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A blog post on how to make the best two-tier celebration cake! Vanilla cake, chocolate cake, buttercream, ganache and more!
Two tier celebration cake
So I have always posted blog posts about cakes, cupcakes, and various other delicious treats that are perfection for celebrations… however, I have never post a two-tier cake before!
I recently hit half a million followers on my instagram account so decided to make the cake to celebrate, but I knew you guys would want the recipe for it (and sure enough, you do!)
This is just how I happened to do it on the day, so I thought I would write a blog post about it. I will do more recipes in the future, and hopefully a full video too (which I didn’t have time for this time).
Sponge
This cake has a 8″ chocolate cake bottom tier, with four layers of sponge, filled with a chocolate buttercream frosting. The top tier is a 6″ vanilla cake, filled with vanilla buttercream frosting.
The cakes were crumb coated with their respective buttercreams, and then I decided to use a ganache for the outside! Obviously, the recipe is designed to cover the two cakes so there is a lot of ingredients… but if you only want to make half you can!
Tins
For the cakes, I used two of these 8″ tins, and two of these 6″ tins.. and I love them! I just happen to have the 4″ deep versions, but I bake the sponges, let them cool, and then split them each into two!
Ganache
For the ganache, I used a mix of dark chocolate and milk chocolate because it’s genuinely what was there. It may make it seem overly complicated, but I ended up loving the end result! It wasn’t too deep a flavour, and wasn’t too sweet!
I make my ganache by making sure the chocolate is chopped or in chip size, heating the double cream until just before boiling point, and then pouring the cream over and letting it sit. Letting it sit makes the chocolate melt.
Then, you stir the mixture together until it is smooth! If it isn’t quite smoothly you can heat the mixture gently in 10 second bursts in the microwave until smooth, or in the pan again.
You need to let the ganache sit until it becomes a thick peanut butter consistency. But also, I find whipping it even better. I let my ganache thicken (you can speed this up in the fridge) and then whip until it is mousse like. It makes it perfect for applying to a cake!
Tools
I use a small angled spatula to help me apply the ganache (and buttercream) to the cakes, and then use this large metal scraper to help smooth around the edges. It makes it so much easier than you have a metal scraper because it leaves the smooth finish.
Decoration
I decorated the cake in an edible rose gold (actually peach coloured) paint, which I use a brush to flick over the cake in a random paint splatter effect. I love the effect it creates so much, I recently did the same with my Ferrero Rocher drip cake! I did a chocolate drip around both of the cakes, and used leftover buttercream to pipe onto the cake randomly.
Honestly, this cake was just about using what I had in the cupboard for decoration and flavours – but I loved it! It’s a huge cake that would happily serve probably 40+ people at a party, but I gave out chunks to my family and friends!
Dowels
Now, because it is a two-tier celebration cake, you MUST DOWEL THE CAKE. I cannot stress this enough! If you don’t you risk the cake sliding into the other sponge and generally going completely wrong.
There are many types of dowels out there for cake, but I use these wilton ones and found them so easy! They come with little caps to ‘spread the weight’ I guess, and the top sponge sits onto it (on a cake board) and then it doesn’t sink! Obviously, if you have ones you prefer then go with them!
Top tips
I would say a big part about making this sort of cake is letting the layers chill and set well enough each time. It takes patience, but it is worth it. I chill my cakes for 30 minutes. I fill and crumb coat my cakes, and chill for 30 minutes. I cover in ganache and chill again for 30 minutes. I decorate with ganache drips, and chill again for 30 minutes etc!
This allows the buttercream to set, the ganache to set, and makes the cake much easier to work with! All things when baking cakes are each to their own – but this is just how I did this particular cake! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments!
Top tip as well, when you are very close to finishing the ganache – I heat the scraper under the hot tap, dry it off so it’s not wet, and do one final scrape around the cake. It creates the perfect smooth finish! x
Two-Tier Celebration Cake!
A blog post on how to make the best two-tier celebration cake! Vanilla cake, chocolate cake, buttercream, ganache and more!
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Category: Cake
Type: Drip Cake
Keyword: Chocolate
Prep Time: 2 hours hours
Cook Time: 1 hour hour
Decorating Time: 2 hours hours
Total Time: 5 hours hours
Servings: 45 Slices
Author: Jane's Patisserie
Ingredients
8" Chocolate Cake
- 500 g unsalted butter
- 500 g light brown Sugar
- 400 g self raising Flour
- 100 g cocoa powder
- 10 medium eggs
6" Vanilla Cake
- 300 g unsalted butter
- 300 g caster sugar
- 300 g self raising flour
- 6 medium eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Buttercream
- 300 g unsalted butter (not stork) (room temp)
- 500 g icing sugar
- 75 g cocoa powder
Vanilla Buttercream
- 200 g unsalted butter (not stork) (room temp)
- 400 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Ganache
- 400 g dark chocolate (chopped)
- 300 g milk chocolate
- 600 ml double cream
Drip Ganache
- 125 g dark chocolate
- 125 g milk chocolate
- 250 ml double cream
Decoration
- Rose Gold/Peach Paint
- Leftover Buttercream
- Sprinkles
Grams - Ounces
Instructions
For the 8" Chocolate Cake!
Preheat your oven to 170C/150C Fan, and line two 8"/20cm deep cake tins with parchment paper.
Add the butter and sugar to a bowl, and beat till light and fluffy.
Add in the flour, cocoa powder and eggs and beat again until a lovely smooth cake mixture is formed.
Split evenly between the two tins and bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean!)
Once baked, leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, and then leave to cool fully on a wire rack.
For the 6" Vanilla Cake!
Preheat your oven to 170C/150C Fan, and line two 6"/15cm deep cake tins with parchment paper.
Add the butter and sugar to a bowl, and beat till light and fluffy.
Add in the flour, eggs and vanilla extract and beat again until a lovely smooth cake mixture is formed.
Split evenly between the two tins and bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean!)
Once baked, leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, and then leave to cool fully on a wire rack.
Chocolate Buttercream
Beat the butter on its own for a while in your mixer until its smooth and supple.
Add in your icing sugar and cocoa powder a little at a time and beat fully until its light and fluffy!
(If the mixture is really stiff, add in 1-2tbsp of boiling water and beat fully to smooth out)
Vanilla Buttercream
Beat the butter on its own for a while in your mixer until its smooth and supple.
Add in your icing sugar and vanilla extract a little at a time and beat fully until its light and fluffy!
(If the mixture is really stiff, add in 1-2tbsp of boiling water and beat fully to smooth out)
For the Ganache
Add the the dark chocolate and milk chocolate to a large bowl.
Add the cream to a pan and heat till just before boiling point. Pour over chocolate and leave to sit for 5 minutes. Once sat, mix until smooth (Add back to the pan if its not quite melted).
Leave the ganache in a bowl and stir every few minutes until it forms a peanut butter like consistency - you can do this in the fridge as well, just make sure to stir it so it doesn't set too quickly!
You can also whip the ganache with an electric whisk to make it lighter and more mousse like.
Assembly.
Level the cakes off if necessary. Split the two chocolate cakes so you have four layers in total.
Add your first cake to a cake board (I use a large 10" cake board) and secure with a small amount of buttercream.
Spread some chocolate buttercream onto the first layer, add the second sponge. Repeat until you reach the top layer of cake.
Spread some chocolate buttercream around the sides to fill in the gaps and create a crumb coat. Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes.
Repeat this process with the vanilla cake in the same way. (I use a 6" thin cake board for this one)
Once refrigerated and the ganache is ready, using an angled spatula, slather over the chocolate ganache and then smooth around using a large metal scraper. Do this for both cakes!
Once the ganache is on, refrigerate the cakes for another 30 minutes.
Insert some doweling supports for your cake into the larger 8" cake. I used four dowels. You want them to be towards the middle of the cake, for the 6" cake to sit on top of.
Using a small amount of buttercream, or ganache, spread that on top of where the dowels are, and stick the smaller cake on top of the larger cake.
If using, pour the edible paint into a small bowl and using a paint brush, flick the paint over the cake (make sure you protect the surfaces around the cake).
Drip Ganache
Add the the dark chocolate and milk chocolate to a large bowl. Add the cream to a pan and heat till just before boiling point. Pour over chocolate and leave to sit for 5 minutes. Once sat, mix until smooth (Add back to the pan if its not quite melted).
Using a small piping pag, drip the ganache down the sides of the two cakes, and fill in the tops of both cakes. If you can, let the cake set in the fridge for 30 minutes again.
Pipe some swirls of the leftover buttercream on top using a medium 2D closed star piping tip and decorate with the sprinkles!
Notes
- This recipe is purely based on what I did on the day - it does not have to be followed completely with my decoration ideas!
- This cake will last for 3-4 days once made.
- The 8" layer and the 6" layers can be made individually.
- In this recipe I used:
ENJOY!
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J x
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