Blueberry Caramel Ombre Cake

I am aiming to bake some stylish and a tiny bit fancy cakes for my son's confirmation party which will be held in Finland in a couple of weeks. So far I have baked half a dozen different 'test cakes' and to date this Blueberry Caramel Ombre Cake is the creation I have personally been most satisfied with. In the real celebration cake I may replace the blueberries in the filling with raspberries to give the taste some sharpness but on top I find the blueberries simple and beautiful and also a safe choice in the sense that they do not make a mess, that is, leak juices around them. What comes to the filling, caramel sauce and vanilla creme make a lovely combination. I made them myself but feel free to use ready-made ones to speed up your baking!

Blueberry Caramel Ombre Cake

Sponges

For a tall, festive cake you need two sponges. This recipe is for one sponge but if you have two 23cm cake pans and you can bake the sponges at the same time in the oven, double these amounts - otherwise make one sponge at a time:

200 g soft butter

200 g granulated sugar

4 eggs

200 g self-raising flour

1,5 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp cream or milk

1. Heat the oven to 190 degrees C (375 F) and grease and flour (I use dried and ground breadcrumbs) one or two 28cm round cake pans.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients.

3. Cream together butter and sugar.

4. Add eggs and mix well.

5. Add the dry ingredients and cream or milk.

6. Pour the mixture into the pan / divide equally between two pans. 

7. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until solid in the middle.

8. Let cool completely on a rack.

Filling

Caramel Sauce

2.5 dl / 1 cup cream

1.5 dl / 2/3 cup dark brown sugar

1 dl / 1/3 cup golden caster sugar

2 tbsp butter

1. Place cream and sugars into a saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugars have dissolved.

2. When the mixture starts bubbling, lower the heat and keep mixing until it thickens. Usually this takes 10-15 minutes.

3. Add butter and let cool down just a little - the sauce spreads better when still warm.

Vanilla Creme

4 dl / 1½ cups milk

3 tbsp sugar

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp corn flour

3 tsp vanilla sugar or 2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Mix all ingredients together except vanilla in a saucepan.

2. Heat over medium heat until the mixture thickens but does not boil.

3. Let cool down and add vanilla sugar/extract.

Buttercream Icing

200 g butter

400 g icing sugar

1-2 tbps cream and/or any leftover caramel sauce from the filling

Blue and red (or colour of your choice) food colours to make purple

1. Beat the butter and icing sugar in a bowl until soft. 

2. Add cream drop by drop to make sure the mixture does not become too loose.

3. Take 1/3 of the mixture and colour it with red and blue to make your desired purple shade.

Blueberries or other berries or jam of your choice

For this cake I used about 300 g of blueberries

Blueberry (or other) juice to moisten the cake

Decorations

Blueberries or other berries of your choice

Mint leaves

Coloured icing

To compile the cake

1. Cut each sponge in half so you have 4 layers of the cake.

2. Moisten each layer carefully with blueberry juice.

3. Spread 1/3 of the caramel sauce on the bottom layer. If you use jam instead of berries, spread it next. Otherwise spread the vanilla creme on top of the caramel sauce and then the fresh berries.

4. Put the second layer of the cake on top of the first layer and repeat step 3, then do the same with the third layer.

5. Place the top layer on the cake and press gently but firmly so that the cake looks stable and stands straight.

6. Take the coloured buttercream and start spreading it upwards on the sides of the cake with a spatula or small knife until half way of the sides. 

6. Take the rest of the buttercream and first spread it on top of the cake and then on sides until it reaches the coloured buttercream. Where the buttercreams 'meet', mix them very carefully to create an 'ombre' - fading - effect.

7. Decorate the cake with blueberries and mint leaves. I had some leftover coloured buttercream from the sides so I piped it on the cake and plate for a more decorative look.