Inspired by the orange-flavored Creamsicles of our childhood, our Orange Cream Cake has luscious orange-vanilla pudding is slathered between orange-scented cake layers before the stack gets enrobed by Creamy Buttermilk Frosting. Better yet, you won’t have to chase down the ice cream truck for this one.
Orange Cream Cake
Makes 1 (9-inch) cake
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups (284 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 2½ cups (500 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons (18 grams) tightly packed orange zest (about 3 large oranges)
- 5 large eggs (250 grams), room temperature
- 3¾ cups (469 grams) unbleached cake flour
- 1¾ teaspoons (8.75 grams) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) baking soda
- 1¼ cups (300 grams) whole buttermilk, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60 grams) fresh orange juice, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon (2 grams) vanilla extract
- Simple Syrup (recipe follows)
- Creamy Buttermilk Frosting (recipe follows)
- Orange Cream Filling (recipe follows)
- Orange gel food coloring
- Garnish: orange sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with baking spray with flour. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, and orange zest at medium-low speed just until combined. Increase mixer speed to medium; beat until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, orange juice, and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating until combined after each addition and stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter between prepared pans; using a small of set spatula, smooth tops. Forcefully tap pans on a kitchen towel-lined counter several times to settle batter and release as many air bubbles as possible.
- Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 38 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely, parchment side down, on wire racks.
- Level cooled cake layers; discard parchment. Place 1 cake layer, cut side up, on a cake turntable or a serving plate. Brush with half of Simple Syrup. Spoon ½ cup (about 123 grams) Creamy Buttermilk Frosting into a pastry bag; cut a ½-inch opening in tip. Pipe a ½-inch-tall border around edge of layer; dollop and spread Orange Cream Filling inside piped border. Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down. Brush with remaining Simple Syrup. Spread a thin layer of frosting on top and sides of cake to create a crumb coat; refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Divide 2 cups (457 grams) Creamy Buttermilk Frosting between 2 small bowls. Add food coloring to 1 bowl, stirring until frosting is deep orange. Add food coloring to second bowl, stirring until frosting is light orange. Leave remaining frosting white.
- Using a small of set spatula, spread deep orange frosting in an even layer over bottom third of sides of cake. Spread light orange frosting over middle third of sides of cake. Spread white frosting on top and top one-third of sides of cake. Holding a bench scraper or a large of set spatula flush against sides of cake, scrape off excess frosting until sides are smooth. Using a small of set spatula, swirl top as desired. Using a bench scraper or a large of set spatula held flush against sides of cake, scrape frosting one more time to give sides a smooth, finished look. Garnish with sprinkles, if desired.
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Simple Syrup
Makes ⅓ cup
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (60 grams) water
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat sugar and ¼ cup (60 grams) water over medium heat, stirring occasionally, just until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Let cool completely before using.
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Creamy Buttermilk Frosting
Makes about 7 cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups (454 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt
- 1 (2-pound) package (907 grams) confectioners’ sugar
- ½ cup (120 grams) whole buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon (13 grams) vanilla extract
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and salt at medium speed until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. With mixer on low speed, gradually add confectioners’ sugar alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with confectioners’ sugar, beating just until combined after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Increase mixer speed to medium; beat until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Use immediately.
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Orange Cream Filling
Makes 1⅓ cups
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cups (320 grams) whole milk
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1½ tablespoons (12 grams) cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons (6 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (7 grams) tightly packed orange zest (about 1 large orange)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 large egg yolks (56 grams)
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter, cubed and softened
- ¼ teaspoon (1 gram) vanilla extract
- Orange gel food coloring
Instructions
- Line a medium shallow baking dish or bowl with plastic wrap; place a fine-mesh sieve inside.
- In a medium saucepan, heat milk over medium heat until steaming. (Do not boil.)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, flour, orange zest, and salt. Whisk in egg yolks until well combined. (Mixture will be very thick.) Gradually add half of warm milk to sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Add sugar mixture to remaining warm milk in pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and mixture no longer tastes starchy, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Add butter to warm milk mixture in two additions, stirring until combined; stir in vanilla. Add food coloring until desired shade is reached. Pour and press mixture through fine-mesh sieve into prepared dish or bowl; smooth into a thin layer. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap, pressing wrap directly onto surface of pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, 2 to 3 hours or up to overnight. Stir until softened and smooth before using.
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Orange Creamsicles, reminds me of my childhood.
This cake sounds delicious as I used to LOVE Creamsicles as a child. I do have one request however. In the portion of the recipe for the buttercream the ingredients list “• 1 (2-pound) package confectioner sugar:. For people who don’t do much baking and would purchase this 2-pound bag of the sugar that’s fine, but for those of us who purchase this ingredient in bulk or larger quantities, it doesn’t tell us how many cups we need. I usually have to telephone the 1-800 telephone number for Domino Sugar to ask them how many cups are in their 2 pound bag. If you want to list this fine, but could you also list how many cups this will be?
Hi Pamela,
Thank you for your note. Measuring by weight is typically the most accurate way to measure ingredients in a recipe, which is why we provided gram weight in addition to the 2 pound measurement. Volume measurements will vary, but a 2-pound package of confectioners’ sugar will typically contain 7 to 7-1/2 cups of confectioners’ sugar.
Hope this helps, and happy baking!