Almond Cake with Blood Orange Curd and Mascarpone Frosting

This almond cake with blood orange curd and mascarpone frosting is elegant and stunning, yet so simple to make!

These soft and fluffy white cake layers flavored with almond extract are filled with a sweet blood orange curd, then wrapped up in a light and silky mascarpone frosting. And no joke, the blood orange curd tastes like sherbet! The minute I tasted it, I was brought back to my childhood of eating that bright orange sherbet out of little containers. If you know what I'm talking about, you will definitely love this cake!

For more layer cake recipes, try Black Velvet Cake, Chocolate Tiramisu Cake , Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting, and Cranberry Orange Cake.

Jump to Recipe

Ingredient Notes
Step by Step Instructions
Expert Baking Tips
Recipe FAQs
Baking in Grams
More cake recipes you'll love
📖 Recipe
💬 Reviews

Ingredient Notes

Cake Flour: Cake flour will make this cake perfectly soft, but if you're in a pinch you can use all-purpose flour.
Granulated Sugar: You'll need a little less than 1 cup of sugar for the cake, ¼ cup for the curd, and a little more than ⅓ cup for the frosting.
Baking Powder: You'll need 2 teaspoon of baking powder for the cake.
Unsalted Butter: You'll need one stick of unsalted butter in total for the cake and curd.
Oil: Use any neutral oil, such as vegetable, canola, or light tasting olive oil for the cake.
Milk: Use whole milk for the best flavor.
Yogurt: Use whole milk greek yogurt for the best flavor and texture.
Almond Extract: Add 1 teaspoon to the cake batter for a subtle almond flavor.
Eggs: You'll need two egg whites for the cake and three egg yolks for the curd.
Blood Oranges: You'll need about 2 blood oranges for the curd.
Heavy Cream: You'll need slightly more than ¾ cup of heavy cream for the frosting.
Mascarpone: You'll need ¾ cup of mascarpone for the frosting.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this almond cake recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

dry ingredients with cubes of butter for cake in large bowl. — STEP 1

mixture of dry ingredients with butter beat into it in large bowl. — STEP 2

STEP 1: Mix dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

STEP 2: Add butter. Cut up the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until it resembles wet sand.

beaten egg whites being folded into cake batter. — STEP 3

almond cake batter being poured into cake pan. — STEP 4

STEP 3: Add wet ingredients. Add the oil, milk, yogurt, and almond extract, and mix until just combined. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Gently fold it into the batter with a rubber spatula until just combined.

STEP 4: Bake. Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for 26-28 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

freshly baked almond cakes in cake pans. — STEP 5

double boiler with blood orange curd ingredients and whisk. — STEP 6

STEP 5: Cool. Cool completely before frosting.

STEP 6: Prep the curd. In a heat proof bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the blood orange curd.

double boiler with blood orange curd and spoon. — STEP 7

blood orange curd being strained into bowl. — STEP 8

STEP 7: Heat. Place bowl over a double boiler and whisk constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon (or about 150 degrees F).

STEP 8: Strain and cool. Strain curd through a mesh sieve, then refrigerate.

large whisk with mascarpone frosting held up above the bowl of frosting. — STEP 9

STEP 9: Make the frosting. In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream, sugar, mascarpone, and vanilla, and whisk until thick.

STEP 10: Assemble the cake. Spread a thin layer of frosting on the first cake layer, then pipe a wall of frosting around the edge. Pour the blood orange curd in the center, then top with the second cake layer. Frost the cake as desired and top with blood orange slices and sprinkle with raw cane sugar.

Expert Baking Tips

Read my tips above for how to bake perfectly flat cake layers!
If you'd like, you can make the cake layers and blood orange curd the day before serving. Either freeze the cake layers overnight or keep them at room temperature. Make the frosting closer to when you will serve it.
Store leftover cake slices in the fridge.

three slices of almond cake and blood orange curd with mascarpone frosting one three small plates.

Recipe FAQs

How to make a soft and fluffy white cake:

There are five different methods that ultimately contribute to creating a soft, fluffy, and moist white cake:
1. cake flour
2. a combination of butter and oil
3. a combination of milk and yogurt
4. the reverse creaming method
5. folding beaten egg whites into the batter.

What is the reverse creaming method?

The reverse creaming method is the process of beating room temperature butter into the dry ingredients. The fat coats the flour and inhibits the gluten from developing. With this method, the cake is sure to bake up flat without becoming too golden around the edges or on top. In contrast, the creaming method involves beating the sugar and butter together, which adds a lot of extra air into the batter. This is a great method for other bakes, but not with a white cake. With the reverse creaming method, the cake will bake up with an ultra fine, velvety crumb.

How to fold beaten egg whites into batter:

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into the cake batter with a rubber spatula at the very end. Folding them in at the end is very important as this will ensure they do not deflate too much, but instead give the cake en extra light quality.

How to prevent a cake from doming in the middle:

Cakes may dome in the middle when they bake because the outside bakes faster than the center, so the center has more time to rise. This is not ideal for layer cakes, because it is a pain to have to trim away the top of the cake. The reverse creaming method helps with baking perfectly flat cake layers. But the best way to ensure your cake layers bake up flat rather than doming is to use cake strips. Soak the cake strips in cold water before wrapping around the outside of the cake pans. This will ensure that the outside of the cake does not bake faster than the center.

Storage Tips:

Store slices of this almond cake in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Baking in Grams

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x

one slice of almond cake and blood orange curd with mascarpone frosting with fork.

More cake recipes you'll love

If you tried this recipe, I'd love to know how it turned out for you! Leave a star rating & review below and post a picture (or video!) on Instagram and tag me so I can see your bakes! Not ready to make this recipe yet? Click the heart button on the right of your screen to save it for later 🙂

📖 Recipe

4.67 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save for Later