HOMBRE CAKE RECIPES

Steps:

• Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Butter five 8-inch round cake pans; line with parchment. Butter parchment, then dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until well combined. Continue beating while gradually adding butter until mixture is crumbly, about 3 minutes.
• Slowly add half of milk mixture; increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly add remaining half of milk mixture, scraping down bowl as needed. Beat until incorporated, about 1 minute more. Remove bowl from mixer; divide batter evenly among five bowls (about 1 heaping cup per bowl).
• Tint four of the bowls with pink food color, starting with a small drop and gradually adding more to each bowl to create a gradient of shades.
• Transfer batter from each bowl to one of the prepared pans, spreading to edges with a small offset spatula. Tap pans on counter to release any air bubbles. Bake until a tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 15 minutes per cake. Transfer pans to wire racks; let cool completely. Turn cakes out of pans and remove parchment. In a small saucepan, heat jam and lemon juice and zest until warm.
• Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, 6 egg whites, and a pinch of salt in the heatproof bowl of a mixer set over (not in) a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch and feels completely smooth when rubbed between fingertips, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Transfer bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; whisk on low speed until foamy. Increase speed to medium-high and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form and mixture has cooled completely, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; add 4 sticks butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, whisking until fully incorporated after each addition. (Don't worry if buttercream appears curdled after all of butter has been added; it will become smooth again with beating.) Whisk in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
• Switch to paddle attachment; beat on low speed until air bubbles are eliminated, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic, and let stand at room temperature. Repeat process twice more with remaining ingredients, using the same amounts each time, then combining all three batches of buttercream in the large bowl and covering with plastic.
• Add pink food color, a drop at a time, until desired shade of light pink is reached.
• To assemble cake, place darkest layer, bottom-side down, on an 8-inch cardboard cake round. Using a pastry brush, brush cake with a thin layer of jam mixture; top with 1 cup buttercream, spreading evenly to cover completely. Repeat process with three more layers, stacking darkest to lightest. Finish with lightest cake layer, bottom-side up. Evenly spread top and sides of cake with a 1/2-inch thickness of buttercream, smoothing sides with an offset spatula. Refrigerate until chilled, about 20 minutes.
• Transfer remaining buttercream to a pastry bag fitted with a large petal tip (such as Wilton #127). Hold bag perpendicular to top of cake, with the wider part of the tip opening at the bottom. Pipe a petal in a circular pattern so that it adheres to top of cake. Simultaneously, rotate cake, and continue piping petals so that the end of each petal overlaps the beginning of the previous petal, until top of cake is covered completely. Next, pipe petals onto sides of cake: hold bag perpendicular to side of cake and pipe around cake, slightly overlapping each layer of frosting as you work from top to bottom of cake to cover completely.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Grease 4 Layer Cake Pans with oil or butter, and dust with flour; set them aside.For the cake, combine all the cake ingredients (except the food coloring) according to the package directions, adding the almond extract at the same time as the water.Transfer 1 cup (250 mL) of the batter to a cake pan. Place the remaining batter in 3 separate bowls (about 1 cup/250 mL per bowl). Select your color palette. Carefully add the desired food coloring to make 3 different shades of the same color (Aim for light, medium, and dark; see Cook’s Tips.) Stir the batter until the color is completely blended.Pour each of the colored batters into the remaining cake pans. Bake for 19–22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Remove the pans from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto a cooling rack, then turn them over so the cakes are right-side up; cool completely.Divide the frosting ingredients into two batches. Beat 1½ cups (375 mL) of the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until it's light and fluffy; about 1 minute. Add ¼ cup (50 mL) of the: milk and ½ tsp (2 mL) of extract and beat on low speed. Gradually add 1½ lbs (700 g) of the powdered sugar. Continue beating on medium speed for 3 minutes, adding more milk if needed. Place the finished frosting in another bowl and repeat with the remaining ingredients.Reserve 1½ cups (375 mL) of the frosting for the crumb coat. Place about  1? cups (325 mL) of the frosting in separate medium bowls. Carefully add food coloring to each bowl to make 4 different shades. (see Cook's Tips).Use an 8" Bread Knife to trim the crowns off of each cake layer.To assemble the cake, place the darkest cake layer, cut- side down, on a serving plate. Frost with ¼ cup (50 mL) of the reserved white frosting, then top with the second-darkest cake layer, pressing down slightly. Repeat with the remaining cake layers. Spread a very thin layer of the remaining white frosting on the sides and top of the cake to create a crumb coat.Place the Large Closed Star Tip on the Large Decorating Bag and fill the bag with the darkest frosting color. Starting at the bottom of the cake, pipe a single row of rosettes (see Cook's Tips). Squeeze any remaining frosting out of the bag. Repeat with the next frosting color, pipe a single row of rosettes in the middle of the cake. Repeat with the remaining colors, using the lightest shade for the top of the cake.Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve, but remove it from the refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature for one hour before serving.