This layer cake was made for my mom's birthday. My sister Anushree made it from start to finish (including the cake stand). With some planning and clever techniques, this cake can be easily assembled and decorated. I recommend reading my cake tutorial on making layer cakes. In that article, I photographed each step of the process along with decorating and assembly tips.
The decoration on this cake takes advantage of Russian piping tips, which are special tips designed to make flowers quickly. Check out this article by Preppy Kitchen to learn more about how they work.
Resources
Orange Curd
240mL (2 c) orange juice
2 t orange zest
1/4 c sugar (adjust as needed)
1/4 c cornstarch
2 T water
2 T butter
Chocolate Whipped Ganache
3/4 c chocolate chips
3/4 c heavy whipping cream, divided
1/4 t cream of tartar
Whipped Cream
2 c heavy whipping cream
1 T vanilla extract
3 T powdered sugar
1/4 t cream of tartar
Cake
2/3 box of cake mix
Ingredients as called on cake mix
Toffee bits (optional)
Directions
ORANGE CURD. Mix the cornstarch and water in a bowl. Set aside. In a saucepan, add the orange juice, zest and sugar and heat on low flame till sugar is dissolved. Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan and keep mixing to avoid lumps. The mixture will start to thicken. Add the butter and keep mixing till the butter is melted.
Place your cake round on a plate and cover the inside with plastic wrap. Pour half of the orange mixture into the round and cover the top with plastic wrap. Remove the cake round or take it out of the cake tin. It should maintain its shape. Keep the round on a plate and freeze till solid. Repeat with the remaining half of the orange curd. If the orange curd cannot maintain its shape, let it cool in the cake round until it can maintain its shape.
CHOCOLATE WHIPPED GANACHE. In a saucepan set over medium heat, bring 1/4 c of heavy whipping cream to a slight shimmer. Pour the hot cream the chocolate chips and mix until the chocolate melts and you have a smooth ganache. Place in the fridge to cool.
Mix the cream of tartar with the remaining 1/2 c of heavy whipping cream. Whip it until light and fluffy. Fold the cooled ganache in. Repeat the disk process from step 2 and create two disks of ganache. Freeze till solid. Unwrap the top, let thaw until partially solid, smooth the disk so it is flat, and freeze again till solid (optional).
CAKE. To save time, boxed cake mix is used in this recipe. Use 2/3 of the mix to create two 6-inch cake rounds. Follow the directions on the box. I like to measure the batter by weight to ensure that the rounds are even. Wrap in wet towels to create a level cake. The baking time will be less than the time required to bake an 8-inch round, so frequently check on the cake.
WHIPPED CREAM. Chill a large mixing bowl in the fridge (optional). Mix together whipping cream, vanilla, powdered sugar, and cream of tartar. Whip until light and fluffy. Set aside in fridge.
ASSEMBLY. Stack cake with layers of orange curd and ganache in between. This will be easy when the curd and ganache are frozen. Crumb coat with a bit of whipped cream. Let cake chill in fridge for 30 minutes for the crumb coat to harden. Completely coat in a layer of whipped cream and chill in fridge. Divide the remaining whipped frosting into three colors (or four colors if you want to add leaves). Dye them pink, orange, yellow, and green. Fill a piping bag with a Russian rose tip with yellow frosting (or your lightest color) and store al frosting not being used in the fridge to prevent melting. Pipe roses on the top of the cake. When the yellow frosting is over, fill the bag with orange frosting then pink frosting and repeat. Going from light to dark allows the piping bag to be reused. Use a leaf tip with green frosting to pipe leaves (optional). Coat the bottom of the cake with toffee bits.
Store cake in fridge until ready to serve. The frozen orange curd and ganache will thaw and have the right consistency. The whipped frosting is highly prone to melting.
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