Spumoni Cake

Have you ever had Spumoni Ice Cream?  There is an Italian Restaurant close to me that serves it for dessert.  It comes with your meal, so everyone gets, it no matter what.  It's a combination of chocolate, cherry and pistachio ice cream and it's delicious.  The perfect sweet ending to a heavy pasta meal.  

I decided to replicate the same flavors into a cake.  

I wanted to make this as simple as possible, so I made my, go-to, shortcut cake recipe, divided it between three bowls and then added different flavorings to each bowl.  Super easy.  

With each slice you get chocolate, cherry and pistachio cake.  Not only is it pretty, but it's so yummy.  The cake is extremely moist, so I decided to top it with just a thin layer of simple buttercream frosting.  The cake really is so good on it's own, you could eat it without frosting (yes, me, the frosting lover really just said that).  I was originally planning to top it with pistachio frosting, but that turned out really grainy.  It might have been because I used generic pudding mix and I have never had good results with this particular brand.  

Anyway, I re-made the frosting and left out the pudding mix and it was way better.  There is so much going on with the cake, that a basic frosting is just right.  BUT, if you want to leave off the frosting, a dusting of powdered sugar would be a good choice. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and serve.     

Spumoni Cake
From: Jenn@eatcakefordinner
(Printable Recipe)

1 (16.25 oz.) box white cake mix
1 (3.4 oz.) box vanilla instant pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 c. water
3/4 c. canola or vegetable oil
1 c. sour cream or plain greek yogurt
2 tsp. almond extract, divided
7-8 drops red food coloring
1/4 c. chopped maraschino cherries, drained
6 drops green food coloring
3 Tbl. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla

Buttercream Frosting
12 Tbl. unsalted butter, room temperature
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 c. powdered sugar
1 Tbl. milk, plus more if needed
a few drops green food coloring, opt.
maraschino cherries with the stems, for garnish, opt.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine dry cake mix, dry pudding mix, eggs, water, oil and sour cream or greek yogurt.  Mix together until smooth and creamy.  Divide cake batter evenly between three bowls.  To one of the bowls, stir in 1 teaspoon almond extract, red food coloring and chopped maraschino cherries; set aside.  To the second bowl, stir in the remaining 1 teaspoon almond extract and green food coloring; set aside.  To the third bowl, stir in the cocoa powder and vanilla.

Drop spoonfuls of cake batter into a greased 9x13-inch cake pan, rotating flavors.  You want spoonfuls of each flavor throughout the entire pan.  Tap cake pan on counter a few times to flatten out the batter, do not swirl.  Bake in preheated oven for 30-33 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool completely and top with frosting.

For the Buttercream: In a large bowl, combine butter, salt, almond extract and vanilla extract and mix together until smooth and creamy.  Add one cup of powdered sugar and mix until combined.  Add remaining powdered sugar, one cup at a time, adding a little milk as needed until frosting is smooth and creamy and reaches desired consistency.  Mix in green food coloring, if adding.  Spread over cooled cake and garnish with maraschino cherries, if desired.    

Jenn's Notes: The pistachio flavor comes from almond extract.  Almond extract has the same flavor as pistachio pudding mix.  However, you can always add a few Tablespoons of pistachio pudding to the green batter and some chopped pistachios, if you prefer.  

Linked up at The Weekend Potluck!