Spiced Layer Cake

5 from 4 votes

3 layers of spiced cake, a cinnamon milk soak, blackberry blood orange filling, and a blood orange cream cheese whipped cream, this spiced layer cake is perfect for fall.

Prep Time25

Cook Time45

Chilling1 30

Total Time2 40

Course: Afternoon Kaffee, Dessert

Cuisine: German

Keyword: blackberry, blood orange, cake, Cream Cheese, spiced cake, vanilla

Servings:

Calories: 424kcal

Equipment

Stand Mixer
7" Metal Cake Pan

Ingredients

Cake

2 eggs room temperature
175 grams granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
100 grams sour cream room temperature
90 grams oil neutral
50 grams whole milk
150 grams all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon all spice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves

Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

1 blood orange zested
226 grams cream cheese 8 ounces, cold
50 grams powdered sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
350 milliliters heavy cream cold, more as needed
nutmeg a little freshly grated to taste

Blackberry Blood Orange Filling

170 grams blackberries plus more for decoration
1 blood orange juiced
2 tablespoons water

Cinnamon Vanilla Milk Soak

80 grams granulated sugar
150 milliliters milk
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Spiced Cake Batter

Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the middle of the oven.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth.
Pour in the oil and whisk again.
Lastly, pour in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and all the spices.
Whisk once more until combined and smooth.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Spray the cake pan with your baking spray and then pour in the vanilla batter.
Smooth out the cake with a rubber spatula.

Bake the Cake

Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, rotate the cake 180 degrees and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
When the cake is finished baking, check it by sticking a toothpick into the center of one section of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is fully baked.
Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool for 10 minutes before removing the spring form.
After 10 minutes, run a knife between the cake and the edge of the pan, then remove the springform.
Allow the cake to cool completely before assembling.

Blood Orange Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

In a medium mixing bowl, add in the orange zest, cream cheese, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract.
Use the paddle attachment to cream the cream cheese mixture on medium speed for 3 minutes until fully combined. If using a hand mixer, the regular beater attachments will work.
Turn off the mixer and pour in the cold heavy cream.
Switch to the whisk attachment and whip on medium speed until medium stiff peaks form. Do not over whip it, it's better to under whip rather than over whip. If you over whip it, pour in a little extra heavy cream and use a rubber spatula to fold it in.
Grate in a little nutmeg to taste.
Place in the fridge until ready to assemble.

Blackberry Blood Orange Filling

In a small pan, add in the rinsed blackberries with the juice of a blood orange and two tablespoons of water.
Cook over medium heat until it starts to bubble. Use a fork to mash the blackberries until they are mostly broken down.
Continue cooking until most of the moisture has cooked out.
Remove the pan from the heat and pour the filling into a large shallow dish to cool to room temperature.

Cinnamon Milk Soak

In a medium pot, add in the sugar, milk, and cinnamon.
Place over medium low heat and whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and pour into a heat safe bowl and stir in vanilla extract.
Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Assemble

* If you want to fully frost the outside of the cake, level off the domed top first.
Slice the cake into 3 layers with a serrated knife. Place the bottom layer on a parchment lined plate or cake stand.
Brush the top of the bottom layer with the cinnamon milk soak until it appears wet on the whole surface.
Scoop one cup of the cream cheese frosting onto the bottom layer of cake and use the back of a spoon or rubber spatula to spread it out. Stop about 1/4" from the edge of the cake.
Create a center circle 1/2" in from the outer edge of the frosting that is a little bit deeper to fill with 1/4 cup of the blood orange blackberry filling.
Layer the middle layer of cake over the frosting and press down gently.
Repeat the soak, frosting, and filling on the middle layer of cake.
Place the top layer of cake on top and press down gently. Soak the top of the cake.
Scoop the remaining frosting onto the top of the cake. Use an offset spatula to smooth the frosting over the top and sides of the cake.
*If you want to fully frost the cake, make 1.5 times the frosting. Once layered and base frosted, place the fridge in the cake for at least an hour or two, covered. I like to put a bowl upside down over the top. Let it firm up before frosting the sides of the cake.
Use the 1/2 portion of frosting to coat the outside/decorate as you want.
Place fresh blackberries on top for decoration.

Notes

Tips for making a simple spiced layer cake

If you want to make a full 9" cake, multiply all the cake ingredients by 1.5 aka instead of 2 eggs, use 3. This cake can be easily scaled so you could also double it and make two thinner 9" cakes.
Triple check that your pan is the correct size and that your baking soda and baking powder haven't expired!
This cake is a great base for so many flavors so don't be afraid to play around with fillings, frostings, and soaks. I also love the idea of a version of this cake with a chocolate ganache filling.
Use a baking spray with flour in it to spray the bottom of your cake pan, try not to spray the sides as it can make the cake rise oddly. Alternatively, grease the pan with soft butter and line the bottom with a round sheet of parchment paper.
Make sure the cream cheese and whipped cream are both cold when whipping the frosting. It's important for everything to be cold in order for the cream to whip to stiff peaks.
I recommend storing this cake, covered in the fridge. If you have a bowl big enough, I like to flip a bowl upside down over the cake to keep the whipped cream from drying out and cracking.
I made this cake across 3 days. Day 1, bake the cake, day 2 - make the filling and assemble, day 3 - final decorations and serve. That being said you could definitely make this in 2 days (or even 1 if you're really pressed). I'd bake the cake in the morning then assemble and stack at night, leave it in the fridge overnight and then decorate the next day.

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