The thing that got me into baking was a triple-tiered cake I saw the first time I went to a wedding reception. It had the most gorgeous white decorations and the moment the bride and groom cut it open was so magical. And getting a piece was incredible! I still remember it was a coconut sponge, filled with strawberry buttercream. It was covered in fondant, though, which is not my favorite. So today I am going to show you how to make a 2 tiered cake with buttercream icing. Get ready, cause it is going to be a doozy!
You will need a good 4 hours to make this and should allocate more time if you are planning on doing some decorations. You can always try and divide the time into a couple of days. Maybe bake the sponges and mix the buttercream the day before. Even try crumb coating them that day and assembling and decorating the next one.
This recipe will yield enough for a double layer 8-inch tier and one double layer 6-inch tier.
Table of Contents
How To Make A 2 Tiered Cake
1. How to Make the Coconut Sponge
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs at room temperature
- 3 cups of granulated sugar
- 4 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
- 6 teaspoons of baking powder
- 3 teaspoons of salt
- 3 sticks of unsalted butter
- 3 cups of coconut milk (canned works great!)
- 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 6 teaspoons of coconut extract
- 3 ¾ cups of sweetened flaked coconut
How to Make 2 Tiered Cake
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Afterward, butter and lightly flour the pans you will be using. It would be best to use two (or three if you prefer thinner layers or more space for filling) of each pan size. You could also use cooking spray with flour in it. It is a time saver!
Step 2
Grab the eggs and place them in the stand mixer’s bowl or a large bowl if you are using a hand mixer. Gradually add the granulated sugar while mixing on high. You should mix for at least 5 minutes or until it reaches the ribbon stage (that means that, when taking out the paddle, the mix leaves a trace on top of the rest of the batter).
2 Tiered Cake Toppings
Step 3
Melt the butter in the microwave in 20-second intervals, mixing in between. Let sit for 5 minutes, until it is no longer piping hot, and add the coconut milk and the extracts. Mix well.
Step 4
Add this mixture to the eggs and sugar. Beat for 2 minutes on high speed or until well combined.
Step 5
Sift and combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl: the flour, baking powder and salt. Add them to the batter gradually while mixing on medium speed.
2 Tiered Cake Blend
Step 6
Once everything is blended together, separate two cups of the mixture into a medium-sized bowl. Combine it with the coconut flakes and then add it to the batter. This is called “liaison” and it will help with achieving an even distribution of coconut flakes throughout the batter.
Step 7
Separate into the pans. To do this, we recommend measuring how much batter you have total and dividing it into thirds. Two thirds will go to the 8-inch pans and one third to the 6-inch pans. If you eyeball it that is totally fine too!
Step 8
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Check to see if they are done by sticking a knife in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, then you are good to go!
Remember that if you are baking all of them at once, they will take longer to bake. Also, the heat in the oven may not be even, so you should interchange the places of the pans to allow them to cook evenly.
Step 9
Once baked, take them out and let them sit for 10 minutes before unmolding them onto a cooling rack. You should leave them to cool off completely – at least one hour. Preferably, you could place them in the fridge.
Your cakes are done! Now onto the strawberry buttercream.
2. How to Make All-Natural Strawberry Buttercream
Ingredients
- 12 cups of powdered sugar
- 3 cup of salted butter
- 2 cups of strawberries
How to Make It
Step 1
Sift the powdered sugar before starting! Clean and take the stems out of your fresh strawberries. Chop them up as finely as you can and save 1/2 cup for later.
Step 2
Place your chopped strawberries in the food processor and let it go until you have a puree consistency. You will need approximately ¾ cup of puree for this frosting, but that will depend on the weather you live in!
Step 3
In the stand mixer, whip the butter and the sifted powdered sugar together on high until it is fluffy.
Step 4
Gradually add the puree. Me mindful of the consistency and do not add too much, because it can become loose and hard to work with. Also, remember that being an all-butter buttercream it is going to be looser than if you were using shortening.
You can always replace the butter for shortening or use a half and half split if you need it to crust and hold its shape better.
Step 5
Once everything is combined, add the ½ cup of chopped strawberries. Fold them in using a spatula.
3. How to Tier the Cake
First of all, remember that you need even layers. If the sponges turned out domed, then you will need to level them out using a serrated knife.
Hopefully, you will not need to cut the layers. But if you do, use toothpicks to mark where you want to cut. Slowly cut them with the serrated knife.
Fill the cakes out separately. Crumb coat the bottom tier and frost the top tier. Remember to always refrigerate in-between steps to help keep them stable.
Once you are done, carefully place the top tier on top of the bottom tier. Proceed to cover them in the rest of the buttercream and decorate with fresh strawberries.
Amazing 2 Tiered Coconut-Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
Coconut Sponge
- 6 large eggs at room temperature
- 3 cups of granulated sugar
- 4 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
- 6 teaspoons of baking powder
- 3 teaspoons of salt
- 3 sticks of unsalted butter
- 3 cups of coconut milk canned works great!
- 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 6 teaspoons of coconut extract
- 3 ¾ cups of sweetened flaked coconut
All-Natural Strawberry Buttercream
- 12 cups of powdered sugar
- 3 cup of salted butter
- 2 cups of strawberries
Instructions
Coconut Sponge
- Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 350°F. Afterward, butter and lightly flour the pans you will be using. It would be best to use two (or three if you prefer thinner layers or more space for filling) of each pan size. You could also use cooking spray with flour in it. It is a time saver!
- Step 2 - Grab the eggs and place them in the stand mixer’s bowl or a large bowl if you are using a hand mixer. Gradually add the granulated sugar while mixing on high. You should mix for at least 5 minutes or until it reaches the ribbon stage (that means that, when taking out the paddle, the mix leaves a trace on top of the rest of the batter).
- Step 3 - Melt the butter in the microwave in 20-second intervals, mixing in between. Let sit for 5 minutes, until it is no longer piping hot, and add the coconut milk and the extracts. Mix well.
- Step 4 - Add this mixture to the eggs and sugar. Beat for 2 minutes on high speed or until well combined.
- Step 5 - Sift and combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl: the flour, baking powder and salt. Add them to the batter gradually while mixing on medium speed.
- Step 6 - Once everything is blended together, separate two cups of the mixture into a medium-sized bowl. Combine it with the coconut flakes and then add it to the batter. This is called “liaison” and it will help with achieving an even distribution of coconut flakes throughout the batter.
- Step 7 - Separate into the pans. To do this, we recommend measuring how much batter you have total and dividing it into thirds. Two thirds will go to the 8-inch pans and one third to the 6-inch pans. If you eyeball it that is totally fine too!
- Step 8 - Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Check to see if they are done by sticking a knife in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, then you are good to go!
- Remember that if you are baking all of them at once, they will take longer to bake. Also, the heat in the oven may not be even, so you should interchange the places of the pans to allow them to cook evenly.
- Step 9 - Once baked, take them out and let them sit for 10 minutes before unmolding them onto a cooling rack. You should leave them to cool off completely – at least one hour. Preferably, you could place them in the fridge.
- Your cakes are done! Now onto the strawberry buttercream.
All-Natural Strawberry Buttercream
- Step 1 - Sift the powdered sugar before starting! Clean and take the stems out of your fresh strawberries. Chop them up as finely as you can and save 1/2 cup for later.
- Step 2 - Place your chopped strawberries in the food processor and let it go until you have a puree consistency. You will need approximately ¾ cup of puree for this frosting, but that will depend on the weather you live in!
- Step 3 - In the stand mixer, whip the butter and the sifted powdered sugar together on high until it is fluffy.
- Step 4 - Gradually add the puree. Me mindful of the consistency and do not add too much, because it can become loose and hard to work with. Also, remember that being an all-butter buttercream it is going to be looser than if you were using shortening.
- You can always replace the butter for shortening or use a half and half split if you need it to crust and hold its shape better.
- Step 5 - Once everything is combined, add the ½ cup of chopped strawberries. Fold them in using a spatula.
Notes
- First of all, remember that you need even layers. If the sponges turned out domed, then you will need to level them out using a serrated knife.
- Hopefully, you will not need to cut the layers. But if you do, use toothpicks to mark where you want to cut. Slowly cut them with the serrated knife.
- Fill the cakes out separately. Crumb coat the bottom tier and frost the top tier. Remember to always refrigerate in-between steps to help keep them stable.
- Once you are done, carefully place the top tier on top of the bottom tier. Proceed to cover them in the rest of the buttercream and decorate with fresh strawberries.
Did you like it? If you try it, definitely post a picture below!
