Malibu Sunset Cake
Make this gorgeously delicious Malibu Sunset Cake, featuring Malibu rum, ombre frosting, and a cocktail glass and cake drip topper!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 320kcal
Equipment
- Baker's floured cooking spray (optional, but I prefer this spray to parchment rounds)
- Squeeze bottle (or piping bag or spoon; to add cake drip)
- 3-4 cocktail sticks (for decorating)
- Small paring knife (for decorating)
- Zester/grater tool (for decorating)
Ingredients
Malibu Sunset Cake layers
- 2 boxes Miss Jones ‘Ultimate Vanilla’ Cake mix
- 6 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup Malibu Coconut Rum
- 1 cup melted unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- 2 drops pink gel food color 8 drops yellow liquid (or 2 drops yellow gel) food color
- 5-6 Maraschino cherries, chopped (optional; add between cake layers)
- 3-4 Pineapple slices, chopped (optional; add between cake layers)
Malibu Sunset Frosting
- 2 containers Miss Jones Vanilla Buttercream frosting (You'll see ConfettiPop in the video, but I decided not to use the sprinkles)
- 2 drops red gel food coloring
- 2 drops yellow gel food coloring
Drip & Decorations
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 small drop drop red gel food coloring
- 1 small drop yellow gel food coloring
- Small piping bag & tips – this set has been my favorite for 3+ years now!
- 9-10 maraschino cherries I used cherries with stems
- 1 can pineapple slices
- 2-3 orange slices sliced to the center
- Cocktail glass of your choice
Instructions
Malibu Sunset Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment rounds, and /or grease with non-stick or baker’s floured cooking spray.
- Combine cake mix, eggs, milk, coconut rum, and butter, and beat with a whisk until just combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Divide evenly between three bowls to color your cake layers (I found a kitchen scale helpful for this part).
- Color one layer with one large drop pink gel food color, the next with a smaller drop of gel food color plus 4 drops yellow liquid or 1 drop yellow gel food color, and the last with 4 drops yellow liquid or 1 drop yellow gel food color (to make a pink, orange, and yellow layer).
- Bake cakes in the center of the oven for 29-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting. (This is a great time to prep your frosting!)
Malibu Sunset Frosting
- Divide your frosting into 1 larger and 3 smaller parts – I used about 2/3 of one container to fill and crumb-coat my cake, and colored the rest of the frosting and used it to cover the cake. (To be honest, if I were doing the cake over I’d probably use 3 containers of frosting; apparently I use more frosting than most!)
- Divide the remainder of your frosting into 3 parts, and color one pink, one orange (pink+yellow) and one yellow.
- Once your cakes are cool, level them (if needed). This can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler. Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle. Spread the layer with frosting and add the next layer on top. Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like – spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer.
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add frosting in three layers – I put the pink at the base, orange in the middle, and yellow on top. I used an offset spatula to spread the frosting and a large cake scraper to smooth. Once your cake is covered, place it into the fridge to set the frosting.
Cake drip
- Place heavy cream and white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on 50% power in 30-second intervals until smooth, stirring in between. Add gel color and stir until smooth.
- When your ganache has cooled to a moderate temperature – it should feel slightly warm and still be fairly liquid – transfer it to a piping bag or squeeze bottle. Squeeze about ¼ cup of the ganache into the cocktail glass, and then quickly invert the glass over the cake, pressing the glass into the cake at an angle (see video above for an extra guide on this step). Slowly drizzle ganache away from the glass, letting it fall down the edge of the cake to create drips.
- Add maraschino cherries, pineapple chunks, and orange slices to the top of your cake! I skewered the pineapple and cherries with cocktail sticks, and added orange slice spirals to the back of the cake behind the glass. Pipe a few frosting swirls around the decorations as well - if you have any frosting left!
- Annnd you’re done! Step back and admire your cake!!
Video
Notes
Please note nutrition information is an estimate and may not be exactly accurate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 320kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 21g
Did you make this Malibu Sunset Cake?
Please send me an email and let me know how it went – or make my day and find me on Pinterest or on Instagram and tag @IntensiveCakeUnit in your photo!
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Other recipes you may love…
Pictured: Raspberry Lemon Drop Cake, Mermaid Cocktail Cake, Lemon Drop Cake, Peach Bellini Cake
(Or click / tap the photos to be taken to the recipe pages!)
Where do you find Miss Jones cake mixes?
I was about to insert a link to their site, but the mixes you’d need for this recipe are out of stock! :/ Sad. It looks like you could get them through some third-party Amazon sellers at this link –
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017Y32C4W/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=intensiveca04-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B017Y32C4W&linkId=05ae032d9c573d909c010abb994a4deb
But – that said – I’ve ALSO done recipes similar to this one with other cake mixes before! I’m thinking it’s likely you could sub in your favorite white or yellow cake mix and frosting and probably get away with it just fine 😉 Happy baking!
I love this cake! Thanks so much for posting it! I made it today and wish I could show you, you are such an inspiration!
Aww, thank you so much! I love this recipe; I’m glad you did too! 🙂