Luscious Lips Buttermilk Cake
A vanilla-flavored buttermilk cake with buttercream decorated for Valentine's Day.
Equipment
- parchment paper cut into rounds to fit pans
- (3) 9-inch cake pans
- mixer
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 3 ⅔ cups cake flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature (see note below)
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 egg whites, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk, room temperature
Buttercream Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature (3 sticks butter)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 pinch of salt
- 6 cups confectioners' sugar
- ⅓ cup whole milk (can substitute heavy cream, half and half, or whipping cream)
- 3 drops pink food coloring optional
- assorted sprinkles with gold, red, and pink colors optional
- 5 red gummi candy lips and toothpicks optional
Instructions
Cake Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut three parchment paper rounds that will fit flat in the bottom of the cake pans. (You can use the bottom of a pan to trace a circle.) Then, grease and flour three 9-inch pans. Place a parchment paper in the bottom of each pan. Grease and flour the parchment rounds.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine all ingredients. Set aside.
- Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until well blended, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides, ensuring the butter and sugar are well combined. Add the eggs, egg whites, and vanilla and beat until blended well. Then, alternating between the flour and buttermilk and ending with flour, add a little of each, beating between additions, until all is added and blended. Be careful not to overbeat.
- Divide the batter between the 3 pans. To ensure that they cook evenly and are flat, use baking strips. See the note below for an easy alternative to baking strips.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (or with crumbs) in the center of the cake.
- Cool on racks.
Buttercream Directions
- Cream the butter, vanilla, and salt together until smooth. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time, alternating with the milk, beating between each addition. Scape down the sides of the mixing bowl and then beat the frosting for 3-4 minutes until smooth.
- Add the food coloring for a soft pink color. Use more for a darker pink and less for blush pink. Frost the cake. If using sprinkles, add them around the bottom of the cake and sprinkle a few on the top. Stick toothpicks (or skewers) in the bottom of the gummy lips and stick them on top of the cake.
Notes
Butter
If you only have salted butter for this cake recipe, cut the salt ingredient in half (1/2 teaspoon).Using Baking Strips (optional)
Place wet baking strips around the cake pan before baking to bake a flat cake without a middle dome. You can buy these at craft stores in the cake-baking section or make your own.Making Baking Strips
To make a baking strip, follow these steps:- Cut a strip from an old towel. This strip should be long enough to fit around your cake pan and sufficient to fold over and make a double thickness.
- Wet and wring out the strip until damp and not dripping.
- Wrap the strip around the pan, overlapping the ends.
- Pin the strip with safety pins until it fits securely around the pan.
- Repeat until each pan has a baking strip.
- Fill the pans with batter and bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. This method keeps the cake sides from baking faster than the middle of the cake. You may need to add baking time until the toothpick test shows the cake is done.
Nutrition
Calories: 477kcalCarbohydrates: 62gProtein: 4gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 86mgSodium: 185mgPotassium: 66mgFiber: 0.5gSugar: 47gVitamin A: 773IUCalcium: 45mgIron: 0.3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!