Welcome to Volume 9 of my Boozy Bakes series! Today, we are dipping into a classic cocktail: the Cosmopolitan. I know what you’re thinking. Two vodka-themed boozy bakes in a row? I know, I know, it’s not like me. But listen, my new cocktail book just generates so many ideas, what else am I supposed to do? This Cosmopolitan Cake is inspired by the classic cosmo cocktail and has cranberry liqueur-infused sponge cake, sweet lime curd filling, and tart cranberry cream cheese buttercream. I got the idea from the cosmopolitan recipe in “How to Be a Vodka Snob,” and my OCD side is loving that I managed to make a frosting that matches the outside of the book!
This book launches today, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about vodka and vodka-inspired mixology. Or, if you are like me and just want to peruse the drink recipes for flavor combos that you can shamelessly steal and incorporate in baked goods, it definitely works for that. You do you.
I did another recipe inspired by this book that was GOOD and is perfect for summer cocktail trends, my Moscow Mule Cupcakes. Check that recipe out here.
It’s May. And there are no cranberries to be found.
(Uninterested in my life? I get that. Skip this section and go to the next heading.)
Jump to RecipeThis past week while I was trying to figure out how to make a cosmopolitan into a cake, I ran into a big problem: it is not Christmas time, and apparently cranberries only exist during the holidays.
Seriously, there was not a single solitary cranberry, fresh or frozen, to be found anywhere in the state of Indiana. (I’m exaggerating, I only looked at three grocery stores. But still! Three grocery stores!)
I had almost given up and hung up my apron in shame when my bestie Katie suggested the bougie grocery store in Carmel for one more try. We still did not find any cranberries, but we did find the next best thing: cranberry liqueur.
Is there cranberry liqueur in a cosmopolitan? No.
Do I care about that when cranberries cannot be found for love or money? Also, no. So, I put it in the sponge, and it was delicious.
Science is weird, and it made this cosmopolitan cake green.
That sponge color is, without a doubt, green. Like, kermit green.
However, I swear that when I put it in the oven it was pinkish-purple, colored by a generous pour from my cranberry liqueur bottle. When it came out of the oven it was, inexplicably, a very pleasant sage green color. What could have caused this? To the internet!
The verdict: some science thing where the cranberries interact with the heat and the baking soda or something and turn green. Listen, I’m a music teacher, not a dietician. The point is, it was supposed to happen and it is kind of cool, so we are going to go with it.
Cosmopolitan Cake: the elements.
A cosmo has several interacting flavor components: lime juice, cranberry juice, vodka, and triple sec or Grand Marnier.
Lime was the easiest of these flavor profiles to incorporate, I just whipped up a batch of lime curd and snuggled it in between the layers. Before I really got into baking, I was always intimidated by fruit curds, but now that I feel comfortable making them, it is hard to imagine baking without this tool in my toolbox. This lime curd recipe is made of lime juice, zest, egg yolks, sugar, and a little corn starch, and it is just so delicious and versatile. Lemon curd is equally delicious, check out my recipe for that in my strawberry lemonade cake.
The orange liqueur flavor was easy to incorporate as well. I just brushed some on the warm cake. I looooove Grand Marnier, so I was generous in my brushing. It pulls double duty by offering both a nice flavor boost and by keeping your sponge nice and moist.
Doubling down on cranberry!
Cranberry was the trickiest flavor to zero in on. It’s a pretty bold flavor, but rarely is it featured in American cuisine outside of Thanksgiving, so I had to give it some serious thought. My first instinct was to use fresh or frozen berries, but as previously discussed, that wasn’t an option. My next idea was to use a cranberry jello packet. However, all of my research about that baking technique seemed to indicate that you would need a boxed cake mix. I have never used a boxed mix in my life, I’m not even sure how to bake those.
So, I turned to juice and liqueur, and at the end of the day I definitely think it was the right choice. The liqueur in the sponge gave it a nice depth of flavor. The sponge is based on egg whites and cake flour, which keeps it nice and light and fluffy! The perfect vehicle for the intensely-flavored lime curd.
I reduced some cranberry juice down a little bit, and added it into my cream cheese frosting, and it gave it a beautiful color and a tangy tartness that is really YUMMY and an excellent contrast to the sweet cake.
The resulting cake is balanced, cutesy, and clearly reminiscent of the cocktail that inspired it. It’s also light and airy, perfect for summer!
Interested in ordering from me?
If you live in Indianapolis and you are interested in ordering this cake or any other treat from Kelly Likes to Bake, drop me at email at kellylikestobake@gmail.com for info and pricing!
Delicious Cosmopolitan Cake: easy, tangy, boozy, and perfect for a relaxing summer!
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Intermediate16
slices40
minutes20
minutes300
kcalThis summery centerpiece has cranberry-infused sponge cake layers, tart lime curd filling, and tangy cranberry cream cheese frosting!
Ingredients
- For the cake:
2 and 1/2 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
6 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1 T vanilla
1/3 cup whole milk at room temperature
2/3 cup cranberry liqueur or cranberry juice
- For the lime curd:
zest of 2 limes
juice of 2 limes
4 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 T cornstarch
3 T water
1 stick unsalted butter
1 t salt
- For the frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter
8 oz brick of cream cheese, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup cranberry juice
- For assembly:
1/2 cup Grand Marnier or triple sec
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare three 8 inch cake pans with cooking spray and parchment paper.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar thoroughly, at least four minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the salt and ROOM TEMPERATURE egg whites, and beat until thoroughly combined. Add the sour cream and vanilla, beat until combined. Add half the milk, half the cranberry liqueur, the baking soda, the baking powder, and half the flour, mix until just combined. Add the remaining ingredients, mix until just combined.
- Divide the batter into the three cake pans, leveling out the tops. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the pans and cool completely.
- While the cakes are baking, make your curd. In a small saucepan, combine the zest, lime juice, egg yolks, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Whisk together the cornstarch and water, then whisk into the lime juice mixture. Put in the stick of butter, breaking it up. Cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, until it has thickened to a jam-like consistency. This will take 10-15 minutes. Pour the curd into a bowl and put in the fridge for an hour to set.
- Make your buttercream. Put the cranberry juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce down by about 50 percent. Cool completely. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk or paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, about five minutes. Add half the powdered sugar, the salt, and half of your cranberry reduction. Beat until combined. Add the remaining ingredients. Adjust the consistency with more sugar or cranberry juice as required. You can add some pink food coloring if you would like.
- Assemble your cake. Level the layers with a bread knife or a cake leveler. Place one layer in the center of your cake stand, brush liberally with Grand Marnier, and top with a thin layer of frosting. Add more frosting to the outside edges so that it forms a well in the center. Add half of your curd to this well, and smooth it out. Top with another cake layer and repeat this process. Top with the final cake layer. Refrigerate your cake for thirty minutes to help it set, and then smear your remaining frosting all over the outside. Keep it in the fridge, covered, until you are ready to serve. Pour yourself a cosmo, sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Hi Kelly! This sounds wonderful – and the frosting is one Elle would be proud of! I was looking at the recipe and baking soda is crossed out, but it appears in the instructions…? I think I gotta get some cranberry liqueur! It is one of Mark’s favorite flavors. 🙂
Oh gosh how did I even do that?? It goes in the cake!!
Never mind about the crossing out part – as I was scrolling back up, my cursor landed at another spot and crossed that one out, so some computer thing…
[…] What other fruit goes with chocolate? Orange! And as we all know, I love making fruit curd. The orange in this recipe really cut through the sweetness and gave it a lot of zip. Orange not your thing? Feel free to leave it out or substitute with raspberry or strawberry jam! I could even imagine this dessert with lime curd, that would be pretty exotic. Here is my recipe for that. […]