This almond cake with blood orange curd and mascarpone frosting is elegant and stunning, yet 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!
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Ingredients
- 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 tsp 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 tsp 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.
FAQ
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.
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.
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.
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.
How to make blood orange curd in 3 easy steps
- In a heat proof bowl, whisk together all ingredients.
- Place bowl over a double boiler and whisk constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon (or about 150 degrees F).
- Strain curd through a mesh sieve, then refrigerate.
How to make mascarpone frosting
You'll be amazed at how amazing mascarpone frosting really is. It's like a super stable whip cream! It's light and not overly sweet, making it perfect for this almond cake and super sweet blood orange curd. And the best part is there's only one step to make it:
- In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream, sugar, mascarpone, and vanilla, and whisk until thick.
A few extra 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.
Happy baking! x
PrintRecipe
Almond Cake with Blood Orange Curd and Mascarpone Frosting
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: two layer 6 inch cake 1x
Ingredients
For the Almond Cake:
- 180g cake flour
- 168g granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 76g unsalted butter (room temp)
- 64g neutral oil
- 113g whole milk
- 113g yogurt
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 egg whites (whipped)
For the Blood Orange Curd:
- zest of 1 orange
- 70g blood orange juice (about 2 blood oranges)
- 50g granulated sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 35g unsalted butter (room temp)
For the Mascarpone Frosting:
- 176g heavy cream (cold)
- 75g granulated sugar
- 170g mascarpone (cold)
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
For the Almond Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line two 6 inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Cut up the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until it resembles wet sand.
- 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.
- Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for 26-28 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool completely before frosting.
For the Blood Orange Curd:
- In a heat proof bowl, whisk together all ingredients.
- Place bowl over a double boiler and whisk constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon (or about 150 degrees F).
- Strain curd through a mesh sieve, then refrigerate overnight.
For the Mascarpone Frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream, sugar, mascarpone, and vanilla.
- Whisk on low speed until combined, then turn up to medium high speed until thick (only about 30 seconds).
For Assembly:
- 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.
- Top with blood orange slices and sprinkle with raw cane sugar.
Notes
- 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.
Made this for Mother’s Day and it was a hit for all! I used carra carra oranges rather than blood oranges. The white cake is perfection and the curd and mascarpone was like a really sophisticated creamsicle. It was a little messy constructing it, but firmed up well in the fridge. Thank you for the beautiful recipe!
★★★★★
So glad you loved it Steph!!
Amazing tasting cake!! Only problem was getting the curd to not squish out the sides! Any tips for preventing this? I used all cold ingredients. Maybe more mascarpone?
★★★★