Make deceptively real flower cakes with this ingenious trick!

It's not just bees, beetles and all sorts of bugs who look forward to sunny days when the flowers blossom in all their colorful and fragrant splendor — people also enjoy the beauty of flowers in full bloom. Hydrangeas are particularly beloved by keen gardeners. With this recipe, you can now appreciate them on your dessert plate and not just in your garden.

You'll need (for 4 cakes): 

For the batter:

• 5⅔ flour
• 6 oz sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 6⅓ oz soft butter
• 2 oz  egg white
• 4 fl oz milk
• 1 tbsp vanilla flavoring

For the buttercream:

• Food coloring in blue, purple, pink and white
• 12 oz icing sugar
• 3¼ oz egg white
• 1 pinch salt
• 12 oz soft butter

Here's how:

1. Put all the ingredients for the sponge in a blender, in order to process them quickly and easily. Mix them until you have a uniform, creamy batter. 

2. Divide the batter into four equal portions. Add food coloring to three portions and mix it into the batter: add one drop of blue coloring to one portion, three drops of purple to the second one and one drop of pink to the third portion. Put alternating spoonfuls of the different colors into a small springform pan (diameter: 4 inches) until it is half full. Then stir the batter a few times with a spoon to merge the colors to create a marbling effect. You should have enough mixture for four pans. Bake your little cakes for 35 minutes at 350°F with the heat set to above and below.

3. Beat icing sugar, egg white and salt with an electric whisk, until the mixture takes on a silky shine. Then add the butter and beat it in.

4. Remove the cooled cakes from the springform pans and cut each one horizontally into three equally thick slices. Put a generous tablespoon of buttercream on the lowest slice of one cake and spread it out flat. Put the next cake layer on top and repeat the process with the icing, until the cake is once more fully assembled. Do the same thing with the other three.

5. Cover the outside of the cakes completely with buttercream. 

6. Divide the remaining buttercream into three portions. Color them with food coloring as follows: purple, blue and white. Place a large piece of clear plastic food wrap over your work surface and spread out a layer of purple buttercream on top. Take care to leave a large border along every edge of the food wrap. Spread some blue buttercream on top of the purple and some white on top of the blue to finish. Each layer should be smaller than the previous one.

7. Fold the food wrap in half with the buttercream. Hold the ends closed, one in each hand, and spin the wrap to form the roll. 

8. Cut off one end of the roll and place the food wrap together with the buttercream in a piping bag with a star-shaped nozzle. Dot the cakes all over with the icing to turn them into colorful hydrangea flowers.

Every baker can adapt the color combination according to their preferences. If you want something a little less labor-intensive, you can also decorate cupcakes like this. The cakes won't take up quite as much space as they won't be completely covered in buttercream.