The creative geniuses over at Cosmopolitan came up with the cutest concept, and asked me to make a Rosé Gold Cake. I make a lot of cakes, but wanted to get a bit fancy with this one! I grabbed a bottle of Veuve Clicquot rosé, some edible gold leaf, and went to town! The recipe used can be found below:

Rosé Cake Batter:

• 3 1/4 cup flour
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup egg whites (about 7 large egg whites)
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1/2 cup rosé
• 1/8 cup vegetable oil

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

• 4 sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 8 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp. heavy cream
• 3 tsp vanilla

Pink Colorful Drips (white chocolate ganache):

• 1/2 cup heavy cream (about 4 oz.)
• 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips (9 oz.)
• gel food coloring (optional)

Additional Decoration and Tools:

• edible gold leaf (1 full booklet)
• paint brush (to apply the gold leaf)
• plastic squirt bottles
• wooden dowels

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line four 6” round pans, and four 4″ round pans.

Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined.

Mix chunks of room-temperature butter slowly into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture becomes crumbly.

Pour in egg whites, and mix on low until just incorporated.  Mix in the buttermilk, on a low speed. Add in rose, vanilla and oil, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. The rose may have a slight curdling effect when first added, but as you mix it in the batter will return to it’s smooth consistency. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium high for about 30 seconds.

Divide evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then run an offset spatula around perimeter of the pan to separate the cake from the pan. Place cake layers on a rack to finish cooling.

While the cake layers bake, make the white chocolate ganache. Heat heavy cream in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave for 45 seconds-1 minute, until bubbling. Gently pour white chocolate chips into the heavy cream, making sure they are fully covered with cream. Allow mixture to sit for 2 minutes. Stir slowly until the cream and white chocolate are combined, then heat again for 20 seconds and stir. Repeat as necessary until all the chocolate bits are fully melted and incorporated. Divide evenly between two bowls, and add gel food coloring. I made one bowl a hot pink color, and the other a lighter pink. Allow the ganache to cool until desired viscosity is reached (about 45 minutes), then pour into squirt bottles for easy application onto the cake. If you don’t have squirt bottles, you can use a spoon to add the drips to the cake.

Next, prepare the frosting. Beat the butter on high for 30 seconds with a paddle attachment, until smooth. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Alternate with small splashes of cream. Once fully mixed, add in the vanilla and salt, and beat on medium low until the ingredients are fully incorporated, and the desired consistency is reached. If the frosting is too thick, add in cream (1 teaspoon at a time). If the frosting is too thin, add in more powdered sugar (quarter of a cup at a time).

NOTE: Since this frosting is for a cake, it is important to mix the buttercream on low at the end of the process for a couple minutes, to get out any extra air that might have be incorporated during the mixing process. This will make it easier to get super smooth sides on your cake!

Once all the components are ready, begin to assemble the cake. If desired, level cakes with a serrated knife. Stack and frost the six inch cake layers, and apply a thin crumb coat, and chill the cake in freezer for 5 minutes. Once the crumb coat is firm to the touch, apply, a second, thicker coat of frosting. Smooth with a bench scrapper. If you want to see a full tutorial for how I get smooth sides on my cakes, you can click here. Once the frosting is smoothed, carefully cover in edible gold leaf. Place cake in freezer for an additional 5 minutes.

If you don’t want to cover the entire cake in gold, you could also add gold flecks around the cake rather than coat it.

Repeat this process with the 4 inch cake layers, building them on a cardboard round cut to a 4 inch diameter.

Once the cake is fully chilled, use a squirt bottle to add the ganache drips. I added the hot pink drips to the bottom tier, and the lighter pink drips to the top tier. You can learn all the tips and tricks I use to add drips to a cake here.

Measure and cut four wooden dowels to the height of the bottom tiered cake. Insert into the bottom tier in the shape of a square, just wide enough to support the top tier. Place the smaller tier onto the top of the 6 inch tier, being careful to center it.

And that’s it!! Then it’s time to sip the extra rose, and enjoy it with a generous slice of cake 🙂