Rose Cake
This rose cake has a soft, tender crumb and a delicate floral flavor that feels elegant and fragrant without tasting soapy or overly perfumed.
The cake layers are flavored with rose water and vanilla, then paired with a rose buttercream for a light, beautiful layer cake that’s perfect for birthdays, bridal showers, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or spring celebrations.
Rose water can go from subtle to overpowering quickly, so this recipe is designed to keep the flavor balanced.
It adds a gentle floral note that makes the cake feel a little special and unexpected, especially when paired with flavors like raspberry, pistachio, or cardamom. If you’ve been curious about baking with rose water, this is a great recipe to start with.
This Rose Cake at a Glance
- Flavor: soft vanilla cake with a delicate floral rose flavor
- Texture: tender, moist layer cake
- Skill level: intermediate
- Best pan size: 4 seven-inch pans or 3 eight-inch pans
- Frosting: rose water buttercream
- Make-ahead friendly: yes
What Does Rose Cake Taste Like?
Rose cake has a light, floral flavor that feels delicate, fragrant, and a little romantic. When it is used in the right amount, it should not taste like perfume or soap.
Instead, it adds a soft rose note that makes the cake taste more elegant than a standard vanilla cake.
If you can’t find rose water and do want to make your own, here is an amazing guide for making your own rose water.
How to Decorate This Rose Cake with Buttercream Rosettes
I decorated this cake with buttercream rosettes using a Wilton 1M tip.
To create the soft ombré look, I used the same pink gel food coloring in increasing amounts as I worked up the cake.
You can also decorate this rose cake with fresh organic roses, dried rose petals, or a smooth coat of rose buttercream if you want a simpler finish.
How Much Rose Water Should I Use?
Rose water is one of those ingredients where a little goes a long way. Different brands can vary in strength, so I always recommend starting with the amount listed in the recipe and only adjusting after you know how strong your bottle is.
The goal is a cake that tastes floral and balanced, not overwhelming. If your rose water is very strong, too much can make the cake taste perfumey. If it is older or milder, the flavor may come across more softly.
Best Fillings and Flavors to Pair With Rose Cake
Rose water cake is lovely on its own, but it gets even better when paired with the right filling or garnish. My favorite pairing is raspberry because the tart berry flavor balances the sweetness and works beautifully with the floral notes.
Other great options include pistachio, almond, and cardamom.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does rose water cake taste like perfume?
It shouldn’t. Rose water is very easy to overdo, which is why I keep the amount in this recipe fairly restrained. Different brands can vary in strength, so the goal is a subtle floral flavor, not an aggressively perfumed cake.
Where can I buy rose water?
I usually find rose water at Whole Foods, Mediterranean grocery stores, larger grocery stores, or online. If you have a few options available, it can be worth checking the ingredient labels since brands can vary quite a bit.
Can I make my own rose water?
Yes, you can. Since rose water is essentially water infused with rose petals, it is possible to make your own. The biggest thing to keep in mind is consistency. If the strength varies from batch to batch, it can throw off the flavor of your cake.
Can I use whole eggs instead of egg whites?
Yes. You can use 4 whole, large eggs in place of the egg whites. The cake may bake up a little less pale, but it should still taste great.
Can I use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour?
Yes. Cake flour can be used in place of the all-purpose flour, but it will change the texture a bit. The layers will still be delicious, just a little softer and more delicate.
Can I reduce the sugar in this recipe?
I wouldn’t recommend reducing the sugar in the cake layers too much. It does more than sweeten the cake. It also helps create a tender, moist texture.
If you cut it back a lot, the layers can turn out denser or drier. If you want the overall cake to feel less sweet, I’d adjust the frosting choice instead.
Can I use a less-sweet frosting?
This recipe uses my not-too-sweet buttercream, which isn’t very sweet. However, if you want something lighter and less sweet, you can make 1.5 batches of my Swiss meringue buttercream.
Or if you want a sweeter frosting, you can make 1.5 batches of my American buttercream.
What filling goes best with rose cake?
My favorite pairing is raspberry filling. Raspberry and rose are such a good match because the tart berry flavor balances the sweetness and floral notes really well.
Can I make this cake in different pan sizes?
Yes. One batch makes about 10 cups of batter. You can use that to make four 7-inch layers or three 8-inch layers, and for a 3-layer 9-inch cake, you’d need about 1.25 batches.
Can I make this recipe as cupcakes?
I haven’t specifically tested this version as cupcakes, but if you want to try it, I’d recommend filling the liners about 2/3 full and watching them closely near the end of baking (18-22 minutes at 350F).
What if I want a stronger rose flavor?
Start with fresh rose water and keep in mind that different brands vary a lot in strength. If your rose water is older or especially mild, the flavor may come through more softly. I’d still be careful about adding too much all at once, because it can go from delicate to overpowering pretty quickly.
Let Me Know What You Think
If you try this rose-flavored cake recipe, let me know what you think by sharing a rating and/or comment. I love hearing your feedback!
Rose Cake
Ingredients
Rose Cake Layers
- 3 cups all-purpose flour 375g
- 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar 500g
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder 10g
- 1 tsp fine salt 6g
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 226g
- 1 cup carton egg whites, room temperature, or about 7 egg whites 240g
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk, room temperature 360g
- 2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil 30g
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 10g
- 2 tsp rose water 10g
- pink or red gel food coloring if desired
Rose Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup pasteurized egg whites, room temperature 240g
- 7 cups powdered sugar 904g
- 3 cups (6 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 678g
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 15g
- 1 tsp rose water 5g
- 1/2 tsp fine salt 3g
Instructions
Rose Cake Batter
- Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Line four 7-inch pans, or three 8-inch round pans with parchment rounds, and grease with non-stick cooking spray.
- Mix together all dry ingredients (3 cups (375g) flour, 2 1/2 cups (500g) granulated sugar, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp fine salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined.
- Mix in 1 cup 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 1 cup (240g) of egg whites, and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in 1 1/2 cups (360g) of whole milk in two installments, on a low speed.
- Add in 2 Tbsp oil, 2 tsp vanilla extract, and 2 tsp rose water. Mix at a low speed until fully incorporated.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on low speed for about 15 seconds (the key is to mix until the ingredients are JUST incorporated, so that the batter isn’t overmixed).
- If desired, add a couple of drops of pink or red gel food coloring. Mix the color in by hand using a rubber spatula, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl partway through. Mix until the batter is evenly colored.
- Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (about 450 grams per pan if you use 4 pans, or 600g if you use three pans). Bake for 34-36 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the pans cool for 10 minutes, then run an offset spatula around the perimeter of the pan to separate the cake from the pan.
- Place cake layers into the freezer for 45 minutes to accelerate the cooling process. Once the layers are fully cooled, carefully flip the pans and remove the layers from the pans. Use a serrated knife to level the tops of the layers.
Rose Water Buttercream Frosting
- While the cake layers bake and cool, make the rose water buttercream frosting.
- Place 1 cup of room-temperature pasteurized egg whites and 7 cups of powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if you plan to make it with a hand mixer). Mix on a low speed to combine.
- Once all the powdered sugar has been incorporated, mix on high with a whisk attachment for 5-10 minutes until the meringue has soft peaks. Sometimes the egg whites will be able to reach stiff peaks like in the picture above, but if you only get soft peaks, the frosting will still turn out great once you add the butter.
- Swap the whisk attachment for a paddle attachment. This will help make your buttercream super smooth once it's fully made. Mix in 3 cups or 6 sticks of room temperature butter on a low speed, one at a time. Wait until each stick of butter has been fully mixed in before adding the next stick.
- Once the butter is incorporated, mix on medium speed for an additional 5 minutes until the frosting looks fluffy. If the frosting breaks or becomes soupy once you add in the butter, don't worry! Just keep mixing, and it should come back together in 5-10 minutes. When in doubt, keep mixing. If the frosting still hasn't come back together at this point, please refer to my detailed troubleshooting guide in the post above.
- Add 1 Tbsp of vanilla extract, 1 tsp of rose water, and 1/2 tsp of salt, and mix on a low speed until combined. Stir for a couple of additional minutes by hand with a rubber spatula to make the frosting silky smooth.
To Assemble The Cake
- Stack and frost cake layers on a greaseproof 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. Spread a thin coat of frosting around the cake that fully covers the cake layers. Smooth using a bench scraper, then chill the cake in the fridge (10 minutes) or freezer (5 minutes) until the frosting is firm to the touch. I also love adding my raspberry cake filling between the cake layers, but this is optional.
- Add a second, thicker layer of frosting to the cake, and smooth using a bench scraper. Then decorate as desired! If you want to decorate the cake with buttercream rosettes, I recommend checking out my buttercream rosette tutorial.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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I’ve been wanting to make a cake and this sounds amazing. It will be perfect for Valentine’s! Thank you for experimenting for us.
So happy to hear that! And yes, this cake tasted so good, I highly recommend it!!
What an amazing cake, not sure I can wait till Valentine’s Day to try it. Where can I find rose water?
You can find it at whole foods, most gourmet grocery stores, or any Mediterranean grocery store!
Sorry but in Europe I can not work with a cup or 350 F or 4 sticks of butter. Could you pls. give me: Gr. °C or tell me how much is a cup?
http://dish.allrecipes.com/cup-to-gram-conversions/
You can rework the amounts on any computer.. I had to learn to adjust amounts for the Brit recipes I use.. It’s worth the effort.. and not hard to do..
haha yes!!! Thank you for being self sufficient 🙂
Use your internet / computer to look up the equivalents, it is so helpful.
Amazing! Great work. I am absolutely going to look into this for little one’s first birthday party! Thanks a lot for sharing!
Thanks!!! No problem 🙂
I love the rose water in both the cake and the frosting. I made the cake today, and there are a couple of omissions in the recipe that would be helpful to include. First, when combining the wet ingredients prior to adding to the dry ingredients (“combine all wet ingredients (vanilla extract, egg whites, buttermilk, and vegetable oil), and whisk to combine….”) you’ve left out the rose water. It’s on the ingredients list, and fortunately I put it out on the counter with everything else, but honestly I may have forgotten it. And you may wish to add to the ingredients list for the cake portion “optional-pink food coloring”. I honestly wasn’t thinking about that and, of course, the rose water is clear, so my cake isn’t pink. That’s fine, but had I been thinking about it, I would have chosen to make it pink, since it’s so pretty in your cake. I haven’t eaten it yet (daughter’s 18th birthday is tomorrow) but the batter tasted delicious!
So sorry about that!! Just updated the instructions! Happy to hear it turned out though, and that it tastes great <3
First, thank you for posting a rose cake recipe, I have been looking for something like this. My result was just ok. I doubled the quantity of rose water but still didn’t really taste rose. I’m going to chalk that up to using old water. I felt like the cake was much too sweet, especially with the frosting. If I try this again, I might half the sugar but not sure what that would do to the recipe. I’m disappointed but everyone who ate the cake seemed to like it, so it’s not all bad!
Yah I have no idea how long rose water lasts, but different brands can have much different strengths!
I use American buttercream, which is the sweetest! you can always try a Swiss meringue buttercream if you want something less sweet. I wouldn’t recommend decreasing the amount of sugar in the cake layers, or it will change the texture and make the cake more dense!
What type of flour do you use for this recipe?
All purpose flour 🙂
Could you tell me what color of americolor’s food gel you used to achieve the beautiful pale pink you have on the bottom layer of buttercream rosettes?
what wilton tip do you use for these larger roses? Any chance you’ll be doing a tutorial soon on wilton tips and designs you do with your cakes? Thanks so much! -Madeline
Hi Madeline,
I used a wilton 1M tip! I’ve been meaning to do one of the those for a long time, but I don’t think I’ll get to it until November :/ Stay tuned!!
I’m new to baking(probably being ambitious here in wanting to try this). Why do we need vegetable oil? can I use avocado oil?
The vegetable oil just helps the texture of the cake be a tiny bit lighters. I’ve never baked with avocado oil before, but since it’s such a small amount in this recipe, that should be a fine swap! I’ve used olive oil before when I was out of vegetable oil and it worked too!
Hi! I’ve been researching all over online and in store at Whole Foods, and cannot seem to find the rosewater you mentioned in the green bottle. Can you please provide the brand? I’d really appreciate it. The only brands I can find have propylene glycol in them, which I’d like to avoid. Organic roses aren’t as easy to come by as I would have first imagined, either. Thanks so much for your help! Can’t wait to make this gorgeous cake!
Hi Fallon,
I’m so sorry to hear that! Hopefully this brand works for you: https://amzn.to/2TeVBfS
I’m having trouble finding the bottle I bought a couple years ago online!
I love the colors of the rosettes! What colors did you use?
Hi Allison! Surprisingly I just used different amounts of americolor’s deep pink gel food coloring! Even for the peach looking tone. Hope that helps, happy baking!
Hi there. When reading your ingredients of this cake, by the frosting you repeat the rose water twice. Should I add all the rose water in as required or was that a mistake?
I am so sorry about that Kaylim! I just updated the recipe card to make it more clear. Hope that helps, happy baking!
Can I use whole eggs instead of just egg white? I don’t want to land up with loads of yolks… what would the amount be then?
Hi Elaine,
You can use 4 whole eggs in place of the egg whites! I just use egg whites from a carton, so I don’t have to worry about the eggs yolks. Hope that helps, happy baking!
Great recipe! So delish! Tweaked it a little and added some cardamom to the frosting. What would you suggest to replace eggs with? For allergies?
Hey, I live your recipe. Am planning on making an eggless rose cake for my daughter’s second birthday, do you think apple cider is the best substitute for eggs? I loveeeee your recipe.
Hi Chelweets, can I use cake flour instead of all purpose flour in this recipe?
Hi Frankie,
You can use cake flour in place of the AP flour in this recipe! It will change the texture a bit but will still be great 🙂
This sounds delicious! Any tips on converting to cupcakes? Thanks!
Would definitely love to try this recipe , but thinking of testing it in the form of cupcake,can I half the measurement and use it for cupcake?
You are so amazing! Just recreated this cake for my dad’s birthday, and it is so delicious! Thank you so much!
Hi, Thank you for sharing!! Can you guid me on how much butter cream I will need for 10inch cake with four layers to do this cake.
Thanks heaps!!
Hi Karthi! I actually have a great post on how to figure out how much buttercream you need for any size of cake (with a great chart) here: https://chelsweets.com/how-much-buttercream-do-i-need/
Hope that helps!
Chelsea! I have a total hack for you: if you want intense rose flavor, ask for Rooh Afza at a halal store. Or any Pakistani store. It’s basically sugar and rose syrup that’s blended with water or milk and basil seeds during Ramadan. It’s delicious and tastes of rose, a super traditional flavor, like you mentioned in your post.
WHAAA?!?!?!?! That literally sounds like the ultimate ingredient for a rose cake!! I’m going to try to find some this week 🙂 Thank you for sharing Sarah!
I enjoy this cake so much! Yesterday was the third or fourth time I’ve made it, this time for valentines, other times it’s been for Mother’s Day. It’s just the right level of rose to taste intriguing but not overwhelm people unfamiliar with the flavor. I did a simple 7-minute frosting with more of the egg whites from the carton and that helped the overall cake not to be too sweet as well (1c sugar syrup, 1/4c egg whites etc – so little goes into the mixer, yet it balloons up to be more than enough for the two layers plus 11 cupcakes I made with this!)
I love that, it sounds like such a delicious combination!! 🙂 Thank you for sharing Miss Jubilee!!
Hi hope u r fine?, what is the color of the second layer rose please? Thnx?
Hi, What is the color of the second layer of rose please?
Hi Naulee,
As crazy as it sounds, I used increasing amounts of the same gel food coloring to make each color of frosting! I used Americolor deep pink, which I order on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wjxpOZ
Hope that helps, happy baking!
Hi, what would be a good filling for this cake?
I love raspberry and rose together, so I’d try my raspberry filling: https://chelsweets.com/raspberry-cake-filling/
Hope that helps, happy baking!
i like too see a rose cake with glitters roses and pearls on top 4 layer white
pearl frosting with diamond drops you can eat.
Hi! I want to make this tomorrow for my daughter’s birthday party. How much should I increase the recipe by for a three-layer 9-inch cake?
Hi Samantha,
You’d need to make 1.25 batches to make 3, 9-inch cake layers! One batch of batter makes 10 cups. I have a great post on how much batter you need for different sized cake pans here: https://chelsweets.com/how-much-cake-batter-per-pan/
Hope that helps for the future and that your daughter’s cake turned out great!!
Just a question but why does it have so so so so so much sugar in it? It’s a crazy amount is their a need?
Hi Sophie,
Great question! It definitely feels like a lot of sugar, but there’s a reason for it. The sugar isn’t just there to sweeten, it also plays a big role in the texture and structure of the cake. Since this recipe uses the reverse creaming method, the sugar helps break down the butter and coats the flour, which keeps the cake tender and moist. If you cut the sugar too much, the cake can turn out dense, dry, or even collapse. So while it may seem like “so so so much,” it’s really doing double duty here. Hope that helps, happy baking!!