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layer cake

Cara Cara Orange Layer Cake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting

June 15, 2016 by rachelle 18 Comments

Cara Cara Orange Layer Cake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting

Cara Cara Orange Layer Cake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting

 

This may not be the most beautiful cake in the world, but your dad or father’s day person in your life will totally love it.  It’s actually the ugly duckling of cakes and I’m ok with that.  I was an ugly duckling for a long time (maybe I still am?) with awkward skinny long legs and shyness that would beat the band.  I never fit in anywhere and probably still don’t.  But you know what?  It doesn’t matter when you have fantastic father figures in your life.  We’ll talk about high school heart breaks some other time.  I’ll bring the wine.

 

Cara Cara Orange Layer Cake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting

 

So, we can make fancy pants cakes like this if it blows your dress up and if your dad loves pastels, but does your dad really want that?  I say, let’s go rustic.  And usually when I’m talking rustic I’m talking messy, sloppy, or down right ugly.  I’m pretty sure all those descriptions apply here.

Way to sell it, Rach!

 

Cara Cara Orange Layer Cake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting

 

The point is – and yes, eventually I usually have one – it’s Father’s Day this weekend.  Your dad or other significant dad/grandpa/uncle/step/or other dad figure in your life loves you.  He/She loves all your broken bones, skinned knees, lopsided smiles, and rustic, janky cakes with cracks and frosting squishing out the sides.  And that’s what love is.

Happy Father’s Day!

Cara Cara Orange Layer Cake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting
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Cara Cara Orange Layer Cake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 1 cup butter room temperature, plus more to prepare the pans (1 - 2 tablespoons)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs room temperature
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
  • 1 cara cara orange juice and zest

For the Frosting

  • 16 ounces 2 8 ounce blocks cream cheese
  • 2 sticks butter
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
  • 2 cara cara oranges juice and zest

For the Garnish

  • 1 - 2 cara cara oranges thinly sliced
  • Mint leaves

Instructions

For the Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Measure and cut 2 pieces of parchment paper to fit 2 (9) inch cake pans
  3. Butter cake pans, fit parchment circles into bottom of pans, and butter the parchment paper
  4. Add butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes
  5. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure each is incorporated before adding the next
  6. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder
  7. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternating with milk - start and end with flour, beat just until combined
  8. Stir in vanilla bean paste, zest, and juice
  9. Divide evenly between the two prepared cake pans
  10. Bake 28 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean
  11. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes, turn out onto wire racks to cool completely

For the Frosting

  1. Add cream cheese and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium until combined
  2. Slowly add powdered sugar and beat until smooth and combined
  3. Add vanilla bean paste, zest, and juice and beat until combined

For the Assembly

  1. Using a serrated knife, slice each cake in half horizontally through the middle making 4 cakes approximately the same thickness
  2. Arrange the first layer on a cake stand or plate and spread 1/4 of the frosting on top
  3. Add the second layer and spread 1/4 frosting on top
  4. Repeat with the last two layers
  5. Garnish with orange slices and mint


Adapted from Bake from Scratch Cake Special Issue June 2016, page 26 and 27

Note: If you wrap the cakes tightly in plastic then aluminum foil while it’s still warm and freeze them it will seal in some of the moisture and make them easier to cut and frost while thawing.

 

Cara Cara Orange Layer Cake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting

 

Filed Under: Archives Tagged With: cake, cara cara orange, citrus, citrus cake, citrus frosting, cream cheese frosting, layer cake, orange, orange cake, orange cream cheese frosting, orange frosting

Spumoni Cake

April 4, 2016 by rachelle 32 Comments

Spumoni Cake

Spumoni Cake

 

I’m baaaaaaack!

 

Spumoni Cake

 

And I’m back with a bang!  I totally missed you guys, but I enjoyed my vacation, and now I’m all rested up and refreshed from a very much needed break.  I decided that my return should be impressive, so here we are with a Spumoni Cake.

This cake, y’all – I can’t even!

 

Spumoni Cake

 

It’s no secret that I love all things spumoni.  I’ve made No-Churn Spumoni Ice Cream and Spumoni Cheesecake, but I’ve never made anything like this Spumoni Cake before.

 

Spumoni Cake

 

This all started because of my recent St. Patrick’s Day birthday and the party we had to celebrate all things me!  A couple of years ago, we went to a local restaurant for my birthday (that’s now closed, so sorry to see you go Villa Antonio) and they gave me the most delicious spumoni cake for dessert.

 

Spumoni Cake

 

Actually, I went to powder my nose and while I was gone Chris told our server that it was my birthday, which he is never allowed to do because I do not want the entire restaurant singing to me. #soembarrassing

 

Spumoni Cake

 

Given that this was St. Patrick’s Day and the rest of Charlotte was doing the pub crawl, there wasn’t much risk of being humiliated because we pretty much had this Italian restaurant to ourselves.

 

Spumoni Cake

 

The server asked Chris what kind of birthday dessert I would like and he just said that I like spumoni.   Then like magic a slice of spumoni cake appeared with a simple happy birthday from our kind server.

 

Spumoni Cake

 

Chris, of course, got the stink eye, but I couldn’t stay mad after he brought spumoni cake into my life.

 

Spumoni Cake

 

So when we started planning my birthday party this year I tried to find that dang cake on the interwebs. Google couldn’t find that specific cake from the now defunct Villa Antonio, but it brought magic back into my life when it led me here and showed my the most beautiful cake I’ve ever seen in my life.

 

Spumoni Cake

 

I totally had to have it for my birthday cake!  I actually made the cake 3 times because I’m not much of a cake baker or decorator, so I needed a trial run to see if I could pull it off.  The first time I made it exactly the way the recipe was written, but then Chris pointed out his surprise that I didn’t put any Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout in it since I was putting it in everything else these days.

 

Spumoni Cake

 

Zoink!  Head smack! DO OVER!

 

Spumoni Cake

 

The second time I swapped out the coffee from the original recipe with my favorite beer of the cold season and I made cream cheese frosting instead of the original buttercream.

 

Spumoni Cake

 

I also swapped out the pudding mix for homemade pistachio pudding in the pistachio cake layer and the frosting.  That is the reason for the different colors in the photos.  The pudding mix makes a much brighter green color in the cake and the frosting.

 

Spumoni Cake

 

I ended up serving two spumoni cakes at my party because why not?

 

Spumoni Cake

 

One had all three colors of frosting and the other I just covered in chocolate buttercream flowers. Sadly, I was running behind on party day and I forgot to take a picture of that one.  Just imagine this cake, but all chocolate. They were both a hit with my friends and family!

 

Spumoni Cake

 

I knew I needed this Spumoni Cake in my life the minute Google uncovered this wonder to me.  And I can tell you that it was just magical to see all my party guests’ faces light up when we walked in with these gorgeous cakes for dessert!

 

Spumoni Cake

 

I’ll be the first to admit that my cake decorating skills are pretty much non-existent, but I do have to say I’m pretty proud of this cake and it’s not bad for a beginner!

 

 

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:158]


Spumoni Cake inspired by and adapted from I am Baker

Chocolate layer adapted slightly from I am Baker

Pistachio and Cherry layers process adapted from I am Baker and cake base adapted from Martha

Homemade Pistachio Pudding Recipe here

NOTES:

  • The original recipe uses packaged pudding mix which is how I made it the first time and has the brighter green color in the photos of both the frosting and the cake.  The second and third times I used homemade pudding in the cake and the frosting.  The photos of the steps (including the photo of the inside) are with the pudding mix and the finished cake with the lighter colored pistachio frosting are with the homemade pudding.
  • This cake is kind of a project, so I made the cakes, wrapped them tightly in layers of plastic wrap and heavy duty foil and froze them until the day before I was going to serve the cake.  The day before I just removed them from the freezer and left them on the counter overnight.  Then made the frosting and assembled and finished it.
  • You will have an extra layer of the chocolate cake that you can either double the chocolate frosting and add a fourth layer or keep it in the freezer for another day.
  • You can watch a video here for instructions of how to make cake roses.

Spumoni Cake

Filed Under: Sweets Tagged With: cake, cherry, cherry cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, cream cheese, cream cheese frosting, dessert, frosting, layer cake, pistachio, pistachio cake, pistachio pudding, pistachio pudding cake, spumoni, spumoni cake

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About Beer Girl Cooks


I’m Rachelle, an attorney by day with a passion for home brewing and cooking with craft beer.

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