White Russian Anniversary Cake

I was asked by a friend to make a cake for her parents' 40th Wedding Anniversary. It is the "Ruby" anniversary, so I went with red accents/roses. 

I was a little nervous, since this is only my second real cake order, and the anniversary couple are also my husband's Uncle and Aunt.  I wanted it to be special. The only request was that it be a white kahlua cake (I couldn't find any recipes that appealed to me, so I had to invent one myself.)  This 4-layer "White Russian" cake is filled with a Kahlua cream cheese filling, and covered with butercream fondant, accented with buttercream piping and gumpaste calla lillies, roses and leaves. I've been wanting to try this quilting technique for a long time, I used a palate knife and a ruler. Next time I'll get an impression mat!

LORRINDA'S WHITE RUSSIAN CAKE

1 box white cake mix

1 cup sour cream

1 pkg. instant white chocolate pudding (4 serving size)

4 eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup Kahlua

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 -  9" round cake pans.

Mix all ingredients together on low speed until moistened, scrape bowl, then mix on med speed for 2 minutes.

Pour evenly into 2 - 9" round pans.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.Remove from the oven.

Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then invert pans onto a parchment paper covered board and gently lift the pans off the cakes. Let cakes cool completely.

When completely cool, slice cakes horizontally in half, giving you four cake layers.

WHITE RUSSIAN FILLING

1 bar (8oz) cream cheese, softened

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 box instant white chocolate pudding (4 serving size)

4 tablespoons Kahlua

Cream together the cream cheese and whipping cream until smooth. Add the dry pudding mix and beat until incorporated. Add theKahlua and keep beating until smooth. Divide into 3 portions.

ASSEMBLE CAKE: Place 1 cake layer onto cake platter, top with one portion of filling, repeat 2 more times. Place nicest (smoothest) cake layer on the top. Level sides and frost as desired.

Instead of fancy decorations like I did, you could drizzle with a white chocolate frosting, letting it run down the sides for a showy dessert!

Note: you could probably substitute strong coffee for the Kahlua, but I haven't tried it. I like the booze:)