This two-layer orange cake is filled with a bright, blueberry compote and finished with a delectable orange-cinnamon buttercream. Covered in fondant and topped with syrup to look like a complete stack of pancakes.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword breakfast, cake, fondant, pancake
Prep Time 1 hourhour
Cook Time 40 minutesminutes
Cooling & Decorating Time 3 hourshours
Total Time 4 hourshours40 minutesminutes
Servings 24servings
Ingredients
Orange Cake
2½cupscake flour
2tsp baking powder
½tspsalt
1¼sticksunsalted butter, room temp
1½cupssugar
3tbspfrozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
¼tspground cinnamon
1½tsporange peel, grated
1tspvanilla extract
4eggs, large, room temp
1cupwhole milk, room temp
Blueberry Compote Filling
1pintblueberries (or 2 half-pint baskets)
2tbspsugar
1 tsplemon juice, fresh squeezed
½tspcornstarch
Orange-Spiced Buttercream Frosting
2sticksunsalted butter, room temp
4cupspowdered sugar
2tbspfrozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1tsporange peel, grated
¼tspground cinnamon
½tspvanilla extract
Instructions
Orange Cake
Preheat your oven to 350°.
Thoroughly coat the inside of each pan with a layer of cold butter. I like to take a stick right out of the fridge and partially unroll the wrapping, leaving some wax paper for my hand to grip. Then, sprinkle in a tablespoon or two of flour, and shake the pan around until all of the butter is coated with flour. Flip the pan upside down, over your sink or garbage can, tapping the bottom to remove any excess.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar for a few minutes, or until fluffy.
To the beater bowl, add the orange concentrate and zest, vanilla, and cinnamon. Mix until combined.
Then, beat each egg into the mixture, one at a time. Make sure your eggs have come to room temperature. Otherwise, you risk your batter separating, which creates a dense, oily cake.
Finally, stir a little of the flour and milk into the bowl of wet ingredients. Gently mix by hand only until combined. Repeat this process 3 more times, until all of the flour and milk are combined into the batter.
Pour your batter evenly into your two prepared pans.
Place the cakes into the preheated oven, and set your timer for 32 minutes. Take care not to open the oven before the timer is done.
When the timer is finished, check the cake for doneness by inserting the tester into the center of the cake. Moist crumbs are okay, but there should be no batter on the tester. If your cake isn't fully cooked just yet, add a few more minutes to the timer and test again.
Once the cakes are finished baking, let them cool in their pans on top of a wire rack for ten minutes. Then, carefully flip each cake out to finish cooling. You may need to tap the bottom of the cake pan with a utensil, but the cake should glide out smoothly. Let the cakes cool completely before frosting and decorating.
If you aren't filling or decorating your cake on the same day as baking, wrap each layer twice, individually, in plastic wrap. Store the cake layers in a cool spot (like a dark corner of your kitchen) for a day or two.
Blueberry Compote Filling
Add the washed berries, sugar, and lemon juice into a small saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Place your cornstarch in a small bowl. Scoop out about a tablespoon of liquid from the pan (it doesn't have to be exact) and add it to the cornstarch. Combine the mixture until smooth, and add it all back into the pan. Stir to combine.
Let the compote continue to boil, stirring occasionally, gently mashing the blueberries with your spatula. After about ten minutes, your compote should have reduced in volume by at least half. Check for proper thickness by coating the back of a wooden spoon. If you can draw a line through the compote with your finger and it doesn't immediately fill itself back in, the texture is thick enough.
The compote will thicken slightly as it cools. Transfer the mixture to a mason jar or tupperware container and let it cool, unlidded, at room temperature. Once the compote is cool enough, you can place it in the fridge to fully chill.
Store your compote lidded, in the refrigerator, until ready to use. Because of the high sugar content, your compote can last for up to two weeks.
Orange-Spiced Buttercream Frosting
To begin, beat your softened butter to mix the sticks together. You can do this with a hand mixer, but the whole process is definitely easier with a stand mixer.
With your mixer on low, add to the butter one cup of powdered sugar. Beat until blended and scrape down the sides with a spatula. Continue this process until all of the powdered sugar is combined.
Then, mix the orange juice concentrate, orange zest, cinnamon, and vanilla into the frosting. Taste the frosting, making adjustments if you would prefer more juice, zest, or vanilla.
Store the buttercream covered, in the refrigerator, until about an hour before you're ready to use it. The frosting will harden in the fridge, so let it come to room temperature. You can give it one more quick whip with the beater to bring it back to its full, soft, creaminess. Once you frost and decorate your cake, this buttercream is perfectly shelf-stable, so you don't have to store it in the fridge again.