Swirled Spumoni Cake

Do you love spumoni as much as we do? Have you ever even heard of spumoni?? If not, let us illuminate you. This Neopolitan classic originated as a multi-colored, layered gelato with three main flavors in it: cherry, chocolate, and pistachio; we grew up with the Americanized ice cream version, but the flavors – and fruity bits within – remained the same. We’re so fond of this frosty dessert that we used it as the jumping off point for a baked version of it, spumoni cake.

Similar to the ice cream in that it’s got cherry cake batter, chocolate cake batter and pistachio (all right, almond) cake batter, the great thing about it is that all three batters come from one main batter, and then have other add-ins mixed in to make the separate flavors. You’ll need a plain white cake mix, to which we stir in Greek yogurt and dry vanilla pudding mix for added flavor and moistness, then we divide the batter into three bowls and the real fun starts. The first bowl gets maraschino cherries and vanilla extract for extra oomph, the second bowl gets almond extract (which really does make the cake taste like pistachio) and green food coloring, and the third bowl gets cocoa powder and vanilla extract.

Whisk them all until they’re smooth and you’ve got your desired color, then drop spoonfuls of batter into your baking dish to create a mesmerizing confection that will get devoured in minutes – you’ll see! A pretty green buttercream goes on top, though you could just as easily make a yummy cream cheese frosting, and that’s it! This is such a stunner, it tastes amazing, and you’ll be hankering to make it again in no time.

Spumoni Cake

45 minutes to prepare serves 9-12

Ingredients

  • Cake:
  • 1 (15.25 oz.) box white cake mix
  • 1 (3.4 oz.) box vanilla instant pudding mix
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 teaspoons almond extract, divided
  • 7-8 drops red food coloring
  • 1/4 cup maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
  • 6 drops green food coloring
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Frosting:
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond or pistachio extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk, or as needed
  • green food coloring
  • maraschino cherries, garnish, optional

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350º F and lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
  2. In a large bowl or mixer, whisk or beat together cake mix, dry pudding mix, eggs, water, oil and Greek yogurt until mixture just comes together and is smooth.
  3. Divide batter evenly between three bowls.
  4. In the first bowl, whisk in 1 teaspoon almond extract and maraschino cherries, then color with red food coloring.
  5. In the second bowl, whisk in remaining almond extract and green food coloring.
  6. In the third bowl, whisk in cocoa powder and vanilla extract.
  7. Alternating colors, drop spoonfuls of batter into prepared baking dish, but don’t mix them or swirl them together.
  8. Place baking dish in oven and bake for 29-32 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
  9. Prepare frosting but beating together butter, salt, almond and vanilla extracts in a large bowl or mixer for 3-4 minutes, or until smooth and fluffy.
  10. Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing until just incorporated, then add 1 tablespoon milk and desired green food coloring.
  11. Frost cake, then slice, serve and enjoy. Top with maraschino cherries.

Recipe adapted from Eat Cake For Dinner.