Sweet Flower Cake for Mother’s Day

Preheat oven to 350ºF (325ºF for dark or nonstick pans). Coat 2 (8") round cake pans with cooking spray. 

Prepare cake mix according to package directions with egg whites, oil, and 1 cup water; stir in strawberry extract, zest, and food coloring. Divide between pans.

Bake 24-28 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes. Transfer from pans to racks; cool completely.

On medium speed, beat butter and shortening until fluffy, 2 minutes. On low, gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, then vanilla until combined. On medium, beat 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Transfer 3 cups buttercream to separate bowl; cover and reserve for filling and frosting cake. 

Depending on how many flowers you want to make, cut 16-20 (3") squares of parchment paper; reserve. 

Transfer 1 cup of remaining buttercream to separate bowl; tint dark pink with rose food coloring. In another bowl, tint 1 cup of remaining buttercream light pink with rose food coloring. 

Divide 1 cup of remaining buttercream among three bowls (1/3 cup each); ting one violet, one yellow, and remaining bowl moss green with food colorings. Transfer 1/4 cup of remaining buttercream to disposable pastry bag; snip 1/2" opening in tip.

To make pansies, fit pastry bag with rose petal tip (such as Wilton #104). Fill bag with alternating spoonfuls of tinted and 1/3 cup untinted buttercream. Attach 1 parchment paper square with dot of buttercream to bottom of inverted jar. Depending on desired size of flower, starting from about 1/2"-1" from edge of paper and holding bag with wider end of tip at slight angle and almost touching paper, pipe petals in circular loop, as shown bottom right. Repeat to make inner row of petals. For smaller pansies, pipe 1 loop of petals. Carefully transfer flower on paper to baking sheet.

Repeat to make desired amount of pansies. Freeze until firm, 20 minutes.

For flowers using Wilton Easy Blooms Tips, fit 1 pastry bag with 1" mums tip and another pastry bag with 1" rose tip. Transfer yellow buttercream to bag with mums tip and pink buttercream of your choice to bag with rose tip. For 2-tone roses, fill bag with alternating spoonfuls of 1/4 cup light or dark pink and 1/4 cup of remaining untinted buttercream.

For roses using regular pastry tips, fit pastry bag with large rose tip (such as Wilton #126). For 2-tone roses, fill bag with alternating spoonfuls of 1/3 cup light or dark pink and 1/3 cup untinted buttercream. For solid roses, fill with pink buttercream.

For regular roses, on paper square attached to jar, starting from center and holding bag with wider end of tip pointing downward and perpendicular to jar, as shown, pipe buttercream in circular motion, turning jar clockwise while piping. Repeat as desired; transfer to baking sheet. Freeze

For mums, line baking sheet with parchment paper. Holding pastry bag perpendicular to paper on 1 baking sheet, pipe flowers, as shown. For Wilton Easy Blooms roses, pipe flowers directly onto baking sheet with mums.

Place 1 cake layer on serving plate. Spread with 1 cup of reserved untinted buttercream. Spread bottom of remaining cake layer with strawberry jam; invert onto buttercream on cake layer on plate. Spread top and side with remaining 2 cups reserved untinted buttercream. Pipe small mounds of reserved untinted buttercream on cake top to prop up some of flowers.

When ready to decorate, slide small spatula under flower and lift from paper. Transfer to cake.

Pipe leaves onto cake with green buttercream. Place sprinkles in centers of pansies.