Naked Green Ombré Cake

Happy 70 years, Pakistan! Today marks Pakistan’s Independence Day, where it was declared a sovereign nation separate from India thanks to Partition and marks its creation as a nation. Both of my grandfathers and that generation of my family dealt with the hardships that came with Partition (the mass migration between Pakistan and India which incited a lot of violence), so it’s still very close and personal to my family. In modern day, it’s a day that’s celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm in Pakistan with parades, concerts, fireworks, and that means it must include food. When I was younger, we would go to to the Pakistan Day show in San Francisco, where they would have music, dances, speeches, clothes, and food! One year, I was even a part of one of the performances, as the heart of Punjab, as that is the province my family comes from.

I wanted to bake something that commemorates this occasion. This was my first attempt at making a naked and an ombré cake – so naturally, I decided to make it green in honor of Pakistan’s flag. 🙂 Again, I used Diva Can Cook’s moist yellow cake recipe, because it’s the best one I’ve found so far. Instead of making 2 9 inch cakes, I baked 4 smaller cakes to make to stack them.

NAKED GREEN OMBRÉ CAKE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened, room temperature (do not microwave)
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs, separated, room temperature
• 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• food coloring, blue and yellow to make various colors of green
• Mint chocolate frosting (purchase from brand of your choice)

1. Preheat oven to 325. F.
2. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
4. Add in egg yolks and vanilla, mixing until fully incorporated. Set aside.
5. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
6. Gradually add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk.
7. Mix until batter is fluffy but be careful not to over mix.
8. Beat egg whites until stiff and thick. (holds a nice peak)
9. Very gently fold egg whites into batter and mix JUST until incorporated.
10. Add in food coloring according to your package’s instructions. I would start off with the lightest color, and then pour batter into prepared pan, spreading into even layers. Then add more to create a darker green color and repeat until all pans are filled.
11. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and let cake cool in pans until pans are warm to the touch.
13. Carefully remove cakes from pan and place on a cooling rack to finish cooling.
14. When cakes are completely cooled, frost the top of the first layer with mint chocolate buttercream frosting. Place another layer and repeat until finished.

I know this isn’t the greatest naked cake, but it was my first time doing this! The cake is really fluffy and soft, I was originally gonna make the cake itself minty, but I think having it in the frosting is better, and chocolate and mint are perfect together!