Tuesday, May 22, 2012

purple ombre petal cake with chocolate butterflies for mother's day


My mom likes desserts that are not too sweet.  And, she loves lemon.  So for Mother's Day I decided to make her a lemon blueberry cake, with purple ombre petal frosting for a girly feminine touch.


Initially I was going to make a lemon cake with blueberries in the batter itself, but last minute I decided to just make it a lemon cake, filled with blueberry whipped cream.  I had been eyeing a recipe for "hot milk cake" in my copy of "Miette" by Meg Ray; it sounded interesting because it was the total opposite of any other cake recipes I had tried.  While usually I would combine the fat with the sugar and then add eggs, and then alternate a flour mixture with milk, this recipe called for beating eggs with sugar, then adding the flour, then melting butter with hot milk, which is then poured into the cake batter at the end.  Interesting!  I wanted to try it.  The only thing I changed was adding lemon zest to the batter, to give a nice lemony flavor to the cake.


The blueberry filling was fairly simple - I whipped heavy cream with a bit of confectioner's sugar and vanilla, and when it started forming stiff peaks I added a few tablespoons of pureed blueberries (blueberries that I had pulsed in the food processor), and then whipped it a bit more to incorporate.

For the frosting, I wanted a light frosting that wasn't too sweet, so I chose this swiss meringue cream cheese frosting at 6 Bittersweets - I've been wanting to try her recipe, and it sounded perfect with the lemon and blueberry combination.  But I must have done something wrong, because my frosting came out very loose.  I tried refrigerating it for a while and then rebeating, but this only lead to clumpy not-smooth frosting.  But I was running out of time, and besides it still tasted great, so I used it anyway.


I piped a border of frosting on the perimeter of my first layer of cake, so that the soft filling would not leak out.  Then I filled it with the blueberry whipped cream, and then topped it with my second layer of cake.  After a quick crumb coat of frosting, I began the fun part of creating the petal look of the frosting.  I found this great tutorial at Hungry Housewife, which shows you step by step how to create the petals.


I also made chocolate butterflies for the finishing touch!  I found a great tutorial here.  Initially I was going to make the butterflies purple, but since the top of my ombre cake was purple in the middle, I decided to just make them chocolate so that they would stand out.



When we cut into the cake, the inside looked so pretty with the purple and lemon yellow constrasting colors!  The cake was nice and lemony, but very very dense, and tasted almost like a lemon pound cake.  But the overall combination of lemon and blueberry flavors was nice.


Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!


67 comments:

  1. I love the little "drawing plan" you've got. Trust me, i do the same but it never looks that Sane. By that i mean, no one else can understand even me. Love how it turned out too!

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    1. thanks @Pencil Kitchen! haha would love to see your drawing plans as well! i am sure they are beautiful, even if hard to understand :)

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  2. This is such a gorgeous cake. I love the lemon and blueberry combination. It's just wonderful. Your mother must have loved it.

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    1. thanks @Maureen @ Orgasmic Chef! she actually thought it was too dense! next time i will make her a light and airy chiffon cake :)

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  3. This looks amazing but can you give the recipe?

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    1. @Anonymous - thank you! here's the recipe for the frosting:
      http://www.6bittersweets.com/2011/11/ruffles-up-doc-carrot-cupcakes-with.html

      for the whipped cream filling, i just whipped 1 cup heavy cream with 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar and a little bit of vanilla extract, as well as a few tablespoons of blueberry puree.

      as for the cake, it's in my "Miette" book, so if you send me your email i'll just take a picture of the recipe and send to you (that way i don't have to type it all out)!

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  5. Thanks for the link love!! you cake turned our beautiful!

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    1. @Leslie - i just realized that you're "the hungry housewife" herself! thanks for stopping by, and for the amazing tutorial! :)

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  6. Your cake is beatiful decorated :)

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  7. wow I'm really amazed, this cake is gorgeous!

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  8. You could probably sell these. Congratulations on making the foodbuzz Top 9!

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  9. This cake is beautiful! Nice job.

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  10. Beautiful looking cake,welldone deserved in top 9 today,Congrats!!

    Ridwan

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    1. thanks so much @Asian-spice mix! i'm super excited about top 9!

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    1. @Ladies Holiday - aww, what a sweet comment! thank you!

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  12. Dear Lord, that cake is so beautiful it looks like it's from a magical fairyland!!

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    1. @Becca - thanks for the lovely comment! :)

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  13. This is AMAZING. So beautiful! So glad I found you. I am working on a birthday cake for my friend's 30th birthday and I'm awful with decorating cakes. Will go through your site for some inspiration! Congrats on top 9! Well deserved. :)

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    1. @gastronomic nomad - i'm so glad you found me too! good luck on the birthday cake, can't wait to see what you end up doing!

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  14. I love the design of the cake. Very well executed and I'm sure it tasted delightful!

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  15. This is GORRGEOUS!! Nicely done!! Congrats on the Top 9!

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  16. What a stunning cake! You really did an amazing job on this. Congratulations on your Foodbuzz spot, too!

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    1. @Georgia | The Comfort of Cooking - thank you for the sweet comment!

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  17. Gorgeous cake! Thanks for sharing this and I am following your blog now!

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    1. @Her Worldly Pleasures - thank you! and yay so glad you're following the blog now! :)

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  18. Your cake looks divine, and I love the chocolate butterflies.

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    1. @Starr - thank you! the butterflies were super easy to make too!

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  19. Soo beautiful!!! I love the purple! ;) Congrats on the Top 9! So awesome! :)

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  20. This is so beautiful!! So perfect for Mother's Day!

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    1. @Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. - thank you! love your site!

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  21. That looks so beautiful! very original. Can u give me the cake recipe? :)

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    1. @Anonymous - no problem! the recipe is in my "Miette" book, so if you send me an email i'll just take a picture of the recipe and send it to you (that way i don't have to type it all out)!

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    2. my email is helna_v@hotmail.com ! waiting for the picture, then :):)

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    3. @Anonymous - just sent it to you! let me know how it turns out for you! :)

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  22. Hi... Can you share the recipe with me?
    my email address : mariawaheeda@gmail.com
    tqvm..

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  23. This is so beautiful! I didn't know that you have to do some drawing first before decorating the cake!

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    1. @Christine - thank you! sometimes i like to make a quick sketch to brainstorm ideas, but i don't do it all the time :)

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  24. not sure if you are still giving the recipe away.. I would love it too please. This cake looked amazing!!

    tuttnr@yahoo.com

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    1. @Anonymous - no problem, sending you an email now!

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  25. I would love a copy of this recipe please. What number tip did you use?

    Thank you very much! bettyboop_tm@yahoo.com

    Im a big fan by the way :-)

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    1. @Anonymous - hi betty! i just emailed you the recipe! enjoy!

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  26. Hi there! I just stumbled upon your blog and would LOVE this recipe, if you wouldn't mind sending it to me, please :-) This cake looks fantastic! mcooper2@gmu.edu

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  27. Michele, what a gorgeous cake! What food coloring did you use for the purple? It's beautiful.

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    1. thanks @Liz ! for the purple i used americolor gel-based violet: http://amzn.to/1cXMCAR

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  28. wow, i was looking through cake central and saw your cake and had to check your blog..amazing. the cake is gorgeous. Do you mind sharing your recipe for it? cherbot1@hotmail.com

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    1. @Trinibaker81 - sent you the recipe via email, enjoy!

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  29. decoration looks so pretty! would you be able to share the recipe with me too? shortcake@gmail.com

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    1. @Akemi - just sent you an emaiil! enjoy! :)

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  30. Fairytale!! That s what I ca say. You make amazing cakes. Where do you live?

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    1. thanks @Sowmya Sundararajan ! and i live in california!

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  31. Olá bom dia.!!!!!!!!
    Nossa ki maravilha de blog!!!
    Nossa receitas bem elaboradas, fotos perfeitas é gostosas.
    Vou seguir seu blog,parabéns!!!!!!!!!!! lourdes araujo

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