Julie Clark
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Pink Ombre Cake
This Pink Ombre Cake is perfect for Valentine’s Day! You’ll love the fresh taste of this mango vegan cake with coconut oil frosting.
Pink Ombre Cake
In the beginning of February when winter seems like it will never end, in pops this beautiful pink ombre cake that tastes like a tropical vacation.
Vegan Cake Recipe
You’ll love the simplicity of this cake recipe. It starts with a box cake mix. Duncan Hines cake mixes are typically vegan. Just be sure to check the ingredient list.
Although you can always bake this cake in a traditional 9×13 pan, we decided to make a 3-layer cake in 8″ cake pans. If you’d like the ombre look, color each of the layers in varying shades of pink (or whatever color you choose).
Mango Cake Recipe
Don’t add the ingredients on the back of the box, just add a can of mangoes (juice and all) that you’ve run through the food processor. Using the mangoes instead of the eggs, oil and milk or butter helps keep the calories down on this cake. Plus, it gives delicious flavor!
Vegan Frosting
The key to a delicious vegan frosting is quality coconut oil. You’ll want to be sure to use unrefined coconut oil. It should have a delicious aroma of coconuts when you take a whiff of it. You’ll want it cool, in it’s solid state so that it whips up like buttercream. It’s important to refrigerate this cake after you frost it. Coconut oil has a low melting point, so it will soften more quickly than a butter-based frosting.
Easy Valentine’s Day Cake
If you’re looking for a simple way to decorate a Valentine’s Day cake, try this simple idea using red M&M candies. arrange the red candies in a lowercase script “love” print. The contrast of the red and white is beautiful!
Other Valentine’s Day Cakes
Tools to Make This Cake
- Grated Coconut: One of my favorite brands.
- Hand mixer: I don’t pull out my stand mixer for this recipe. It makes a small amount so a hand mixer works perfectly.
- Ninja Express Chop: Mini food processor…this is one of my most-used kitchen tools! Perfect for the mangoes in this recipe
- 8” Round Cake Pans: I love this size cake pans since it makes the cake a little taller than using a larger cake pans.
- Straight Icing Spatula: The long straight spatula makes it easy to smooth frosting.
- Wire Cooling Racks: This will help your cakes cool more quickly.
Pink Ombre Cake
This Pink Ombre Cake is perfect for Valentine's Day! You'll love the fresh taste of this mango vegan cake with coconut oil frosting.
Servings 12
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix
- 15 ounces can of diced mangos (with juice)
- Pink gel food color
- 1 1/2 cups coconut oil (solid)
- 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Red M&Ms
Instructions
- Puree the diced mango in a food processor until smooth and fold in the white cake mix until well combined. Be careful not to overmix so your cakes bake flat.
- Divide the batter evenly between 3 bowls and color the 1st bowl a light pink, the 2nd bowl slightly darker, and the 3rd bowl the darkest shade of pink*.
- Pour batter into greased and lined 8" cake tins and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Let cakes cool completely before frosting.
- To make the frosting beat the coconut oil and vanilla until fluffy and add the powdered sugar a ½ cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. If your frosting gets too thick you can add unsweetened almond or coconut milk ½ Tbs at a time until you reach a spreadable consistency.
- To decorate lay your darkest layer on your cake stand and add 1 cup of frosting, smoothing it into an even layer with an offset spatula. Top it with the medium shade and repeat. Top with the lightest shade and crumb coat your cake with a thin layer of buttercream. Refrigerate for 15 minutes or until buttercream is no longer tacky.
- Frost your cake with a final, even layer of buttercream smoothing the top and sides with a large offset spatula or cake scraper.
- Decorate the top with red M&Ms or leftover frosting.
- Be sure to refrigerate the cake before serving so the frosting doesn't get too soft.
Notes
*To get a nice deep shade of pink I added a tiny bit of red to the darkest layer along with the pink you can omit this and just use pink if it's all you have.
**The calories shown are based on the cake being cut into 10 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of frosted cake. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate.
Nutrition
Calories: 419kcal | Carbohydrates: 95g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 300mg | Potassium: 86mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 76g | Vitamin A: 385IU | Vitamin C: 12.9mg | Calcium: 98mg | Iron: 0.9mg
