This one is our go-to birthday cake combo: orange through and through, festive with bright flavors. It needs a little Eiswein on the side. We have been known to leave the swirl out of the gelato. But it’s an ill-advised austerity measure.
• YIELD: ONE 2-LAYER, 8-INCH ROUND CAKE
Here’s a French buttercream, a buttery orange confection on layers of orange cake. When you add the sugar syrup to the bowl with the egg yolks, pour it very slowly and aim it between the beaters and the edge of the bowl so the beaters do not scatter the syrup. Stop occasionally and scrape down the inside of the bowl to get the still-hot sugar syrup into the buttercream.
FOR THE CAKE
2 cups cake flour, plus additional for dusting
1 cup granulated white sugar
2½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup whole milk
4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus additional for greasing
2½ tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
6 large egg yolks, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated white sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup orange-flavored liqueur, such as Grand Marnier
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
OVEN RACK • center | OVEN TEMPERATURE • 350°F
PREP • Butter and flour the inside of two 8-inch round cake pans.
TO BEGIN THE CAKE LAYERS
1 • Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until uniform. Set aside.
2 • Beat the milk, egg yolks, and vanilla extract in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the melted butter and continue beating until smooth. Turn off the beaters, add the flour mixture, and beat at low speed until all the flour has been moistened. Add the orange juice concentrate and beat until smooth. Pour and spread the batter into the two prepared pans, dividing it equally.
TO BAKE THEM
3 • Bake until lightly browned, slightly puffed at the center, and set to the touch, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert and continue cooling upside down on the wire rack until room temperature, about 1½ hours.
TO MAKE THE BUTTERCREAM
4 • Beat the egg yolks with an electric mixer at medium speed in a large bowl until creamy, thick, and pale yellow, about 2 minutes. (A stand mixer is the best tool. Use the whisk attachment.) Set aside.
5 • Heat the sugar and corn syrup in a large skillet set over medium heat until boiling, stirring only until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil undisturbed. The moment big bubbles cover the surface of the sugar mixture, pour it in a very slow, steady stream into the egg yolks, beating all the while with the electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Once all the sugar syrup has been added, scrape down the inside of the bowl and continue beating until room temperature, about 10 minutes.
6 • Beat in the butter at high speed in 2-tablespoon increments until smooth. Continue beating until silky, glossy, and moundable. Beat in the liqueur and zest.
TO FROST THE CAKE
7 • Lay rectangles of wax paper on a cake plate or stand. Set one of the cake layers top side up in the center of the plate or stand. Add about 1 cup buttercream and smooth it to the edge, taking care that it doesn’t mound at the center. Set the second layer of cake bottom side up (that is, the flatter side up) on top. Scoop up a little of the buttercream with a spatula and spackle between the two layers of cake.
8 • Dump the remainder of the buttercream on top of the cake. Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting, letting the excess ooze over the edges. Catch this excess and spread it along the sides, taking more off the top as necessary. Gently pull out the sheets of wax paper. Store lightly covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Let the cake come back to room temperature before serving.
PRO TIP • Lay candied orange slices or even chocolate-covered orange peel (orangettes) around the top of the cake.
• YIELD: ABOUT 1 QUART •
Low-acid orange juice concentrate yields a gentler orange flavor, the better to match the orange flavor in the cake. The swirl is pure childhood bliss: Marshmallow Fluff or Marshmallow Crème layered into the gelato. Either can be difficult to spread over the soft gelato. Spoon some up, dollop it on top, then use damp, cleaned fingers to spread it out a bit.
1¾ cups whole milk
¼ cup heavy cream
6 large egg yolks, at room temperature
⅔ cup granulated white sugar
1½ tablespoons cornstarch
One 6-ounce can frozen, pulp-free orange juice concentrate, thawed (¾ cup)
⅔ cup jarred Marshmallow Fluff or Marshmallow Crème
TO MAKE THE CUSTARD
1 • Warm the milk and the cream in a large saucepan set over medium-low heat until whiffs of steam come off its surface. Meanwhile, use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until pale yellow and very thick, until wide ribbons slide off the turned-off beaters, about 5 minutes. Beat in the cornstarch until smooth.
2 • Beat about half the milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture in a slow, steady stream until smooth, then beat this combined mixture into the remaining milk mixture in the pan. Set over low heat and cook, stirring almost constantly, until the custard can thickly coat the back of a wooden spoon, until its temperature reaches 170°F, 4 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the orange juice concentrate until smooth.
3 • Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 1 day, covering once the custard is cold.
TO FREEZE IT
4 • Prepare an ice-cream machine. Stir the custard and freeze it in the machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions, until you can scoop up a mound with edges that do not instantly start melting.
5 • Layer about a third of the custard into a loaf pan, spread half the Marshmallow Fluff or Marshmallow Crème on top, then top with half the remaining gelato, the rest of the Fluff or Crème, and the rest of the gelato. Fold one time with a rubber spatula to make thick ribbons. Smooth the top of the gelato before serving or storing. Store in a sealed container in the freezer for up to 1 week.
À LA MODE IT • The gelato is soft, even when set in the freezer for a long while. Store it in the freezer in between a first serving and seconds so it doesn’t melt too much.
