Pink Ombre Mother's Day Cake {And Party}

Easy Mother's day cake recipe and tutorial, homemade with simple ingredients. This pink ombre cake is decorated with buttercream icing roses. Party and dessert table details also included.

*Thank you Baskin-Robbins and Blog Meets Brand for sponsoring today's post. As always, all opinions are my own.*

I threw my dear Mom the most fun party ever in my backyard with an elegant cake and lots of desserts. It was a day of laugher and wonderful memories. Be sure to also check out these Easy Rose Cookies (Piped), Red Rose Cupcakes, Rosette Cake (Buttercream) and Easy Fondant Roses (Ribbon Roses) for more inspiration.

Key ingredients for easy Happy Mother's Day cake

• Champagne cakes- Follow the link to my post and check out helpful tips and techniques there.
• American Buttercream Frosting- Make 4 colors of white, dark pink, medium pink, and light pink.
• Sprinkles- You can use a variety of different types and colors to suit your preference.

Variations for Mom cake

• Add in different extracts- To the batter, such as maple, almond, or even lemon for a nice tart addition.
• Use cake add-ins- To the batter like Oreo bits, chopped nuts, sprinkles, or chocolate chips. And make sure to check out my tips on how to keep these add-ins from sinking to the bottom.
• Add a filling- Instead of using the buttercream icing in between cakes you can also try Whipped Cream, Chocolate Whipped Cream, Strawberry Jam, Raspberry Pie Filling, Crockpot Apple Butter, Chocolate Ganache, Caramel Sauce, or even Homemade Vanilla Custard.
• Use a different cake flavor- Such as Vanilla Cake, Chocolate Cake, or Red Velvet Cake.
• Change up the color- Especially if you want to use your mom's favorite color that might be purple, blue, or yellow.
• Add a topper- Like the one at the bottom of the page that says, "Mom," or other cute toppers for the occasion including those that stand upright.

How to make pink ombre cake with buttercream icing?

1. Prepare icing- While the cakes bake and cool. (Image 1)
2. Divide the icing- Into 4 separate bowls of white and pink shades. (Image 2)
3. Use a sharp knife- And cut each cake in half lengthwise to make 4 cakes total.
4. Place one cake on a cake stand- Then spread white icing on top.
5. Place another cake on top- Then frost and repeat for each layer until the cake is covered. (Image 3)
6. Chill in the refrigerator- While you prepare a piping back with dark pink icing.
7. Start piping from the bottom of the cake- And work your way upwards making piped roses in a full row (Image 4).
8. Fill another piping bag- With medium pink icing and do another row of piped roses above the first. (Image 5)
9. Using the light pink icing- Pipe 1 last row of roses on the side of the cake in the same manner. (Image 6)
10. Above the middle row of roses- Gently start squeezing your bag while moving your hand clockwise in a full continuous circle until you end up with a piped rose. Continue doing this all along the remaining sides of the cake.
11. Use the same piping bag light pink icing- To pipe roses on top of the cake, too. Start piping from the outer edge and work your way inwards. (Image 7,8)
12. Fill empty spaces between roses- By piping a star with the correct shade of icing so that it blends seamlessly with the overall design. (Image 9,10,11)
13. Toss some sprinkles- Around the base of the cake stand. (Image 12)

Tips and techniques

• Don't stress over the crumb coat- This is just the first layer of white frosting you put on the cake that eventually gets covered up, so don't worry too much about it looking pretty.
• Start from the bottom up- When decorating the outside of the cake and from the outside in when decorating the top of the cake. This will make it easier for you, plus the overall look of the cake will turn out best.
• Be sure cake is completely cool before decorating- Or else the frosting will melt and slide off the cake leaving you with a gooey mess. You can put it in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• Prepare white frosting first- Then divide equally into four separate bowls. The first bowl stays white. With the rest of the frosting you will progressively add more food coloring to each bowl, darkening the color as you go until you have three slightly differing shades of pink.
• Frosting technique-  Hold piping bag at a 90 degree angle and gently start squeezing your bag while moving your hand clockwise in a full continuous circle until you end up with a piped rose.
• When making champagne cakes- Be sure to follow the tips and techniques in the linked post for best results, such as using room temperature ingredients and full fat ingredients.
• Be sure to use different piping bags- For each icing color so that you don't get any previous color in the mix.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

• Make ahead instructions- You can make and decorate the cake 2-3 days in advance. You can also place the cakes and frostings in separate containers in the fridge for up to 3 days, then decorate per instructions.
• Refrigerate- A decorated cake can be stored in a sealed container for 2-3 days.
• Freeze- An unfrosted cake and frostings can be put in separate sealed containers then placed in the fridge for up to 1 month. Thaw in the fridge overnight and decorate per instructions.
• Room temperature- Don't leave out for more than 1 day, especially if it is hot, because you don't want the frosting melting or becoming droopy. For best results serve within 2-3 hours.

More unique cake designs for mother's day

• Easy Cake Tower (With Buttercream Icing)
• Best Red Velvet Cake (From Scratch)
• Strawberry Shortcake Cake (Cake Mix)
• Easy Cherry Cake (Cake Mix)
• Easy Kit Kat Cake (With Strawberries)
• Pink Velvet Cake (With Strawberries)
• How to Make Cupcake Bouquet (Flower)
• Chocolate Marshmallow Cake (Heart Cake)

Mother's Day party setup

Every party needs a dessert table, in my opinion. I set up the table outside in our backyard so that everyone can enjoy the lovely weather. I placed various desserts on a small black table with a beige top. I also set up a folding chalkboard nearby with the word "MOM" written on it. It took me 20 minutes just to write three letters! Who knew writing with a chalk neatly is so darn difficult?! lol. Instead of using a vase for flowers, I filled a rain boot with pink flowers. My Mom thought this was adorable.

Dessert table details

Every dessert table and party should include a variety of desserts: cake, cupcakes, cookies, candies, brownies and bars. For this specific event, I served Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes with Maraschino Cherry Frosting, covered in heart sprinkles. I couldn't help myself from going overboard and also made these heart shaped Chocolate Sugar Cookies with Strawberry Frosting, decorated with white edible pearls. I also added jars of pink candies. For pink beverages, you can serve Banana Raspberry Smoothie or Blueberry Smoothie or Strawberry Smoothie. I chose to serve strawberry milk with cute paper straws. After I set up and stepped back to have one final look, I noticed there was some empty space on my table. I fixed that by filling that space with glazed donuts. They can be store-bought or homemade. Try these Jelly Filled Donuts (Sufganiyot), Baked Apple Cider Donuts or Easy Baked Pumpkin Donuts (With Cake Mix).

Party cake

Every dessert table needs a cake which should be the focal point. Since I was busy prepping all the other treats for the dessert table and cleaning up the house, I decided to order my Mom's favorite Oreo® Cookies 'n Cream ice cream chocolate cake online from Baskin-Robbins. The cake was decorated with an ombre pink rose design and absolutely beautiful. The cake decorator at Baskin-Robbins even personalized it and wrote "Mom" on the top. This cake tasted just as good as it looked. It was an instant hit with my family, especially my Mom. The chocolate cake portion was so soft and that ice cream was rich and packed with Oreo cookie bits. By the way, you can also make a very similar homemade pink ombre cake, following the tutorial I have shared earlier in this post.

Recipe