Description
Moist and tender green vanilla cake layers frosted with classic vanilla American buttercream and decorated with vintage piping and shamrocks.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Green Vanilla Cake
- 1 C (227g) Salted Butter, at room temperature
- 1 3/4 C (375g) Granulated Sugar
- 1/3 C (65g) Vegetable Oil
- 3 Lg Eggs (160 g) + 3 Egg Whites (102 g) at room temperature
- 2 1/2 C + 2 TBSP (345 G) All Purpose Flour
- 6 TBSP (55 g) Cornstarch
- 2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 C (250 g) Buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 TBSP Dark Green Gel Food Coloring
For the Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 1/2 C (3 Sticks, 339g) Salted Butter
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 6 C Powdered Sugar
- 4–6 TBSP Heavy Cream, at room temperature
- ½ tsp Green Gel Food Coloring *optional
Instructions
For the Green Vanilla Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line 3 8″ round cake pans with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, and oil for 7 minutes. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
- While the mixer is going, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, in a separate medium sized mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Stir the vanilla extract and food coloring into the buttermilk. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg whites, then with the mixer on low, slowly incorporate the eggs into the batter. Once all the eggs are added, mix for 1-2 minutes, until smooth and glossy. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure no egg has settled in the bottom of the bowl.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk in 5 total additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Once incorporated, do a final mix with a rubber spatula, then evenly divide the batter into the prepared pans.
- Bake at 350 for 25-27 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached.
- Let cool for 5 minutes, then flip cakes out onto a cooling rack, let cool completely, then wrap in plastic and place in the fridge to chill.
For the Vanilla American Buttercream
- Let the butter sit on the counter for 30-45 minutes before starting, but it shouldn’t be completely room temperature or too soft.
- Cream the butter in a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment for 10 minutes, scraping down the bowl every 2-3 minutes.
- Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
- Add the powdered sugar 1/2 at a time, mixing on medium low speed for 3 minutes after each addition.
- Add the heavy cream 2 TBSP at a time until the buttercream reaches your desired consistency.
- Do a final quick mix with a rubber spatula to release any remaining air bubbles.
- If you want to pipe on green shamrocks and/or vintage piping details, remove about 1 ½ C of the frosting and color it green with the gel food coloring. To get a deeper or more muted tone, add a tiny bit of black food coloring
Assembly
- Spread 2 tsp of buttercream onto a cake board or cake stand on top of a turn table.
- Place the first cake layer in the center of the board. This cake bakes up perfectly flat and does not dome when the instructions are followed closely. If your cake domes, make sure to level it off before stacking the cake.
- Spread buttercream in a thin even layer, then stack the second layer.
- Repeat until all three layers are stacked.
- Apply the crumb coat, and smooth.
- Chill cake for 30 minutes to allow the crumb coat to set.
- Apply the final layer of buttercream and smooth.
- For vintage piping, I used Wilton tips #32 and #16, but any two open star tips will work. And for the ruffles I used Wilton #67 but any leaf or ruffle tip should work just fine.
- For the 4 leafed clovers, fit a piping bag with a small round tip and about ¼ C of the green frosting. Pipe shamrocks randomly all over the cake.
- Slice and serve.