I’ve been dreaming about making this cake. For a wedding. Because this cake is nothing but a wedding cake. My dream came true recently, more than once. Thanks to all my lovely clients who put their trust on me.

I have to also thank my wonderful family and friends who spread their kind words about my new engagement – my home based bakery. One-man-band is not an easy task. It’s exhausting. Sometimes frustrating. You won’t expect to have done this rose cake successfully in a one go. No! I don’t remember how many times I had to scrape all the roses and do it all over again just because I messed up one of them. But isn’t that forgiving though?

Make sure you have enough frosting. These rose swirls use tons. For this 5-inch cake, I made more than enough. But you don’t want to run out of it in the middle of everything.

Ingredients (one 5-inch 3-layer cake):
Vanilla Sponge Cake
3 large eggs, room temperature, separated
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup cake flour, sifted
Peach Whipped Buttercream Frosting
4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 cup peach puree
1 to 2 drops of peach food colouring paste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom of an 8-inch cake pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a bowl of a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Add 2 tablespoon sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Scrape the meringue in another bowl. Set aside.
In the same mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar on high speed until thick and light in colour, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Mix for another minute.
Sift flour and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over top of egg yolk mixture, followed by folding in half of the meringue.
Fold the rest of the meringue into the batter until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the top.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Run a thin knife around the cake edge and place the cake on a wire rack to cool completely.
To prepare buttercream, beat butter for a few minutes in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add powdered sugar and turn your mixer on low, beat until the sugar incorporates with the butter. Add vanilla, heavy cream and peach puree, beat on medium speed for another 3 minutes, or until buttercream becomes light and fluffy. Add colouring paste and beat for another minute.
To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on your serving plate and spread with 1/4 cup frosting. Place another cake layer on top, and gently press down a little bit. Spread with another 1/4 cup frosting. Place the last layer of cake on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake with light coating of the buttercream. Chill the cake for 30 minutes.
Fill a pastry bag attached to a big closed star piping tip with the remaining buttercream. Starting from the bottom, begin piping a circular swirl outward. Try to keep the roses as close together as possible. Then, move to the next row above. Once the sides are done, start piping on the top of the cake. Fill in any blank areas by piping along the same curves as the roses.
Cover and refrigerate the cake. Leave out in room temperature for at least an hour prior to serving.