Clowfish cake recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1½ cups sour cream (or milk)

• 4 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract, or seeds from 1 vanilla bean
• 10 cups confectioner’s sugar
• Black and orange food coloring

Bake the Cake
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch cake pan.
2. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and smooth. Add the vanilla extract, then the eggs one at a time, mixing with each addition.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the batter in 2 additions, alternating with the sour cream.
4. Spoon the batter into your prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
Make the Buttercream
5. Beat the butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time, beating with each addition.
6. Divide the buttercream into 3 bowls. Leave one bowl white and dye one orange and one black.
Assembly
7. Using a serrated knife, slice the top and bottom off the cake to smooth the surface and remove any excess browning. Then slice the cake horizontally into 2 even layers. Stack the layers and carve the cake into a fish shape.
8. Stack the cakes and spread some white buttercream between the layers. Place the orange, black, and remaining white buttercream into piping bags fitted with small, star-shaped piping tips.
9. Pipe the black markings onto the cake first, by piping in an upward motion, creating clusters of stars. Follow with the white buttercream, then the orange buttercream. Pipe the eye on last, so that it stands out. Enjoy your cute clownfish!