Drop of Disney

This week, Disney’s Hollywood Studios celebrated its 30^th Anniversary! While it has undergone a lot of changes over the years, it remains one of my favorite parks (second to Magic Kingdom). When I first visited it, it was Disney’s MGM Studios and the “Earffel Tower” stood high above the park. I was so excited when I first saw it because as a child, my parents and I would “collect” water towers as we drove by them, with the first person to see it claiming it. I loved adding a water tower with Mickey ears on it to my collection. As the years passed and the park icon changed to the sorcerer’s hat and then the Tower of Terror, I still fondly remembered the Earffel Tower and how it added to the feeling of being on the backlot of a movie set in the Hollywood Hills.

And so to celebrate the park’s 30^th anniversary, I was inspired to create this Earffel Tower cake, complete with sugar cookie Mickey ears. While technically located in Florida, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is California themed and so I decided on an orange creamsicle cake, which celebrates the fresh citrus found in both of those states. The base of this cake is a moist orange cake packed with fresh orange juice and zest and frosted with a delicious swirl of creamy vanilla frosting on the bottom and a rich chocolate frosting on the top.

While the cake itself is pretty straightforward to make, this recipe does call for some different equipment. For the cakes, I used two 6-inch cake pans, and then one 9-inch inch cake pan for the leftover batter. As the cake is inspired by a water tower, I wanted it to be a bit taller than most cakes and so I added some height using a plastic 6-inch cake stand and 7 ¼ inch cake dowels.  

To add Mickey ears, I used a couple 3-inch round sugar cookies that I frosted with black dyed chocolate frosting. The cookies were the perfect thickness and held their shape without crushing the top layer of the cake.

To mirror the black and white design of the water tower, I frosted the cakes with white vanilla cream and black chocolate frosting. I’ve found the easiest way to make a rich black frosting is to start with a chocolate base, as less food coloring is needed and you significantly reduce the chance of ending up with a dark grey. Since orange and chocolate are also a great together, the chocolate frosting on top worked out well.

Once all of the cakes and cookies were baked and cooled, I used the vanilla cream frosting between the two cake layers as well as on the sides of the cake. I then used the chocolate frosting on the top ¼ of the cake sides and the very top of the cake.

To add the ears, I simply cut a small indent on each side of the top and inserted the cookies. To make them super stable, I inserted a toothpick in the bottoms of the cookies to help them stay upright.

While you can definitely enjoy the cake at table height, I used a bit of movie magic to make it more like a water tower. First, you’ll want to assemble the cake stand and dowels. To do so, simply insert the dowels into the designated spaces on the cake stand. Then, once the cake is frosted, carefully place the cake on top of the stand and add the ear cookies.

Enjoy!

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Earffel Tower Cake

Create some movie magic and celebrate 30 years of Disney’s Hollywood Studios with this Earffel Tower cake! Inspired by the fresh citrus in both Hollywood and Florida, this moist cake is packed with oranges, covered with a delicious creamy vanilla frosting, and topped off with Mickey ear cookies.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 1 6-inch cake

Ingredients

Orange Cake

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup orange marmalade
• 4 eggs
• 3 teaspoons vanilla
• juice and zest of two large navel oranges
• ¾ cup milk

Sugar Cookies

• 1 ½ cup flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3- inch round cutter

Vanilla Cream Frosting

• 1 ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 7.5 oz jar marshmallow fluff or crème
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting

• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 tablespoons milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• black gel food coloring

Equipment

• 2 6-inch cake pans
• 1 9-inch cake pan, for leftover batter
• 6-inch cake stand
• 4 7 1/4 inch cake dowels

Instructions

Orange Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and line two 6-inch cake pans, and one 9-inch cake pan.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, beat butter, sugar, and marmalade until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add vanilla and orange zest.
4. Stir orange juice into the milk.
5. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture in two additions, alternating with the milk mixture.
6. Bake for 23-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
7. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sugar Cookies

1. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
4. Add the flour mixture and beat until it creates a smooth dough.
5. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for about an hour or until firm.
6. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
7. Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll out to about ¼ inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.
8. Cut out ear shapes using a 3-inch round cutter and any additional shapes as desired.
9. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are just starting to brown. Let cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Cream Frosting

1. In a medium bowl, beat butter until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. On low speed, beat in marshmallow fluff until just combined, about 30 seconds.
3. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until fluffy.

Chocolate Frosting

1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa powder.
2. Add in sugar, alternating with the milk. Beat until spreadable, adding a little milk if needed.
3. Stir in vanilla and desired amount of black food coloring.

Assembly

1. Once the cakes and cookies have cooled completely, trim the tops off the two 6-inch cakes so that they are flat.
2. Place a heaping spoonful of vanilla cream frosting on top of one of the cakes and spread it evenly. Place the second cake on top of the first cake and frost the lower ¾ of the cake with the vanilla frosting. Since the top of the water tower is black, it will be frosted with the chocolate frosting.
3. Place cake in the refrigerator to chill for 5-10 minutes.
4. Frost the top of the cake with the chocolate frosting, coming down about ¼ of the sides from the top.
5. Place in the refrigerator for another 5- 10 minutes.
6. Using the remaining chocolate frosting, frost the circle sugar cookies, making sure to completely cover the top. Let set for 10-15 minutes.
7. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and cut a small indent on each side of the cake for the ear cookies.
8. Place cake onto the cake stand and the ear cookies into the indents, using a toothpick to support if needed.

Recipe Notes

orange cake adapted from Fresh April Flowers