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Sugar Plum Fairy Cake

Inspired by the iconic Nutcracker fairy, this three tiered cake is sure to wow anybody at your next holiday party. The flavor of this cake is taken from the classic sugar plum dessert, with a delicately spiced vanilla cake layered with a mixture of spiced dried fruit and jam, and all sealed up with a creamy and delicious vanilla frosting.
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Prep Time 3 hours
Total Time 5 hours
Servings: 25 slices
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

Cake
  • 7 ⅓ cups cake flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¾ teaspoon ginger
  • ½ teaspoon clove
  • ½ teaspoon allspice
  • 3 cups unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 4 cups granulated sugar
  • 6 large eggs at room temperature
  • 4 large egg whites at room temperature
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups buttermilk
Sugar Plum Filling
  • ½ cup apricot jam
  • ½ cup chopped prunes
  • ½ cup dried cranberries
  • ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon ginger
  • ⅛ teaspoon clove
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon allspice
Frosting
  • 3 cups unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups vegetable shortening
  • 7 cups confectioners sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • a pinch of salt
  • pink and purple food coloring

Method
 

Make the cake
  1. Using butter and parchment paper rounds, grease and line two 8 inch cake pans, two 6 inch cake pans, and one 4 inch cake pan. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350℉.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove, and allspice. Set aside.
  3. In a very large mixing bowl (there will be a lot of batter) using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until fluffy and combined, about 3 minutes. Add in the eggs, egg whites, and vanilla extract and beat on medium high speed until combined. It may look a little split at this point, don't worry! Add in the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until almost combined. With the mixer still running on low speed, slowly stream in the buttermilk until completely incorporated. You may need to use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl to get it fully mixed together. The batter will be thick.
  4. Scoop the batter into the previously prepared cake pans, filling each roughly ⅔ of the way. You may have a little leftover batter, I recommend you bake it into cupcakes! Bake the cakes for 18-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Because of the cakes different sizes, they will most likely be ready at different times, so I recommend checking them at the 18 minute mark to see how they're baking.
  5. Let the cakes cool completely before assembling.
Make the filling
  1. In a large bowl mix together the apricot jam, prunes, cranberries, and spices using a spatula. Set aside while we make the frosting.
Make the frosting
  1. In a large mixing bowl using either a hand or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the butter and shortening together on medium high speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add in the confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, and salt and beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then turn the speed up to high and whip for at least a minute. The frosting should be creamy and light.
Assemble the cake
  1. Slice the tops off of each of the cakes to create a flat surface. Place one of the 8 inch layers on a cake stand. Spread a thin layer of the sugar plum filling on top, and then pipe a ring of frosting around the edge of the cake to create a "moat" for the fruit filling. Place the second 8 inch cake layer on top. Spread a thin layer of frosting on the top and sides of the 8 inch cake. Place three cake dowels into the cake in a triangle (make sure they are close enough that the 6 inch cake will fit on top), just tall enough so that they stick out of the top by about 2 inches.
  2. Spread a thin layer of the sugar plum filling on top of one of the 6 inch cakes. Pipe a moat of frosting around the cake filling and top it with the second 6 inch cake. Spread a thin layer of frosting on the tops and sides of the cake as a crumb coat before carefully transferring and placing it on top of the dowels on the 8 inch cake. Place one dowel in the center of the 6 inch cake, so that it's sticking up 2 inches out of the cake.
  3. Slice the 4 inch cake in half so that you now have two round 4 inch cake layers. Spread a thin layer of the sugar plum filling on one of the cake layers, and pipe a moat around the filling before topping with the other 4 inch cake layer. Spread a thin layer of frosting all over the tops and sides. Place this 4 inch cake on top of the dowel on the 6 inch cake. Chill the assembled cake for 30 minutes.
Decorate
  1. While the cake chills, split the remaining frosting into three bowls. Dye one of the bowls of frosting pink, one of them a dark purple, and one of them a light pinkish purple.
  2. Frost all sides of the tiered cake in the light pinkish purple. Then using the other two colors add swirls and frills all around the cake. The two piping tips I used were Wilton 4B and Wilton 1M, and Decorate with sprinkles and cranberries.