The Lana Del Rey Cake: A Guide to Tragic Glamour and Buttercream
You’re driving on a summer night, the windows are down, and “Video Games” comes on. Suddenly, you feel the overwhelming urge to wear a flower crown, drink a Diet Mountain Dew, and stare wistfully out at the horizon. If you’ve ever wanted to distill that specific, cinematic, tragically beautiful feeling into an edible form, then you’ve come to the right place. We’re making a Lana Del Rey cake.
This isn’t just a cake. It’s a mood board. It’s a tribute to Americana, vintage glamour, and the beautiful sadness of it all. We are channeling the iconic, over-the-top “coquette” aesthetic to create a heart-shaped masterpiece that looks like it belongs on the cover of the Born to Die album. This is the Lana Del Rey cake you make when you want to feel like the main character in a very stylish, very melancholic film.
Why This Cake is Your “National Anthem”
So, why is this particular cake the perfect edible homage to the queen of sad-girl pop?
First, it captures the aesthetic perfectly. We’re making a vintage-style heart cake with elaborate, almost gaudy “Lambeth” piping. It’s dramatic, it’s extra, it’s unapologetically frilly and feminine. It’s the cake equivalent of putting on a red dress and telling someone you’ll love them ’til the end of time.
Second, the flavor is a nostalgic trip. We’re making a sweet, slightly artificial (in the best way) Cherry Chip Cake, balanced with a sophisticated almond-spiked buttercream. It tastes like something you’d get at a 1960s diner, shared with a bad boy in a leather jacket. It’s complex and has layers, you know?
Finally, it’s an absolute icon. This style of cake is all over the internet for a reason. It’s incredibly photogenic and makes a huge statement. It says, “I have great taste in music and in cake.” And what more could you want, really?
The “Born to Die For” Ingredients List
To create this slice of summertime sadness, you’ll need the following.
- For the Cherry Chip Cake:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 (10 oz) jar of maraschino cherries, drained, rinsed, and finely chopped (reserve 2 tbsp of the juice!)
- For the Almond Buttercream:
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 6-8 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- ¼ cup milk or heavy cream
- 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- Red gel food coloring
- For Garnishing:
- A few perfect maraschino cherries with the stems still on
- Edible pearls (optional, but very on-brand)
The Tools for a Young God
To craft this work of art, you’ll need your instruments of choice.
- Heart-Shaped Cake Pan(s) (two 8-inch or 9-inch pans are ideal)
- Stand Mixer with paddle and whisk attachments
- Cake Turntable
- Offset Spatula and Bench Scraper
- Piping Bags
- A Variety of Piping Tips: This is key! You’ll want an assortment of star tips (like Wilton #21), shell tips, and small round tips. A petal tip (#104) is great for ruffles.
Step-by-Step Instructions: This is What Makes Us Girls
Put on your favorite LDR vinyl, light a candle, and let’s get tragic.
H3: “Summertime Sadness” — Baking the Cherry Cake
- Prep Your Pans: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour your heart-shaped pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Chop the Cherries: Drain, rinse, pat dry, and finely chop your maraschino cherries. Toss them in a tablespoon of your flour mixture to prevent them from sinking.
- Mix Dry, Mix Wet: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites, buttermilk, 2 tablespoons of reserved cherry juice, and the almond and vanilla extracts.
- Combine: With your mixer on low, add the softened butter to the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Slowly stream in the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the chopped cherries gently.
- Bake: Divide the batter between your two pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the layers cool completely on a wire rack.
H3: “Gods & Monsters” — Whipping the Buttercream
- In your stand mixer, beat the softened butter until light and creamy.
- On low speed, gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, alternating with the milk or cream, until it’s all incorporated. Add the almond extract, vanilla, and salt.
- Once combined, turn the mixer up to medium-high and beat for a full 5 minutes. This makes it incredibly light and fluffy, perfect for piping. You want a stiff consistency for this design.
H3: “Video Games” — Assembling Your Heart
- Build and Crumb Coat: Level your cooled cake layers. Fill and stack them on your turntable. Apply a thin crumb coat of your base color frosting (usually white or a pale pink/blue) and chill for 30 minutes until firm.
- The Final Coat: Apply a perfectly smooth final coat of frosting. Use your bench scraper to get the sides flawless. This is the canvas for your art.
H3: “National Anthem” — The Art of Vintage Piping
- Plan Your Attack: This style is all about layers of elaborate borders. It’s helpful to lightly trace your design with a toothpick first.
- The Base Border: Use a large star tip to pipe a shell border around the bottom and top edges of the cake.
- Add the Swags: Use a round or star tip to pipe swooping “swags” or “garlands” along the sides of the cake, connecting them at evenly spaced points.
- Get Frilly: This is where you go wild. Add ruffles on top of the swags with a petal tip. Pipe rosettes, shells, and dots on top of your base borders. More is more. Don’t be shy.
- The Finishing Touch: Use red-tinted frosting to pipe a final, delicate border or a heartfelt/heartbreaking message on top. Top with a few perfect, stemmed maraschino cherries.
Calories & Nutritional Info
This cake is an aesthetic experience, darling, not a health food.
- Calories: A slice of this beautiful tragedy is around 700-900 calories.
- Serving Size: One, for you and your lover in the Hamptons.
- Contains: Blue jeans, white shirt, and a hint of existential dread.
Common Mistakes to Avoid (Or, How Not to Get the Blues)
- Cherry Bleed: If you don’t rinse and dry your chopped maraschino cherries, their bright red syrup will bleed all through your pristine white cake, making it look messy. Rinse, dry, and toss in flour.
- A Buttercream Meltdown: The intricate Lambeth piping requires a stiff consistency buttercream. If your frosting is too soft, your beautiful ruffles will wilt into sad little blobs. If it feels soft, don’t be afraid to beat in more powdered sugar or chill it briefly.
- Being Too Timid: This is not the time for minimalism. The charm of the Lana Del Rey cake aesthetic is its over-the-top, almost gaudy frilliness. Layer those borders. Add more ruffles. Be bold.
- A Wonky Heart: If you’re using two pans for a layer cake, make sure they are the same size and shape, and that you stack them perfectly. A lopsided heart is truly a tragedy.
Variations & Customizations
Feel like exploring her different eras?
- The Ultraviolence Cake: For a moodier vibe, make a dark chocolate cake. Frost it in a pale lavender or grey buttercream. Use dark purple and black for the intricate piping details. Garnish with fresh blackberries instead of cherries.
- The NFR! Cake: Capture the Laurel Canyon, folk-goddess vibe. Make a simple, round olive oil and orange cake. Frost it with a rustic, swoopy finish, and top with fresh peaches, daisies, and a sprig of rosemary.
- The “Cherry” Cola Cake: For a direct musical tie-in, add a cola reduction to your cake batter (boil down a can of cola until it’s a thick syrup) for a delicious, old-fashioned “Cherry Cola” flavor.
FAQ: Your Poetic Inquiries, Answered
Let’s answer the questions you’re whispering in the pale moonlight.
H3: What is “Lambeth” style piping?
It’s a traditional, elaborate English cake decorating method characterized by layering multiple, intricate piped borders on top of each other to create dimension and a sense of decadent abundance. It’s all about swags, ruffles, and shells.
H3: What is the best frosting for this much piping?
A sturdy American buttercream with a slightly higher ratio of powdered sugar to fat is ideal. You want it to be stiff enough to hold its shape. A crusting buttercream is your best friend.
H3: Can I use fresh cherries instead of maraschino?
You can, but it will change the flavor and texture significantly. The charm of this specific cake is the slightly artificial, nostalgic taste of maraschino cherries. If using fresh, you’ll want to cook them down into a compote first to avoid excess moisture.
H3: What are the essential piping tips for a vintage cake?
A medium star tip (like #21), a shell border tip (like #32), a small round tip for dots (#3), and a petal tip for ruffles (#104) will give you a great arsenal to create these looks.
H3: Is this the same as a “coquette” cake?
Yes! The terms are often used interchangeably. This style of cake—frilly, vintage, often heart-shaped, and hyper-feminine—is a cornerstone of the “coquette aesthetic” that is very popular online and heavily associated with Lana Del Rey’s fandom.
H3: How do I store a cake with this much frosting?
In the refrigerator, in a tall cake box to protect the delicate piping. Let it sit at room temperature for about an hour before serving to allow the buttercream to soften.
H3: My piping looks shaky and bad. What do I do?
Embrace it! A little bit of a shaky hand can add to the vintage, homemade charm. But for better results, make sure your frosting is the right consistency, and practice on a piece of parchment paper first to get your confidence up.
Final Thoughts: You Were Born to Bake
You did it. You captured summertime sadness in a cake pan. You created a dessert that’s as beautiful, tragic, and iconic as Lana herself. This cake is a testament to glamour, romance, and not taking yourself too seriously.
So put a flower in your hair, put on a red dress, and serve yourself a slice of this masterpiece. You are the “sweetest little baby in the room,” and you just made the most incredible Lana Del Rey cake. Will you be mine?