winter spice cake

sometime (again, my memory is pretty much shot) after my final review, carrie wanted to make coq au vin from the latest issue of cook's illustrated. i offered to make dessert, and then cast about thinking of a winter dessert that would be suitable. i wanted something white, and something that didn't involve chocolate. so i thought a spice cake would do. i had a vision of a white cake (specifically, a bundt cake) that was spiced. to make it a little less predictable - the idea of a white spice cake seems kind of stuffy and overdone, for some reason - i wanted to somehow accent the cake with orange, to make it a little brighter and fresher. i think i might have a recipe for the exact cake i wanted in a cookbook at home, but i was in studio, so instead i consulted epicurious. the result of my search was a spice cake with a molasses cream cheese frosting.

i don't know why i didn't realize it wasn't going to be a white cake, but one of those applesauce-oil-based cakes that are light brown, but it ended up not being a problem. the easiest way to make any cake look really fancy is to split it into more layers; this also gives you a more favorable, easier-to-eat frosting to cake ratio. i ended up putting orange oil (a rather large amount of it) in the frosting and adding a layer of mandarin oranges on top of one of the layers of frosting. unfortunately, i didn't put a layer of frosting on top of the oranges before i put on the last cake layer, so the top cake layer didn't stick and also got pretty soaked with mandarin orange moisture (despite draining and drying them thoroughly). whoops. i would say that the orange layer was a good idea, in general, though.

so this cake is a pretty mild spice cake, in a good way. i think perhaps i would have liked a non-oil-based cake better, but this is the easiest cake to put together ever: throw together the wet ingredients, throw together the dry ingredients, mix and bake. doesn't even bake for overly long - 25 minutes - and it cools fast in the cold winter air. combined with a kicked-up frosting, it gets even better. and...eaten somewhat furtively out of the refrigerator the next day is really the best way to eat this cake.

in other cake news, i took a cake my mother made for my grandmother's birthday, split it into four layers, spread the bottom and top layers with raspberry jam, filled the middle with chocolate ganache, and filled the remaining two layers with a gelatin-stabilized white chocolate "mousse." i say "mousse" because a real mousse is made with beaten egg whites, and a "mousse" is made with whipped cream and melted chocolate. unfortunately, i put slightly too little gelatin in the "mousse," or perhaps i didn't let it set for long enough, but it tasted good and looked good, so that's really all that matters for a family birthday cake. oh, and it was covered with a thin layer of ganache. this is probably the best birthday cake i've made so far for my grandmother. mmm. wish we had the leftovers with us.

orange-scented spice cake
cake
2c flour
1 1/4c sugar
1t baking soda
1t cinnamon
1/2t allspice
1/2t salt
1c applesauce or apple butter
3/4c buttermilk
1/2c veg oil
3 eggs
2T molasses

frosting
1 1/2 lbs cream cheese, softened
2c powdered sugar
1-2T orange oil or zest of 1 orange
1/4c (1/2 stick) butter, softened

optional: 1 can mandarin oranges, drained and patted dry

directions:
1. preheat oven to 350F. butter and flour 2 9" cake pans.
2. combine first 6 ingredients in large bowl.
3. whisk together applesauce, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and molasses in a medium bowl.
4. stir applesauce mixture into dry ingredients. pour into prepared pans and bake until tester comes out clean, ~25 minutes.
5. cool cake layers, then make frosting: beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth, then beat in powdered sugar. beat in orange oil or zest.
6. split each cake layer (level as needed) into two layers. put the bottom layer on a large plate and spread a layer of frosting (since there are four layers, you only need a 1/8" to 3/16" thick layer of frosting) on top. add two more layers of cake and frosting. top this layer with the mandarin oranges. spread a layer of frosting on the bottom of the top layer, then place on top of mandarin oranges, frosting side down. spread remaining frosting on top and sides of cake. chill and serve.

[serves 8-12]

note: i like this best when it's cold, but it can also be served at room temperature.