This rose buttercream cake is made with perfectly fluffy chocolate cake layers paired with fresh strawberries and rose infused Swiss meringue buttercream. It's the party cake, bridal shower cake, or girls night out cake - and it comes together so quickly!
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Ingredients Needed to Make a Rose Buttercream Cake
Here are the main ingredients needed for this recipe. You'll find a complete list of ingredients with their quantities listed in the recipe card below.
For the Chocolate Cake
- All Purpose Flour - Don't use cake flour. The cocoa powder is already very fine, so the cake won't hold up and may crumble.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Granulated Sugar
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Eggs
- Buttermilk. See the recipe card for a substitution if you don't have or want to get buttermilk.
- Hot Water
- Vegetable Oil. Use any neutral tasting oil to add extra moisture to the cake.
- Pure Vanilla Extract
For the Rose Buttercream Frosting
- Egg Whites - I recommend using fresh eggs for the best result. Your frosting will whip up more and be so fluffy and delicious.
- Granulated Sugar
- Unsalted Butter
- Rose Water
What is Rose Buttercream?
Rose buttercream is Swiss meringue buttercream that has been flavoured with rose water. I altered my go-to Swiss meringue buttercream recipe slightly to make this new fragrant and delicious rose buttercream. There are only two ingredients - distilled water and rose water concentrate.
It’s important to add a very small amount of rose water to your buttercream at a time. We do want to taste the rose water, but it’s easy to add a drop too much and have our buttercream too potent and risk tasting artificial. Begin by adding ½ teaspoon and continue adding in ½ teaspoon increments until you achieve the strength of rose flavour you desire.
Instructions
Make the Chocolate Cake
- Mix together dry ingredients. Flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Mix together wet ingredients. Vegetable oil, egg, buttermilk, vanilla and hot water. Mix until completely combined. We want the mixture completely incorporated.
- Combine the wet and the dry ingredients. Mix well, but do not over-mix. You'll end up with dense cupcakes or they mix sink if you over-mix.
- Pour into three 6 inch greased cake pans.
Make Rose Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Wipe down your mixing bowl, paddle and whisk attachment with a small amount of white vinegar or lemon juice. This will prevent any fat residue from coming into contact with the meringue. If your meringue comes in contact with fat residue it can cause your whipped up, puffy meringue to deflate—the opposite of what we want!
- Make sure your butter is room temperature. Butter that is room temperature incorporates into the meringue fully. If your butter is too warm or too cold your buttercream will not whip up properly.
- Use a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature of your egg white and sugar mixture to make sure you cook it to 160 degrees F. If you do not have a candy thermometer you can use the finger dip test. Take your index finger and thumb and dip them into your warm mixture. Rub your fingers together to feel for any sugar granules. If there are palpable sugar granules, continue to heat your mixture. Stop when you can no longer feel any sugar granules between your two fingers.
Substitutions
- Eggs- instead of eggs, you can use unsweetened apple sauce. For every egg required in the recipe, use ¼ cup of unsweetened applesauce.
- Gluten Free. If you'd like to make this cake gluten-free simply substitute the all purpose flour with gluten free flour. I recommend Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour.
Variations
If you're looking for a slightly easier frosting recipe, I recommend trying out this American Buttercream recipe and adding 1 teaspoon of rose water to it!
Equipment
For this recipe, you'll need to use an electric stand mixer to make the buttercream frosting. Swiss meringue frosting requires use of the whisk attachment to whip the egg whites to a stiff peak. It's incredibly challenging to do this with an electric hand mixer.
For the cake batter you can simply mix the ingredients together with a whisk in one bowl!
Storage & Make Ahead
You can make the cake layers ahead and store them in the freezer for up to three months. You can also bake the cake layers ahead and store them wrapped tightly in two layers of plastic wrap for 3 days at room temperature. If you decide to freeze your cake layers I recommend the layers warm slightly before frosting. I recommend placing them on the counter to thaw for about 2 hours.
Once you have frosted this cake, it will need to remain in the fridge. As the days progress, the cake will of course become less fresh, so I recommend eating it within 2 days.
Top Tip
Chocolate cake can be difficult to frost because it is so moist. The cocoa powder is extremely fine making the cake quite delicate. I recommend freezing the cake layers before frosting to prevent crumbs from getting in your frosting.
To Assemble your Rose Buttercream Cake
- Begin by placing one levelled off chocolate cake layer on your cake board
- Apply a moderate amount of buttercream to the layer and spread it evenly
- Place thinly cut strawberries evenly around the cake layer
- Place second levelled off cake layer on top. Repeat.
- Crumb coat your cake by spreading a thin layer of buttercream on the outside of the cake.
- Refrigerate for 15 minutes or until the buttercream is chilled. You should be able to touch the buttercream without it coming off on your finger.
- Complete your outer layer of frosting and top with fresh strawberries, chocolate, or the topping of your choice!
Related
Looking for more recipes like this? Try these:
Chocolate Rose Buttercream Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- ¾ cups Dark Cocoa Powder Sifted
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 Eggs At room temperature
- 1 cup Buttermilk At room temperature
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup Hot Water
- 2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray three 6-inch cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottom with a parchment circle. Spray the parchment circle with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Into the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, combine sifted flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, hot coffee, and vanilla.
- With your mixer on low speed, gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until combined – about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom the bowl to ensure everything has mixed in completely.
- Distribute your cake batter evenly between your cake pans. I like to use a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is divided equally. If you do not have one, eye ball it!
- Bake for 28-30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Cool on cooling racks for about 10 minutes before inverting and removing the cake from the pans. Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting.
- To store these cake layers, wrap completely cooled layers in plastic wrap two times. Cake layers can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter until cool but not room temperature before decorating.
Notes
Rose Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
- 5 Egg Whites
- 1½ cups Granulated Sugar
- 2 cups Unsalted Butter At room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Rose Water Begin with 1 tsp, add in ½ teaspoon increments to flavour to your liking
Instructions
- Wipe down the bowl of your electric stand mixer, whisk and paddle attachments with a small amount of white vinegar. Having any fat residue on these surfaces can impact how your meringue whips up.
- Create a double boiler on your stove by filling a medium saucepan with a couple inches of water. Do not let the water touch the base of the bowl. Put your egg whites and sugar in your bowl and place on top of the saucepan. Give them a whisk to combine.
- Cook your egg white/sugar mixture over medium heat stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F on a candy thermometer or until you can no longer feel any sugar granules between two fingertips. The mixture will be warm to touch but not scalding.
- Transfer your egg white/sugar mixture to the bowl of your electric stand mixer with the whisk attachment in place and whisk on high until the outside of your mixing bowl is no longer hot and you’ve achieved stiff peaks in your meringue. This can take between 8-12 minutes.
- Switch to the paddle attachment. Turn your mixer to low speed. Add in your cubed butter (2 tablespoon in size) one at a time, allowing each to be incorporated before the next addition.
- Scrape down the sides of your bowl, turn mixer to low speed and add in your vanilla and rose water. Begin by adding 1 teaspoon of rose water and mix to combine. Add more as desired. Be cautious not to add too much rose water because it can lead to the buttercream tasting very artificial.
- Turn your mixer up to medium to high speed and mix for about 2-3 minutes until buttercream is completely incorporated, silky, and smooth.
Elizabeth Barber says
I’ve gone through most of my life thinking I didn’t like chocolate cake - until I made this cake and realized that I actually LOVE chocolate cake!! This cake is moist, rich, and really easy to make. This recipe is especially great for beginner bakers because it is easily to follow and the cake tastes SO good!
Blair Braz says
Yay!!! I am thrilled you love the recipe!