This sapin-sapin layer cake tastes like your childhood made even more childlike. You can impart as much ube and langka flavor as you want into each sponge. We’ve even added coconut to the crimson and cream-colored layers. This instantly makes it much more flavorful than a lot of sapin-sapins out there, where the massive amount of food coloring takes precedent over flavor, making them taste like colored plastic. A touch of halaya buttercream finishes the cake.
Ingredients
Cake
- 5 cups flour
- 1 tbsp + 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups unsalted butter
- 4 cups sugar
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tbsp ube extract
- 4 tbsp coconut extract, divided
- 2 tbsp langka extract
- ½ tbsp red food coloring
Frosting
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup ube jam
Make the Cakes
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and line four 8-inch cake pans. Set aside.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Using a stand or handheld mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 8 minutes. Reduce speed and add eggs, two at a time, to the butter-sugar mixture until fully incorporated.
Add the flour mixture to the batter in three parts, alternating with the milk between additions. Mix continuously until fully combined. Divide the mixture between four bowls.
Add the following extracts to each bowl of cake batter. Fold until incorporated and no longer streaky:
Ube batter: ube extract
Coconut batter: coconut extract
Red coconut batter: coconut extract + red food coloring
Langka batter: langka extract
Pour batters into separate prepared cake pans. Bake in preheated oven for 35–45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes come out clean. Allow to cool for 30 minutes.
Loosen the sides of the cakes and transfer onto a cooling rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely before cutting and frosting.
Make the Frosting
Using a stand or handheld mixer, cream the softened butter until pale and fluffy, about 8–10 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Cream the mixture until fully incorporated and light and fluffy. If the mixture is too thick, add a tablespoon of milk at a time until it becomes a spreadable consistency.
Take ½ cup of frosting and tranfer to a separate bowl. Add the ube jam and mix with a spatula until the ube is evenly distributed, but the mixture is still streaky. Transfer ube frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
Assemble the Cake
Place the coconut cake on a cake board on top of a cake stand or turntable. Add 1 cup of frosting and spread over the cake evenly. Repeat with all the layers in the following order: red coconut, langka, and ube.
Using a large metal spatula, evenly frost the outside of the cake with the remaining frosting.
Take the piping bag with ube frosting and pipe frosting onto the top of the cake. Serve.
