buttercream over each base. Use the angle of the tip to create more height and dimension. Last, use a round tip and pipe the center of the flower. And don’t be scared! It’s just frosting and all flowers are unique and beautiful! Repeat this process until you have 5-7 flowers. If you only want them on the top of the cake, 3 will be fine.

16. Put the sheet pan with the flowers into the refrigerator or freezer until they are solid. You will be able to peel them off the parchment and hold them in your hands for a few seconds before they start to soften again. Put a dab of soft buttercream on your cake where you want to place your flowers, and they should stick right on top.

17. Use some other colors and piping tips to fill in the white space and pipe a border around the bottom of your cake. Have fun with it!!! No matter how it ends up looking, I guarantee it will be delicious!!!

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