Vanilla Cake with Buttercream Frosting

Okay, I love vanilla cake, but it's hard to find one that is moist and still airy.  The proportions for this recipe make two 9 inch round cakes, so I tripled the recipe to make my tiered cake (pictured at the bottom).  I quadrupled the frosting recipe to ensure there was enough to frost all three tiers and make buttercream roses.

Vanilla Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
     5 egg whites
     1 cup buttermilk
     1 1/2 sticks of butter (12 tablespoons), softened
     2 teaspoons vanilla extract
     3 cups sifted cake flour
     1 3/4 cups sugar
     1 teaspoon baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then grease two 9 inch round pans.  Mix egg whites and vanilla extract together, then set aside.  Mix butter, cake flour, sugar, and baking powder in a bowl, then gradually add in buttermilk.  Gradually add the egg white mixture, then beat until smooth.  Pour batter into cake pans, then bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Buttercream Frosting Recipe
Ingredients:
     2 sticks butter, softened
     4 cups powdered sugar, sifted   
     1 tablespoon vanilla extract
     4 tablespoons milk (more or less, depending on how thick you want the frosting)
Beat butter until creamy, then add 3 cups of powdered sugar and beat until thoroughly mixed.  Add the vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of milk, then beat until smooth.  For thicker frosting, add more powdered sugar.  For thinner frosting, add more milk.

Frost one layer of cake, then stack the other on top and frost it.  I used ribbon to decorate the base of each tier, and secured the ends of the ribbon with frosting.  I dyed most of the remaining frosting purple to make roses, and a bit of it green for leaves.  For tutorials on how to make buttercream roses and leaves, I included links to videos below.

Buttercream Rose Tutorial
Buttercream Leaf Tutorial