Tiered Berry Sangria Cake
Is there anything more summer-y than Berry Sangria? Here's how I made this gorgeously delicious Tiered Berry Sangria Cake!
Equipment
- Baker's floured cooking spray (optional, but I prefer this spray to parchment rounds)
- 1 10 inch cardboard cake circle (8" would work, but moving the cake is easier with a larger circle)
- Cake leveler (or a serrated knife + ruler)
- large offset spatula (to spread frosting)
- Squeeze bottle (to add cake drizzle and ganache drip)
- 1 textured cake comb (optional; but I loved the look this Wilton comb gave the base tier)
- 5 Cake dowels or large plastic straws (I usually use very dark or bright-colored straws, so they're visible when cutting the cake)
- Ruler (for spacing dowels or straws and centering top tier)
- 1 small piping bag + star tip (linked is a set that contains reusable bags + tip)
- Martini glass (these cake layers bake dense enough to hold a real one, but feel free to use a plastic martini glass if you’d rather)
- Lemon zester/grater tool (I used this zester + channel knife tool)
Ingredients
Tiered Berry Sangria Cake layers
- 4 ⅞ cups all purpose flour
- 4 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter (3 sticks, room temperature)
- 3 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups egg whites (about 10 eggs, or use egg whites from a carton to avoid wasting the yolks)
- 1 cup buttermilk (room temperature)
- ⅔ cup wine (of your choice) (I used a Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon, or I’ve used a Garnacha in a similar cake before)
- ⅓ cup Triple Sec
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1-2 small drops purple gel food color (if desired, for deeper purple layers)
Berry Sangria Frosting
- 12 ounces cream cheese (one and a half packages, softened)
- 1 1/2 cups butter (three sticks, softened)
- 9 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons wine
- 2-3 Tablespoons triple sec
- 1-2 small drops Purple gel food coloring (if desired – I actually just left the frosting the shade of purple the wine gave it, but if you’re using a lighter wine than I did you may want a deeper color. Up to you!)
Cake layer drizzle (optional but recommended)
- ¼ cup wine
- ¼ cup Triple Sec
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice (one small lemon)
- 2 Tablespoons lime juice (one small lime)
Drip & Decorations
- 1 cup white chocolate chips (for drip)
- ¼ cup heavy cream (for drip)
- 1-2 small drops Purple gel food coloring (for drip)
- 3-4 small limes
- 3-4 small lemons
- 2 small packages fresh blackberries
- 1 small package fresh raspberries
- 1 orange
Instructions
Tiered Berry Sangria Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8-inch cake pans and two six-inch cake pans with baker's floured cooking spray, or grease and line with parchment rounds.
- Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined. Mix chunks of room-temperature butter slowly into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture becomes crumbly.
- Pour in egg whites and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk, wine, and triple sec on a low speed. Add in oil and food coloring, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
- Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part – I ended up with about 690g in my large pans and about 450 in my smaller ones). This guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height.
- Bake for 33-37 minutes, (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans. Cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired. (This is a great time to make your frosting!)
- Once the layers have fully cooled, they can be leveled and any caramelized bits can be trimmed from the sides / top of the cake using a serrated knife. Be sure the layers are completely cooled or chilled before trimming so they don't crumble or break!
Berry Sangria Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with the wine and triple sec until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add food color if desired, and beat until well combined.
Cake drizzle: (Optional but recommended!)
- Combine ingredients in a squeeze bottle (or large glass and add with a basting brush); infuse each cake layer with a few tablespoons of the cake drizzle. This will add more sangria flavor to the cake layers! (And no; as long as you spread the drizzle over the entire cake layer it won't make the layers soggy - just more flavorful and not dry!)
Assembly
- Place a smear of frosting on your large cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your large first cake layer in the center of the circle.
- Spread the layer with frosting, and press a few blackberries into the frosting. (I added a frosting rim and some frosting between the berries to make sure the next cake layer wouldn't slide.) Add the next large cake layer on top. Repeat the process with your remaining cake layer.
- Next, repeat the same process with your smaller cardboard circle and cake layers. Of note – if your circles aren’t pre-center-punched, be sure to grab a dowel or straw and make your own hole in the exact center of the circle! This will allow you to center the tier on the base tier later.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like – spread 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 your final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for this part. For my larger tier, I was able to smooth the frosting fairly well free-handed, but I struggled getting the sides smooth on my smaller one. Setting a second small cake circle on top and using it as a guide for smoothing my icing worked much more easily for me!
- Once your base tier is covered, place the icing comb on the cake circle against your cake and run the comb around the cake to texture the frosting. Place both tiers into the freezer for about 20 minutes to set the frosting and get the cake cold enough to set the white chocolate ganache decoration.
Okaaay - on to stacking the tiers!
- (If you've never done this before, ‘How to Make a Tiered Cake’ by Chelsweets is my favorite YouTube tutorial! Basically, doweling a tiered cake is done to ensure that the top tier doesn’t crush the lower tier, as well as keeping it centered.) Cut four plastic straws to the height of the base tier. Cut one more at an angle, at least 1-2 inches taller than the base tier - this will help center the top tier, and hold it in place.
- Grab your ruler for this next part! Push the straws/dowels (cut to the height of the cake) down into the base tier just over one inch from the cake edge, placing them evenly at quarter intervals around the cake. Place your last, tallest straw or dowel into the exact center of the cake, making sure to keep it straight up as you press down.
- Now you’re ready – center the hole in the bottom of your top tier cake circle over the tallest dowel and let the top tier gently down onto the base tier. The dowel will poke into the center of the top tier to hold it in place.
- Pat yourself on the back; you did it! My cardboard cake circle showed more than I was happy with, so I piped some extra frosting onto the base of the top tier to hide it.
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 food 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. (A spoon will work also; you'll just have a little less control.)
- Slowly drizzle ganache around the edge of the top tier, pausing about every ¾ to 1 inch to let ganache flow down the side of the cake to create a drip. Pour a few tablespoons over the top of the cake and spread gently with an offset spatula, then turn your wine glass over and center it on top of the cake.
- Repeat the drip around the edge of the base tier.
Now for the fun part - decorating!
- Decorate the cake top, the rim between the tiers, and the base with berries and lemon/lime/orange slices! I used a few orange and lime zest spirals, as well as several sliced/spiraled lemon and limes, and whole and halved blackberries and raspberries around the bases of both tiers.
- Step back and admire your amaaazing cake! Enjoy!
Video
Notes
(Please note nutrition information is an estimate and may not be exactly accurate.)
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 755kcalCarbohydrates: 98gProtein: 8gFat: 37g
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