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Painted Cake
5 from 12 votes

Painted Cake

This painted cake combines all-purpose flour and graham cracker crumbs in a spiced batter featuring cinnamon and allspice. The batter blends butter, sugars, eggs, buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla to create a moist texture suitable for layering in multiple pans. The cake is finished with Swiss buttercream made from egg whites, butter, sugar, and vanilla, offering a smooth, rich frosting that can be colored and decorated artistically.

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Additional Time
30 mins
Total Time
45 mins
Servings: 8
Calories: 216 kcal
Course: Dessert, Cake
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS
For the Cake
  • 1 1/4  cup  all-purpose flour 150g
  • 3/4  cup  graham cracker crumbs  63g
  • 1  tsp  baking powder  4g
  • 1/2  tsp  baking soda  3g
  • 1/2  tsp  cinnamon  1g
  • 1/4  tsp  allspice 250mg
  • 1  cup  butter 230g, room temp, unsalted
  • 1/2  cup  sugar  100g
  • 1/2  cup  light brown sugar  200g
  • 3  egg large
  • 1  egg white
  • 1/2  cup  buttermilk  118mL
  • 1/2  cup  sour cream  115g
  • 1  tbsp  vanilla  15mL
  • Food Coloring
For the Swiss Buttercream
  • 5  egg whites at room temperature
  • 2  cups  butter 452g, room temp, unsalted
  • 1 ½  cups  granulated sugar  300g
  • 1  pinch  kosher salt
  • 1  tsp  vanilla extract 5mL

Instructions

INSTRUCTIONS
For the Cake
    Cup of Yum
  1. Set oven to 350F. Butter and flour 4 6" cake pans (I recommend using cake stripes as well.
  2. Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk, vanilla and sour cream.
  3. Cream the butter in a stand mixer and add sugars. Mix until light and fluffy.
  4. Add the eggs and white in one at a time mixing until incorporated.
  5. Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture in alternating batches. Starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined, give the bowl a final scrape with a spatula to get any unmixed parts on the sides and bottom.
  6. Pour batter into your pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from the center.
For the Swiss buttercream
  1. Add egg whites, sugar and salt in a bowl.
  2. Give the mixture a brief whisk.
  3. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Make sure the water does not touch the bowl.
  4. Whisk the egg whites occasionally while it warms up. When the mixture has warmed, whisk it constantly. You will heat the mixture until it reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF or until it's not grainy between your fingers.
  5. Transfer the bowl to a stand mixer, mix with a whisk attachment until you get room temperature glossy peaks.
  6. Switch to a paddle attachment and while the mixture is running on low, add tablespoon sized dollops of room temperature butter making sure to let the butter incorporate before you add the next piece. Once all the butter is incorporated, go ahead and add the vanilla extract. You can transfer it to a piping bag or to a ziplock bag to store in the freezer.
For the Assembly
  1. Pipe buttercream onto first layer and repeat until cake is assembled.
  2. Pipe on final coat of buttercream. Smooth with bench scraper and off set spatula. 
  3. Place in the fridge to chill.

Notes

  • Applying a crumb coat and chilling before the final frosting helps achieve a smooth finish and stabilizes the cake layers.

Nutrition Information

Serving 1g Calories 216kcal (11%) Carbohydrates 41g (14%) Protein 2.7g (5%) Fat 4.7g (7%) Saturated Fat 2.5g (13%) Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5g (3%) Monounsaturated Fat 0.6g (3%) Cholesterol 2.5mg (1%) Sodium 119mg (5%) Potassium 19mg (0%) Fiber 0.6g (2%) Sugar 9.9g (20%) Calcium 23mg (2%) Iron 0.6mg (3%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 8 Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 216

% Daily Value*

Serving 1g
Calories 216kcal 11%
Carbohydrates 41g 14%
Protein 2.7g 5%
Fat 4.7g 7%
Saturated Fat 2.5g 13%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5g 3%
Monounsaturated Fat 0.6g 3%
Cholesterol 2.5mg 1%
Sodium 119mg 5%
Potassium 19mg 0%
Fiber 0.6g 2%
Sugar 9.9g 20%
Calcium 23mg 2%
Iron 0.6mg 3%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.