Vanilla-Orange Gingerbread Cream Cake
Soft vanilla cake infused with orange zest and layered with spiced gingerbread cream.
Ingredients:
For the Cake:
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
⅛ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons milk, room temperature (any kind)
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (about half an orange)
1 teaspoon orange zest (from 1 orange)
⅓ cup full fat sour cream, room temperature
⅔ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup neutral oil (avocado oil would work well)
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Gingerbread Pudding:
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
2 tablespoons corn starch
½ cup milk (2% or whole)
1 ½ tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon water
½ cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
For the Gingerbread Mousse
½ of the gingerbread pudding (above)
½ cup heavy cream, cold
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (optional)
Directions:
Gingerbread Pudding
Make the pudding first so it has time to cool and set up. It can even be made the night before.
In a small mixing bowl, add the egg yolk, corn starch, and ¼ cup of the milk. Stir until fully mixed and no lumps of corn starch remain.
In a medium saucepan, add the molasses, brown sugar, and water. Heat over medium heat until the sugar starts to dissolve. Add the cream and remaining ¼ cup milk and heat the mixture until small bubbles form along the edges of the pan.
Reduce the heat, then carefully and slowly drizzle about half of the warm mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
Transfer the tempered mixture back into the saucepan. Stir in the spices. Return the heat to medium and, while stirring, heat the pudding until it starts to thicken and bubble.
Remove the pudding from the heat and stir in the butter until melted. Transfer the pudding to a bowl and set aside in the refrigerator.
Vanilla Orange Cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Lightly grease and line the bottom of two 6-inch round cake pans with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit.
In a small mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a liquid measuring cup, measure out the milk and orange juice, and stir in the orange zest and sour cream.
In a medium mixing bowl, add the sugar and oil. Mix until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Add half of the milk mixture and mix until just incorporated.
Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until just incorporated. Add the remaining milk mixture and mix until mostly incorporated.
Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans (a kitchen scale helps here) and bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the cakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool the cakes in the pans set on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then gently invert the cake pans onto a wire rack and remove the parchment paper (if it stuck to the cakes).
Gingerbread Mousse
When ready to assemble the cake, make the gingerbread mousse.
Set one of the cake layers on your serving plate. Spoon or pipe half of the cooled gingerbread pudding onto the middle of the cake, leaving at least ½-inch around the edges.
In a small mixing bowl, beat the heavy cream using a hand mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form.
Scoop about ⅓ of the whipped cream into the remaining gingerbread pudding. Fold in the whipped cream until fully mixed in. Transfer the mix back into the remaining whipped cream and fold until no whipped cream streaks remain.
To finish assembling the cake, pipe a ring of the gingerbread mousse along the outside of the existing gingerbread pudding ring, plus a layer on the top of the pudding. This will help keep the pudding from spilling out of the sides of the cake. Top with the other cake and frost the cake with the remaining mousse.