Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Pete and Gerry’s, but all opinions, as always, are mine.
When I look back, it’s amazing to me how my eating habits have changed. The changes were gradual, but now taking them all together, it’s practically a whole new me.
When I was in school I couldn’t eat much for breakfast or lunch due to the stress, so I came home and ate dinner. Scrambled eggs. Macaroni and cheese from a box. Cheese puffs. Take out. It was bad.
Following school I got to a point where I was finally able to eat three meals a day, but I almost always began my day with toaster pastries, and I didn’t even toast them guys. I ate cereal for lunch and candy every night for dessert. My weight was fine, but what I was eating was so not.
Now I incorporate a variety of healthy foods into my day. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, healthy oils, lean proteins, and most definitely eggs. I switch things up by including vegetarian, gluten free, and grain free meals rather frequently.
Eggs have gotten a bad rap in the past but Pete and Gerry’s is trying to change that. Not only are these organic eggs some of my favorites and always in my refrigerator, but they are healthy. Pete and Gerry’s is petitioning the FDA with the help of nutritionist Keri Glassman to have eggs officially labeled as healthy.
And the totally should be labeled as healthy since those toaster pastries and cereals I used to eat already are. That doesn’t make sense at all. Check out more about the #eggsarehealthy campaign!
We’re talking so much about eggs and healthy foods and I went and made cake for you. Cake is not healthy. And most of the time when I am eating eggs they are scrambled, baked, poached, or boiled to pair with salads or roasted vegetables. Eggs are also a super important component of baking.
Eggs make not only this cake but also the frosting possible, and though cake is not healthy, part of being healthy is indulging sometimes, and when you use high quality, organic when possible, ingredients, there should be no guilt associated with having a slice of cake.
This is definitely the kind of cake in which you want to indulge. Let’s start with that super fun purple ombre cake. Purple is one of my favorite colors and ombre is my favorite trend even when it’s not officially a trend. Cake is always a crapshoot as to whether it will be fluffy and moist or dry and dense. This cake totally impressed. It’s so soft and fluffy and has an awesome vanilla flavor, no bitterness from the coloring whatsoever.
Then there’s the jam I posted about Sunday, the leftover syrup from my Moscow Mule-Inspired Rum and Cokes, and my favorite Italian buttercream. Seriously Italian buttercream is the BOMB!
Together the flavors pair perfectly. The vanilla cake, the buttery frosting, the fruity and herby jam, the ginger bite from the syrup. If I haven’t convinced you to make this cake yet, then clearly I am not doing my job well.
Also, I hope I have convinced you to try out Pete and Gerry’s eggs and incorporate eggs into any healthy lifestyle!
Purple Ombre Tiered Layer Cake
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 20 servings 1x
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 large eggs
- 1 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups milk (I used almond, use what you love)
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Purple food coloring (I used AmeriColor Gel in Regal Purple)
- Blueberry Thyme Jam
- Ginger Syrup
Frosting
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 5 large eggs whites
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened
- Seeds from 1 vanilla bean
Instructions
- Make the cake. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 2 8 or 9 inch round cake pans. Line the bottom with parchment and butter the parchment. Butter and flour 2 6 inch ramekins or cake pans. Line the bottom with parchment and butter the parchment.
- In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. I did this by hand but a hand or stand mixer will work as well. Beat in the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla.
- Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Alternately add the milk and flour mixture to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.
- Divide the mixture into 4 bowls, putting less in the bowls for the smaller cake pans. Just do the best you can – it will work out in the end. Put 1 drop of food coloring in one of the smaller portions of batter, 2 drops in the other smaller bowl and 3 and 4 drops in the two bigger bowls. Stir to distribute the color and add more one drop at a time until the color you want is achieved.
- Pour into respective cake pans and bake about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely in pans. Cakes may be made up to 2 days in advance.
- When ready to assemble the cake, make the frosting. In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, water, and syrup of medium high heat until dissolved. Stop stirring and cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F.
- In the meantime, place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until stiff, but not dry, peaks form.
- When both the syrup and the egg whites are ready, turn the mixer down to medium-low and drizzle in the syrup. Once the syrup has been added, turn the mixer back up to high and beat for 10 minutes. Add the butter 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time, waiting to add more until the previously added butter is incorporated. Beat in the vanilla.
- If the frosting is soupy, pop it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, then mix it again and it should come together!
- Assemble the cake. Place the darkest colored cake on a cake stand. Level the top with a sharp serrated knife if it has a large bump. Brush with syrup and pipe a ring of frosting around the edge. Fill the center with jam. Place the next darkest cake on top, level it if necessary, brush with syrup, and frost the top and sides of the cakes.
- Place the darker little cake on top, level it if necessary and brush with syrup. Pipe a ring of frosting around the edge, fill with jam, and place the final cake on top. Level it, brush with syrup and use the remaining frosting on the top and sides of the mini cake.
- Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Cake may also be frozen, wrapped in plastic and foil, for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for about 4 hours.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Divas Can Cook
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 1 hour
I totally love eggs and eat them most mornings for breakfast. And oh, would I love a piece of this cake!!! Please! Looks so good!!!
Oh, I so wish I could share!!!