ORANGE MARMALADE LAYER CAKE

Ingredients

3 cups cake flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

Orange Syrup:
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
¼ cup sugar

Frosting:
3/4 cup well chilled heavy cream
¾ cup well chilled sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper, butter and flour the paper and shake out excess flour.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, orange zest and vanilla. Beat 1/3 of the dry ingredients into butter and sugar mixture, followed by ½ cup buttermilk. When well combined, add another third of the dry ingredients, then remaining buttermilk, beating until mixture is combined thoroughly. Finally, beat in remaining dry ingredients until mixture is smooth. Evenly divide the batter between the two pans, smooth the surface, then rap each pan on counter to expel any air bubbles trapped in batter, then place in oven. Bake 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling racks.

In a bowl, stir together juice and sugar until sugar is completely dissolved.
With a toothpick or wooden skewer, poke holes at half-inch intervals in the cake layers fresh from the oven and spoon the syrup over each layer, allowing the syrup to be completely absorbed before adding remaining syrup. Let layers cool completely.

Filling:
In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup orange marmalade over medium heat until melted.

In a bowl, whisk the heavy cream with the sugar until stiff peaks form. Add sour cream a little at a time and whisk until mixture reaches spreading consistency.
To assemble cake: Arrange 1 cake layer on a serving plate. Carefully peel off the parchment paper, then spread 2/3 of marmalade into a smooth even layer over the cake. Invert remaining cake layer onto the first layer, peel off parchment and spoon remaining marmalade over cake, leaving a 1 ¼-inch border around the edge. Frost the sides and border of cake top with the frosting, leaving the marmalade exposed on the cake’s top. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.