Rose Cake

This Rose Cake tastes like rose bushes blooming in the spring. It’s filled with my Raspberry Filling and topped with sweet tangy raspberry buttercream making this cake super light, soft, and overall beautiful. It makes for a perfect gift for mothers day, valentines day, or a gift to family and friends.

This Rose Cake contains rose water and dried rose petals that give this cake a light, beautiful essence of rose. The dried rose petals look adorable in each slice you cut and it blends wonderfully with the tang of the raspberry filling and the raspberry buttercream. This recipe is based on my famous white velvet buttermilk cake!

Rose Cake Ingredients

Sour Cream: For this recipe, we are using sour cream instead of buttermilk because it’s less tangy than buttermilk but it still gives it enough acidity while adding in extra moisture. 

 Rose Water: Since this is a rose cake we obviously need to add rose flavoring. You can use rose extract also because it’s the exact same thing as rose water. I'm using Neilsen Massey , but you can use any brand. You can get them on Amazon or find them usually in a mixer section of the grocery store. Find one you like because each brand has a different strength of flavor and smell.

Dried Rose Petals: We are adding dried rose petals inside the batter because it looks pretty, but this is totally optional. The darker color the rose petals are, the stronger your flavor will be. You can use any that you would like but try and use bright colors because when the cakes bake in the oven, the color will become dull. Rose petals are safe to consume, just make sure you buy them organic to make sure they have no pesticides.

Preparing The Dried Flowers and Petals

1. Take a plate of your choice and place a paper towel on top. 
2. Place your rose petals and full flowers on a plate. Spread out the full flowers a little to flatten them out. Use as many as you would like.
3. Place another paper towel on top of the flowers, then place a second plate on top to weigh the petals down.
4. Microwave for one minute. 
5. Use for decoration or crush and use in the cake. Note: if you notice after a minute of microwaving that they are still wet, keep microwaving at 15-second intervals until they are dry to the touch. You can also use the same process for any flowers or even leaves. 

Making The Rose Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 350º F and prepare 3 cake pans with cake goop, or your preferred cake release.
2. Add your cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and softened butter into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Set aside.
3. Place half of your sour cream and all of your vegetable oil into a measuring cup. Give it a quick mix until the oil and sour cream are combined. Make sure your sour cream, eggs, and butter are all room temperature or a little bit warm.
4. Add your rosewater and vanilla extract into your sour cream and oil mix. Set aside.
5. Place the remaining half of your sour cream into your egg whites and mix until combined. 
6. Mix your dry ingredients in a bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed for 1-2 minutes, or until the texture looks like sand. 
7. Take your oil and sour cream mixture, then stream it into your flour mixture while mixing on medium-low speed (speed 4 on a Kitchen Aid, 2 on a Bosch). Mix for 2 minutes (set a timer!) until the color is pale and the mixture is nice and fluffy.
8. Stream in your egg whites and sour cream mixture in 3 parts while mixing on low speed. Make sure to let each part mix for a couple of seconds before adding in the rest. Don't forget to scrape the bowl!
9. Add in your crushed rose petals (optional) and mix on low just to combine. 
10. Divide your batter into your 3 cake pans. I'm using three, 6"x2" pans or you can use two, 8"x2" pans. (If making cupcakes add 1-2 spoonfuls of batter into each cupcake liner).
11. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until you can place a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean. ( If you are making cupcakes bake for 15 minutes.) 

Making The Raspberry Filling

1. Combine your cold water and cornstarch or clear gel. Give it a quick mix to combine. 
2. Place your raspberries and sugar into a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir once in a while with a spatula. 
3. Once your mix starts bubbling, add in your cornstarch and water mixture and cook for 1 minute. The cornstarch mix is what helps to thicken the sauce.
4. After it's thickened, add in your lemon zest and lemon juice. Give it a quick stir with a spatula. 
5. OPTIONAL: Strain the raspberry filling into a bowl to get rid of the seeds. If you like having seeds you can skip this part.
6. Set the mix aside to cool down. You can also place it in the fridge or freezer to cool down faster. It’s ready to use when it comes to room temperature or below. 

Making The Raspberry Buttercream

1. First, place the egg whites and the powdered sugar in a stand mixer bowl. Attach the whisk and combine the ingredients on low, and then whip them on high for 4-5 minutes (until shiny) to dissolve the powdered sugar.
2. Then, add in the salt and the vanilla extract. If you are adding in any food coloring, this is the point where you would do that. 
3. Next, add in your softened butter piece-by-piece, and whip it with the whisk attachment to combine. It will look curdled at first. This is definitely normal. It will also look pretty yellow. Keep whipping.
4. After your buttercream looks like this, remove about 1 cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until it is just barely melted.
5. Then, pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together.
6. Then, whip it on high with the whisk attachment for 8-10 minutes until the buttercream is white, light, and shiny. Taste test the buttercream. If it tastes like sweet ice cream, then it’s ready!
7. Take ¼ cup of the raspberry filling you just made and add a spoonful at a time while mixing on low speed.
8. Mix for about a minute until everything is smooth and combined. We want this batch to be light in color because this will be our buttercream for the outside of the cake.
9. For the filling between the cake layers, we want a stronger raspberry flavor. Take about 2 cups of buttercream and add it to half of your raspberry filling.
10. Mix until everything is combined and you have your desired flavor and color.

Assembling The Rose Cake

1. OPTIONAL: Trim the edges of your cake using a serrated knife. I like to do this because it creates sharp and clean edges, but you don’t have to. 
2. Take the first layer of your cake and place it on a cake board.
3. Add a thin layer of the raspberry filling, then add a layer of raspberry buttercream on top.
4. Place your second layer of cake on top and repeat the process. 
5. Stack your third cake layer on top of the second and spread a thin layer of buttercream around the whole cake. Scrape off any excess buttercream to where you can almost see your cake layers through your buttercream with your offset spatula or a bench scraper. This is called a crumb coat.
6. Place your cake in the fridge to chill for about 20 minutes or until the cake is firm to the touch. Learn more about baking, trimming, frosting, and decorating a cake in my beginner tutorial.

Decorating The Rose Cake

1. Once your cake is chilled, take it out of the fridge and cover it again using the other half of your raspberry buttercream. Spread a thin layer using an offset spatula. I'm using the other half because it has more of a blush pink color, but if you want a deeper color you can add more raspberry filling. 
2. Scrape off the excess and smooth it out using a bench scraper or offset spatula. 
3. Once your cake is smooth, take your dried flowers and petals, then place them wherever you would like on your cake by pressing firmly on the edges to make them stick to the buttercream. If you don't want to decorate with flowers, you can make an extra ½ batch of buttercream and use a 1M piping tip to pipe some pretty rosettes along the side of your cake.
4. Keep placing flowers around your whole cake until you are happy with the design. his cake is best served immediately, but it will last for about 4 days in the fridge. I'd take off the flowers before cutting, but you don't have to. let your cake come to room temperature by taking it out of the fridge for a few hours before serving.

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