For those youngsters who don’t know, shag rugs were popular in the 70’s and have a really thick pile; comfy but a nightmare to clean! Anyhow the design is visually striking but super-easy to accomplish.

Love the look but short on time?

Try whipping up a batch of Shag Cupcakes! They’re super-easy to decorate and sooo very cheerful! You can also decorate a loaf cake like my lemon poppy seed cake with this technique and save a ton of time while achieving a similar look.

What about the TIP???

I used a generic tip set but the closest match is a 233 large grass tip from Wilton.

Cake Notes

If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans. If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like. You can substitute  whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference. To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set on the shop page or make your own from foil and paper towels at home. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!

How to make a Shag Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 340 degrees F. Butter and flour three 6-inch pans. I use cake strips on my pans for more even baking as well. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
  2. Beat the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add lemon zest.
  3. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. Fold in fresh raspberries at the very end and mix until just combined. Divide the mixture evenly into the cake pans. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until the centers are springy to the touch.
  4. Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar. Beat until smooth.
  5. Add vanilla and cream. Beat until combined.
  6. Add rose water. Save some white buttercream. Add food coloring to create blue and teal> transfer to piping bags. Get out 6-8 bowls. Add about 1 cup of buttercream to each. Leave one bowl white. Use food coloring to dye each bowl a different color. Transfer all smaller batches to piping bags fitted with a grass tips.
  7. Pipe rings of buttercream between the cake layers.
  8. Cover the cake with a thin, crumb coat and chill for a few minutes.
  9. Smooth with a bench scraper and offset spatula. 
  10. Using a large grass tip to pipe patches of each color to create a design. 
  11. You can really use whatever pattern you’d like just try to not repeat the colors in the same section to much. 
  12. Keep the patches of color on the smaller side. IF YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE TRY THESE OUT! Blackberry Lemon Cake Brown Butter Orchid Cake Lemon Lavender Poppy Seed Pound Cake Funfetti Cake Perfect Vanilla Cake Tiramisu Cake Summer Berry Cake If you’ve tried this shag cake recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! SaveSave

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