Dairy-free Vanilla Birthday Cake with Rose Ombre Frosting

adapted from Sweetapolita and I am Baker 
(creates 1 3-layer 8″ round cake; serves 16)

For the cake layers:

• canola oil (for greasing)
• 4 whole large eggs
• 2 egg yolks (from large eggs)
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups rice milk
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 cups cake and pastry flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup vanilla sugar
• 4 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground kosher salt
• 2/3 cup unrefined coconut oil

For the frosting:

• 12 cups icing sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening, room temperature
• 4 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp butter flavouring
• 3/4 – 1 cup rice milk, cold
• 4 tbsp beet juice

For assembling the cake:

• 1 225ml jar of high-quality apricot jam

Lightly grease three 8″ round cake pans and line with parchment circles. Grease the parchment. Set two racks in the oven: one in the top third and the other in the bottom third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a small bowl, mix together the rice milk and lemon juice. Set aside for 5 minutes.

In medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract and 1/4 cup of the rice milk and lemon juice mixture until well combined. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder and salt. Stir well with a fork or whisk for 30 seconds or so to add some air and ensure there are no lumps. Add the coconut oil and the remaining rice milk/lemon juice and mix until just combined.  Then, beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture in three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing until just incorporated.

Divide the batter across the three prepared pans. Bake the cake layers (two on one shelf and the third on the other shelf) for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Swap the cake pans about half way through the baking time.

Let the layers cool in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes.  Remove the layers from the pans, remove the parchment from the bottom of the cakes and let the layers cool completely, right side up, on racks.

While the layers cool, prepare the frosting by beating together the sugar, shortening, butter flavouring and vanilla until smooth.  Add the sugar one cup at a time and continue mixing, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between additions. Slowly add the rice milk until you reach your desired consistency.

Divide the icing into two bowls. In the first bowl, mix 1 tbsp of the beet juice until the colour is completely integrated into the frosting. Mix the remaining 3 tbsp of beet juice into the second bowl of frosting.

To assemble and frost the cake, place the bottom layer on to your work surface. Pipe a border around the perimeter of the top of the layer and fill it in with a few spoonfuls of apricot jam spread evenly. Place the next layer on top of the jam-covered layer and repeat the piping and jam. Top with the third layer and spread enough frosting over the top and sides to crumb coat the entire cake. This frosting doesn’t have to be perfect, it needs to be enough to cover the colour of the cake before piping the roses. Place the cake into the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to set.

Prepare an icing bag with a Wilton 1M tip and fill the bag with the lighter frosting. Starting at the bottom of the cake, pipe a rose by starting in the centre of where the rose will be and slowly creating a swirl around that centrepoint. Continue the swirl until the rose is the desired size. Repeat a single row of these roses around the outside of the cake.

Prepare an icing bag again with the Wilton 1M tip and this time, fill the bag with the darker frosting. Starting a second row, make another row of roses around the outside of the cake. Once that’s finished, repeat the process on the top of the cake, starting at the outside and making your way into the middle. Pipe some frosting to fill any gaps between roses.

Refrigerate until 15 minutes before serving.