April 9, 2013

Orange Crunch Cake

Name: Orange Crunch Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: CRUNCH LAYER; 1 cup graham crackers (7 sheets); 1/2 cup sliced almonds; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature); CAKE; 2 cups flour; 2 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp salt; 1 1/2 cups sugar; 1/2 cup buttermilk (or whatever milk you prefer); 1/2 cup orange juice; 1/3 cup canola oil; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 2 tbsp orange zest; 3 large eggs; FROSTING; 8 oz cream cheese (at room temperature); 1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature); 3 cups powdered sugar; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 2 tsp orange juice; 2 tsp orange zest

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I’ve realized recently I don’t make enough layer cakes. There are some cakes that I should take the time to make over and over again. This Orange Crunch Cake is one of those cakes.

I just love the ease and speed of bundt cakes and upside-down cakes. I tend to always rely on them and they usually never let me down. When I want to dream of gorgeous layer cakes, I check out some of my very talented cake baking friends around the internet like i am baker, Sweetapolita and Sprinkle Bakes. I could stare at their photos for hours and just drool.

But every once and a while, I’ll get the urge to bake in layers. Sometimes for a special occasion like my baby boy’s birthday. He’s not my little baby any more, but he’s my last child and he’s my baby. I know, it sounds like I have a dozen kids. Nope, just two. Plus two dogs. So yes, he’s my baby and he deserved a fun layer cake for his recent birthday.

Last year I baked him this Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Layer Cake with my mom’s marshmallow frosting. Boy, you all really love that cake and frosting. I guess I should bake layer cakes more often?

I wish sometimes I could make time stand still. The days go by in mad rushes to take care of business things, school things, life things. Sometimes it’s nice to just breath and enjoy the moments. Breath.

I need to remind myself to cherish special moments.

It goes by so quickly.

Breath. Enjoy.

My baby boy. You still have these sweet apple cheeks and all that hair. A mischievous smile with adorable dimples and inquisitive eyes.

Baby boy. You still love to hold my hand when we walk and give me wet kisses.

You are my heart.

You’re growing into an amazing artist and quite a good reader! I love when you read me your Dr. Seuss books.

I’m so proud of you.

When you see me about to bake any thing, you’re the first to rush in the kitchen. You tell me you’re a good baker.

You are a wonderful little baker.

Whenever you are with our friends they tell me how well-behaved you are and that you have such good manners. That makes me so happy to know that my lessons I try to teach you and your sister every day are paying off.

I’m so proud of the both of you.

You still bug your big sister sometimes (she would say all the time) and you two argue over silly things. But at the end of the day, I see the love you have for each other. I know that you would do any thing for each other.
I see how your big sister protects you and looks out for you.

I’m a lucky mommy.

Happy Birthday, baby boy.

a little about this cake: This cake is from the Bubble Room in Captiva Island. It’s not that difficult to put together. I printed it out from my friend Gingerbread Bagels a while ago. Everyone fell in love with the light citrus layers of cake with a fun crunch surprise. The frosting is dreamy and has a delicate orange taste. I liked to have the pretty crunch layers showing and didn’t frost the sides.

If you would like the frost the entire cake, that’s fine too! This was a huge success at our birthday party. I made it again for Easter and crushed amaretto cookies instead of graham crackers (also quite delicious)and frosted with marshmallow frosting because I was out of cream cheese. Between the two versions, I prefer this one for sure! Make this easy layer cake. Share some with your friends. Be prepared to have this be your most requested cake!

Orange Crunch Cake

crunch layer
1 cup graham crackers (7 sheets)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

cake
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk (or whatever milk you prefer)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp orange zest
3 large eggs

frosting
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp orange juice
2 tsp orange zest

Directions:
crunch layer: in drum of food processor, pulse graham crackers and almonds until coarsely ground. Add brown sugar and butter; pulse to combine.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Spray 2 9-inch cake pan with baking spray. Divide and spread crunch mixture evenly on the bottom of the pans. Press down gently with fingers to cover the bottom of pan evenly and set aside.

cake batter:

In medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, beat together sugar, buttermilk, orange juice, oil, vanilla, and zest. Add the eggs one at a time and mix to combine. Add in the dry ingredients a little at a time and mix until almost combined. Stop mixer to scrape the sides of pan with a spatula and fully combine the ingredients.

Divide the batter evenly among the two prepared pans. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until a knife inserted in middle of cake comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes. Run a knife along the sides of the first pan to help loosen the cake before inverting it onto your serving plate. Run a knife along the sides of the other cake and invert that cake onto a cooking rack. Completely cool cakes (I resisted just 30 minutes).

while cake cools, make frosting: With your electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add the orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla extract. On low speed, add powdered sugar (1/2 cup at a time) and beat until you have a nice and smooth frosting.

make your cake: With a spoon, drop half the frosting onto the cake on the serving plate (you should be doing this on the crunch side of the cake).

With a spatula, spread this thick layer of frosting. Place the second cooled cake crunch side down on top of frosting. Spread the remaining frosting on the top of the cake. Decorate with clementine slices. Slice with a serrated knife and dig in!

Happy Baking! Thank you for stopping by. xo Lora

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