Layered Marmalade Pudding Cake

Asked by sumijacob. Answered on 24th August 2013

Full question

Hi, I would like to make a cake for my daughter's second birthday. I was thinking of making a three layered version of Nigella's Marmalade Pudding Cake with orange whipped cream filling and orange whipped butter cream frosting. I am planning to bake three separate cakes for the layers. I love the marmalade cake recipe because its orangey and moist rather than some of the dry layered cakes. Is it a bad idea? Also will the butter cream frosting make it too sweet? Thank you Sumi

Our answer

Whilst it is not impossible to make a layered version of Nigella's Marmalade Pudding Cake (from Kitchen), we would mention that as it is a pudding cake it has a slightly denser texture than a layer cake, particularly when cold, and you may find it difficult to stack and then slice 3 layers. Also it will be quite filling. You should omit the glaze from the cake if trying it in this format.

The cake is very moist and not too sweet so it is unlikely that an unsweetened whipped cream filling would make the cake too sweet and a buttercream could be flavoured with orange zest and not too much sugar. We would suggest that if you wanted to layer the cake then make 2 layers and fill the middle with cream and the top only with buttercream, or an orange glace icing. We would also mention that as we haven't tested this we can't vouch for the results and our preference would be to make a single layer cake and let it cool, then top it with an orange whipped cream and some fresh fruit (blackberries or raspberries), similar to the Orange and Blackberry Trifle (also in Kitchen, p171).