Our contributor, Tessa Huff, is sharing a new cake recipe today…
Summer is on the horizon and I have been inspired lately to create recipes that are just plain fun. You know, desserts with swirls, extra sprinkles, and whimsical flavors. My appetite for dark chocolate and rich, decadent desserts have been packed away with my boots and sweaters for the season and the warmer weather has got me craving fresh and fruity treats. This zesty Orange Creamsicle Cake definitely fits the bill.
I enjoy creating new recipes based on other classic treats. For this cake, I was inspired by the ever popular Orange Creamsicle. Creamy, dreamy, and packed with notes of citrus and vanilla, this oldie but goodie provides the perfect base for a fun layer cake. The flavors will leave you with nostalgic feelings of youth, sunshine, and ice cream trucks – without the melty, sticky mess.
Layers of orange-scented sour cream cake are paired with an ultra creamy, orange mascarpone filling. For an extra boost of flavor and sweetness, the cake layers have been generously brushed with an orange simple syrup. Rounding out the Creamsicle theme, this cake has been frosted in a silky, vanilla-flecked buttercream. Finished with swirly rosettes, sparkly sanding sugar, and pearls for extra whimsy!
ORANGE CREAMSICLE CAKE
a recipe by Tessa Huff
For the Orange Sour Cream Cake:
2 1/4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
zest of one orange
4 egg yolks
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare three 6-inch cake pans with butter, flour and parchment paper. Set aside.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, stir together the sour cream, milk, and vanilla. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth. Add in the sugar and zest. Mix on medium for about 3 to 5 minutes until fluffy and pale in color. Turn the mixer to medium-low and add in the egg yolks, one at a time. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
With the mixer on low, add in half of the flour mixture. Add in the sour cream mixture and mix until combined. Stop mixer and scrape down the bowl. Turn mixer back to low and add in the remaining flour mixture. Mix on medium-low for no more than 20-30 seconds once the last traces of flour combine.
Evenly distribute between the three prepared pans. Bake for about 24-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before removing the cakes from their pans.
For the Orange Simple Syrup:
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Place all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool before use.
For the Orange Cream Filling:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
6 tablespoons mascarpone (may substitute with softened cream cheese)
zest of 1/2 large orange
fresh orange juice to thin out to desired consistency (about 1-2 tablespoons)
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth. With the mixer on low, gradually add in the confectioner’s sugar until combined. Add in the mascarpone, orange zest and orange juice and mix on medium-low until smooth. Be sure not to over-mix the filling once the mascarpone has been added.
For the Vanilla Bean Buttercream:
3 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1/2 vanilla bean – seeds scraped out
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine egg whites and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whisk together. Fill a medium saucepan with a few inches of water and heat over medium-high. Place the mixing bowl on top of the saucepan to create a double-boiler. Heat the egg white mixture until it registers 155 degrees on a candy thermometer.
Once hot, carefully transfer the mixing bowl back to the stand mixer. Fitted with the whisk attachment, beat on high until the outside of the mixing bowl returns to room temperature – about 10 minutes – and you have medium-stiff glossy peaks. With the mixer on low, add in the vanilla, vanilla bean, and butter – a few tablespoons at a time. Turn mixer up to medium-high and mix until silky smooth.
For the Assembly:
Generously brush each layer of cake with the simple syrup. Fill the cake layers with the orange cream filling and frost with the buttercream. To decorate, tint half of any remaining buttercream orange. Place orange and vanilla buttercreams together in a piping bag fitted with a French Star Tip. Pipe rosettes around the top edge of the cake. Finish with sugar pearls and sanding sugar, if desired.
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
Lauren’s Creamsicle Cupcakes
My Raspberry Earl Grey Cake
My Lemon Meringue Cake
My Banana Choco Hazelnut Cake
My Raspberry Blood Orange Cake
This looks delicious!! The frosting between layers are nice and thick and even! Do you measure the frosting between layers to get them consistent?
This is mouth-wateringly beautiful. It’s not coming into summer in Australia but coming into winter. However I am still going to make this. Thank you for the recipe and the extras.
Creamsicles were always my fav summer treat. This cake is definitely going to happen in my kitchen – soon! Thanks for the recipe!
OMG ! It looks so fantastic, love the pictures <3
Love Ally
Is that round platter the cake is on marble? I need something like that. Where is yours from?
What a lovely cake! Sounds like a very summery flavor 🙂
tremendous! i love a creamsicle but it’s not quite decadent enough. this, on the other hand, most definitely is. 🙂
Thank you so much for a scratch recipe for creamscicle cake! No cake mix! No orange gelatin! No instant pudding! No fake whipped cream! No chemicals that make a cake taste not like a cake! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Cake looks Awesome!
Hi..just wonder how many grams are they in 2 and 1/4 cups of all purpose flour? Thanks
I wanted to use 8 inch or 9 inch cake pans. Is the amount of butter cream and cake batter in recipe enough for two 8 or 9 inch layers? LOOKS DELICIOUS!!
I only have one 6″ cake pan….how bad would it be for the batter if I baked the layers one after the other? I really want to make this in that size :/
You are better off picking up a second and maybe third pan. The longer the batter sits the less it will rise. Depending on the cake it could make the texture a little funny too.
This cake turned out really nice! The filling was fantastic and the buttercream was nice and smooth. Thanks so much!
Thanks for a delicious recipe! I made it look like a giant dreamsicle and covered it with fondant. The only other sub was to use my vanilla buttercream because I was short on time. The filling, glaze (could totally put that on pancakes!), and cake were delicious! Will definitely try your vanilla bean frosting next time!
This buttercream has a just about magical texture – it’s absolutely phenomenal! Unfortunately for me, it tastes like straight up butter 😔. Maybe more vanilla/vanilla bean next time?? The filling is great though – marscapone is hard to find in my tiny town, so I used cream cheese. If it’s that good with the substitution, I can only imagine what it’s like with the real deal. Thanks!!
My Mom baked cakes.. a lot of cakes…she taught cake decorating…my 4 sisters were never interested…so Mom taught me….I already have the cakes in the oven…and look forward to completing this for a friends birthday…this is pure therapy…so now I have all these egg whites…no problem…macarons are on the horizon…thank you for this…be well
Well I did finish this cake but a made a change as I am not comfortable in making cooked frostings…I made an orange vanilla bean buttercream…no eggs involved…this cake turned out fantastic…it is definitely on the heavier side as only egg yolks are used in the batter…and if anyone is going to make this I would recomend using wood dials or even shish kabob skewers to keep the layers aligned…this is quite a tall cake in relation to the 6 inch cake layers…this cake is very elegant…thank for sharing your recipe
I am having a birthday soon, and i was wondering what would you do if you wanted to make it a square cake? and how much frosting would be needed?
Never really tried orange cake. But fancy giving it a go. Thanks for posting sounds delcious. Simon
I would like to make a bigger version of this since it looks so amazing!
Can I double the recipe and use 9 inch cake pans or would it affect the consistency?
Thanks so much for sharing! I look forward to making it!
Hi, I have the same question as above. I’m making a 9 inch cake and was wondering if doubling the recipe would work out?
Thank you! Can’t wait to try the recipe! Looks yummy!
Hi, I have the same question as above. I’m making a 9 inch cake and was wondering if doubling the recipe would work out?
Thank you! Can’t wait to try the recipe! Looks yummy!
For the others on this thread who also don’t have three 6-in cake pans, I used two 8-in cake pans and torted them. My only advice is to probably lower the baking temperature bake them longer. I made the mistake of baking as instructed for the 6-in pans and I removed my cakes too soon and one collapsed while cooling because it wasn’t done all the way. Also, if you go the 8-in route, double your buttercream recipe or you won’t have enough left to decorate with or fix any nicks and dings you get while decorating. Otherwise, this recipe is stellar! I was never a cake eater (I make them for family and friends frequently, but I don’t really eat them) but this cake is absolute dessert perfection! I could eat it three times a day, every day, and never tire of it. I made it for my daughter’s birthday and it blew everyone’s mind. I traded the traditional decorations for a colorful ganache drip and topped with a giant white chocolate butterfly coated in mini pastel rainbow nonpareils. This will be a cake to beat for many years to come!
I have made the cake portion 3 times now in 24 hours & it’s sunk in the middle every time. I’m in the US, WA state, not in any kind of elevation & have followed the recip & directions exactly. So why is my cake sinking in the center? I’ve never had this problem with other from scratch cakes.