Name: Vanilla Buttercream Layer Cake with Fresh Flowers
Prep time: 150 min
Cook time: 28 min
Total time: 178 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 cups (360g) cake flour, spooned and leveled; 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar; 1 tbsp baking powder; 1 tsp kosher salt, divided; 2 1/2 cups (565g) unsalted butter, softened, divided; 4 large eggs, room temperature; 1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temperature; 1 tbsp plus 2 tsp vanilla extract, divided; 5 cups (600g) powdered sugar, sifted; 3 to 4 tbsp heavy cream; 1 small bunch fresh flowers, pesticide-free lilies, roses and baby's breath, for decoration only; as needed floral tape and drinking straws, to wrap stems

Vanilla Buttercream Layer Cake with Fresh Flowers

4.9 from 377 home cooks Free

Three tender vanilla layers stacked with fluffy white buttercream, finished with rustic horizontal ridges and a crown of fresh flowers. It looks like a bakery celebration cake but leans on two forgiving techniques: reverse creaming for a fine crumb and a slow spatula spiral for the texture.

Prep

2 hr 30 min

Cook

28 min

Total

2 hr 58 min

Serves

Level

Hard

Cuisine

American

Method

Step 1: Heat the oven to 350F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment and grease the paper.
Step 2: In a stand mixer with the paddle, mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and 3/4 tsp salt on low. Add 1 cup (226g) soft butter in chunks and mix 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture looks like fine, damp sand with no dry pockets.
Step 3: Whisk the eggs, milk and 1 tbsp vanilla in a pitcher. Pour in half and beat on medium 90 seconds to build structure, then add the rest in two additions on low, scraping the bowl, until just smooth.
Step 4: Divide the batter evenly among the pans, weighing them if you can, and bake 24 to 28 minutes, until the tops spring back and a toothpick in the center shows a few moist crumbs. Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto racks and cool completely, about 1 hour.
Step 5: For the buttercream, beat the remaining 1 1/2 cups (340g) butter on medium-high a full 5 minutes, until almost white. Add the powdered sugar and remaining 1/4 tsp salt on low, then 2 tsp vanilla and 3 tbsp cream, and whip 3 minutes more, adding another spoon of cream if it feels stiff.
Step 6: Level any domed layers with a serrated knife. Stack them on a cake board with 3/4 cup buttercream between each, cover the whole cake in a thin crumb coat and refrigerate 30 minutes, until firm.
Step 7: Spread the remaining buttercream on thickly and smooth it roughly. With the cake on a turntable, rest the tip of a small offset spatula against the base, then spin slowly while drawing the spatula upward so it carves a continuous spiral of ridges. Sweep the top flat toward the center.
Step 8: Trim the flower stems to 2 inches, wrap the cut ends in floral tape and slip them into short pieces of straw so no stem touches the frosting. Pull the stamens from the lilies to prevent pollen stains, arrange the flowers on top and lift them all off before slicing.

Kitchen note

Reverse creaming coats the flour in fat before any liquid arrives, which limits gluten and gives layers a velvety, tight crumb that stacks without tearing. Beating the frosting butter for a long time whips in air and fades its yellow tint.