Author: story of a kitchen (cake recipe heavily adapted from Bunny Crumpacker's orange processor cake from How to Slice an Onion; frosting recipe adapted from my lemon cupcake frosting recipe; cake design from Raspberri Cupcakes' website
Recipe type: dessert
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE: ¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan
1 orange
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup walnuts
1 cup dried cranberries
FOR THE FROSTING (from my lemon cupcake frosting recipe): 1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
¼ cup freshly squeezed Valencia orange juice
1 scant pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Wilton gel coloring, in pink
Skittle candy pieces in yellow (or equivalent)
OTHER EQUIPMENT: piping bag and tips (or Ziploc bag with one corner nipped off)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch round diameter baking pans, line with parchment paper, and butter paper.
Using a zester, remove orange peel without taking white pith, beneath the peel, with it. Place the zest and sugar into mixing bowl and combine.
Add the vanilla, buttermilk, eggs, and butter and mix until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, walnuts, and dried cranberries, mix until the flour is no longer visible. Pour into baking pans.
Bake at 325 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake's center comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, PREPARE THE FROSTING: Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (I washed and used the bowl from above), combine cream cheese and butter, mixing until well combined.
Add vanilla and almond extract on low speed, adding orange juice gradually. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until just smooth (don't whip).
For the ombré frosting, take about ⅓ of the frosting, then divide that frosting into two separate bowls and tint one bowl light pink and one bowl a darker pink.
Trim any uneven tops off the cake layers so they will lie flat.
Place one layer on plate or decorating turntable and spread with layer of frosting. Top with second cake layer.
Make a crumb coat outside of the cake (see my butterfly ombré cake recipe for instructions). Chill in fridge for at least 15 minutes before proceeding.
Starting at the bottom, spread the dark pink frosting over the bottom third of the cake using an offset spatula. Do the same for the middle third of the cake using the lighter pink frosting, blending the two colors where they meet. Spread white frosting over the top third of the cake and smooth with spatula. If piping daisies, place leftover white frosting in a piping bag with a 0.5cm round tip or plastic Ziploc bag with corner cut off (this is what I used).
Pipe 5cm rings of 1cm dots of frosting and then use the tip of a mini spatula or a chopstick to smear each dot of icing to make the petals. Place a yellow skittle in the center of each piped flower. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before serving. Cake can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 of days.
Recipe by story of a kitchen at https://www.storyofakitchen.com/dessert-recipes/daisy-cake/