Spring Sunshine Cake
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 1 cake
Ingredients
  • Cake:
  • ½ cup butter
  • 1¼ cups sugar
  • 4 egg whites (reserve yolks for filling)
  • 1 Tbsp orange peel, grated
  • 1 Tbsp grapefruit peel, grated
  • 2⅓ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¾ cup cold water
  • ¼ cup orange juice
  • .
  • Filling:
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup cornstarch
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp orange peel, grated
  • 1 Tbsp grapefruit peel, grated
  • ½ cup orange juice
  • ½ cup grapefruit juice
  • ½ cup water
  • 4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 1 cup crushed pineapple
  • .
  • Whipped cream:
  • 1 cup cold, heavy whipping cream
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. Batter: In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg whites one at a time, beating well after each. Add orange peel, flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, water and orange juice. Mix until just combined.
  3. Filling: In medium saucepan, combine sugar with cornstarch, salt and orange peel. Gradually blend in orange juice, pineapple, water, and yolks. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Add butter, mix to combine and cool completely.
  4. Icing: Pour heavy whipping cream, sugar and vanilla into a cold bowl and whisk on high speed until medium to stiff peaks form, about 1 minute. Gently spread whipped cream over the sides of the stacked cake, as a form of fluffy, cloud-like 'icing.' Chill cake until serving.
  5. Cake Option 1: Big Cake. Grease two 8 inch cake pans and then dust with flour to coat. (if you only have one cake pan, don't worry, just do the cakes one at a time). Pour the batter into the cake pans, dividing them as evenly as possible between both. Bake for 30 to 40 mins, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool the cakes for 10 mins and then remove them from the pans, resting them on racks to cool completely. Using a sharp knife, cut each cake in half, lengthwise so you are left with 4, relatively uniform circles of cake. Spread rough ¾ cup of filling on to the top of one circle of cake. Place the second circle overtop and repeat. Repeat process until the 4th circle of cake is resting on the top, spreading the remaining filling on the exposed top of the cake. Spread whipped cream 'icing; around the outer edges of the cake and chill until ready to serve.
  6. Option 2: Small, tall cakes. Grease two 8 inch cake pans and then dust with flour to coat. (if you only have one cake pan, don't worry, just do the cakes one at a time). Pour the batter into the cake pans, dividing them as evenly as possible between both. Bake for 30 to 40 mins, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool the cakes for 10 mins and then remove them from the pans, resting them on racks to cool completely. Using a round biscuit cutter (or thoroughly cleaned old tuna or bean can), cut 3-4 round circles out of each large cake. Spread 2-3 Tbsp of filling on top of one circle, top with another, and repeat until the cake is 2-3 layers thick, with filling in between all the layers and on the very top. Spread whipped cream 'icing; around the outer edges of the cake and chill until ready to serve.
  7. Option 3: Lovely, lazy trifle. Grease two 9 inch square cake pans and then dust with flour to coat. (if you only have one cake pan, don't worry, just do the cakes one at a time). Pour the batter into the cake pans, dividing them as evenly as possible between the two. Bake for 30 to 40 mins, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool the cakes for 10 mins and then remove them from the pans, resting them on racks to cool completely. Cut each cake into 1 inch cubes. In one large, deep glass dish (or multiple small glasses/jars, as shown in the picture), spread one layer of cake cubes followed by one layer or filling, followed by one layer of whipped cream icing. Repeat process until you reach the top, finishing the sequence with a generous layer of whipped cream and an additional sprinkle of orange zest.
Recipe by Port and Fin at https://portandfin.com/spring-sunshine-cake/