Best 3 White Elephant Cake With Buttercream Frosting Recipes

ELEPHANT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Grease and line the following pan sizes: one 7-inch cake layer, three 6-inch cake layers, and three 4-inch cake layers. Set aside.
• Mix 3 cups all purpose flour, 3 cups sugar, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or in a large bowl hand mixer on a low speed until combined.
• Mix in 1 cup of unsalted butter slowly into the dry ingredients on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture looks crumbly.
• Pour in 1 cup of egg whites and mix on low until just combined.
• Mix in 1 1/2 cups sour cream, 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil, 2 tsp of vanilla extract, and a squirt of gel food coloring if desired. Mix on a medium-low speed until incorporated.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula then beat on a low speed for about 30 seconds to make sure everything is properly mixed together.
• Fold 3/4 cup rainbow sprinkles into the cake batter using a rubber spatula and mix just until they're evenly distributed.
• Pour the batter evenly between the prepared pans, then bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. The small pans should bake faster, so be sure to check them first. Rotate your pans halfway through to help the cake layers bake evenly.
• Let the layers cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then flip them onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
• Once the cake layers have finished cooling use a serrated knife to level the tops and set the cake layers aside.
• If you make these cake layers in advance, wrap and freeze them like this. When you're ready to assemble the cake, unwrap the frozen layers and allow them to thaw for about 30 minutes before you plan to frost the cake.
• While the cake layers bake and cool, make the buttercream frosting.
• Beat 3 cups of butter on a medium speed for 30 seconds with a paddle attachment or hand mixer until smooth.
• Add in 1 Tbsp of vanilla extract, 2 Tbsp black cocoa and 1 tsp of salt and mix on a low speed.
• Slowly add in 11 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Add 1/3 cup of heavy cream halfway through to make it easier to mix.
• Once fully mixed and has reached the desired consistency, beat on low until for a couple extra minutes to make the frosting super smooth and to push any extra air out of the frosting.
• If the frosting is too thick, add in additional cream (1 Tablespoon at a time). If the frosting is too thin, add in more powdered sugar (quarter of a cup at a time).
• Cover the buttercream with plastic wrap to prevent crusting, then set aside.
• Before you start to make the cake, use black, white and pink fondant to create the elephant's eyes, cheeks, nails and ears (roughly 4.5-in. x 2.5-in). Make the fondant ears about 1/2 inch thick to allow you to press 3 toothpicks into them like in the video. This will allow you to securely add the ears to the cake later.
• Place the fondant pieces on a wire rack or piece of parchment paper to let them dry and firm up while you assemble the cake.
• Stack and frost cake layers on a 10-inch greaseproof cake board using a dab of frosting to help stick the first cake layer to the board.
• Add an even layer of buttercream between each cake layer with a large offset spatula and stack them in the following order: 7-inch, 6-inch, 6-inch, 4-inch, 6- inch, 4-inch, 4 inch. Use a serrated knife to trim the cake layers as needed to give the elephants body a rounder shape.
• Insert either a thick plastic straw (like a bubble tea straw) or a wooden dowel through the center of the cake layers to help stabilize them.
• Spread a thin coat of frosting around the cake to fully cover the cake layers. Smooth using a bench scraper then chill the cake in the fridge (30 minutes) or freezer (10 minutes) until the frosting is firm to the touch.
• Place 4 cups of mini marshmallows in a heatproof bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at full power.
• Stir then heat in 15 second intervals until the marshmallows are melted.
• Pour in 6 cups of rice krispies or puffed rice cereal and stir until the cereal is fully coated in melted marshmallows.
• Grease your hands with cooking spray then shape two front legs, two hind legs, and a trunk with the rice krispie mixture. Place the legs and trunk against your cake as you make them to ensure they are proportionate and shaped properly.
• Press the rice krispie treat legs and trunk into place on the cake.
• Add a second, thicker layer of grey buttercream around the cake and rice krispies. Smooth using a small offset spatula and an acetate sheet.
• Chill the cake again in the fridge (30 minutes) or freezer (10 minutes) until the second coat of frosting firms up.
• Place the fondant facial features on the chilled cake with a small dab of buttercream.
• Carefully press the ears into the sides of the elephant's head and pipe grey buttercream around the edge of each ear. Pipe a thin layer of buttercream on the back of each ear, then chill the cake again in the fridge or freezer to help lock the ears into the place.
• Let the cake sit out at room temperature for 1-2 hours before serving to make it easier to cut.

ELEPHANT CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Grease bottoms and sides of 2 (8-inch) round cake pans with shortening or cooking spray.
• Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 8-inch rounds. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour. For easier handling, refrigerate or freeze cakes 30 minutes to 1 hour or until firm.
• Use diagram (template can be found under the Tips below) as a guide to shape the elephant. Cut 1-inch slice from edge of cake about 2 inches into cake. Cut small inverted U-shape piece for trunk. Place body on tray. From remaining cake, shape trunk from U-shape head piece and tail from the trimmed sections. Arrange trunk and tail pieces next to body. Repeat with remaining cake, turning diagram over to allow elephants to face each other.
• Spoon frosting into large bowl. Stir in enough food color until desired color. Spread thin layer of frosting over cake pieces to seal in crumbs. Refrigerate or freeze cake 30 to 60 minutes to set frosting.
• Frost entire cake with remaining frosting. Add mints for eyes. Press 2 of the gumdrops together; on sugared surface, roll gumdrops with rolling pin to form large thin sheet. Repeat with 2 more gumdrops. Trim each gumdrop sheet as in diagram to look like ears. Press ears into frosting on elephant to attach. Cut toe shapes from scraps of gumdrop sheet. Place on bottom of elephant legs.

BASIC WHITE TWO-LAYER CAKE AND WHITE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and make sure that the rack is in the center of your oven. Spray two 8" round cake pans very generously with non-stick cooking spray (I used Baker's Joy ).
• In a large bowl, mix together cake flour, salt, and baking powder; set bowl aside.
• In another large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until it's light and fluffy (you can use a standing mixer or an electric hand mixer).
• In a large measuring cup, combine the milk, vanilla, and almond extract.
• Now it's time to add them all together! Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend on a low speed for about 30 seconds. Add about 1/2 of the milk mixture and blend again. Add in half of what's left of the flour mixture and blend again. Add in the rest of the milk mixture, blend for a couple of seconds, then the remaining flour mixture and blend at a low speed until the ingredients are barely mixed together (don't over mix!).
• In a separate bowl (or in your stand mixer using the whisk attachment), beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until they reach "firm peak stage" (a.k.a. when the whisk is held sideways, the peaks will hold and the ridges will be distinct - this took about five minutes of whisking for me!). Fold the egg whites into the cake batter.
• Pour the cake batter evenly into the two prepared pans and bake them for 20-26 minutes (mine were done at 25), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes, then carefully remove the cakes and let them finish cooling on wire racks.
• Combine the shortening, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl (you can use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer). Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, alternating with the milk or heavy cream, and mix it together until you have used it all. If the frosting is too thick, add more milk. If the frosting is too thin, add more sugar.
• Place one of your cooled, leveled cake layers on your cake stand . Using an offset spatula, place about 1/2 cup of frosting in the middle of the cake. Using your spatula, push the frosting out to the edges until the frosting is about 1/4"-1/2" thick (if you have a rotating cake stand, this step is really easy, but you can do it without it).
• Place the second layer of cake on top. You will now create the crumb coat (a thin layer of frosting that seals in all the crumbs to make it easy to decorate). Using the offset spatula, spread the frosting that has spilled out from between the layers smoothly over the surface. Add more frosting as needed, just keep the layer thin and smooth.
• Place about 1/2 cup of frosting on the top of the cake, pushing the frosting out to the edges until it's a smooth, flat surface.
• Now place the spatula against the edges of the cake and smooth out the excess frosting pushed over from the top of the cake.
• To help the cake firm up, stick it in the freezer for about 1-2 hours.
• From here, drop 1/2 cup frosting on the center of the cake and push it out to the edges as you did before, making the surface nice and smooth.
• Continue adding frosting to the top and edges of the cake until it's the smoothness and thickness you want. (Amanda says that the best way to get smooth frosting is to practice!)
• From there, continue to add more frosting to the top and sides of the cake until it's completely covered. I topped mine off with sprinkles, but you could get fancy and add some frosting decorations