Spumoni Inspiration

• Traditional spumoni is cooked like a custard, rich with eggs, whole milk and nuts. The main flavors are generally pistachio, cherry and chocolate. These give the dessert its colorful appearance. Bakers sometimes turn the complementary flavors into a cake. As with the ice cream, many different recipes exist, offering variations on the classic spumoni combination. Other nuts and whipped cream may add to the richness. The choice of ingredients and icing offers room for creativity with the cake while honoring the spumoni tradition.

Cake Ingredients

• Many spumoni cake recipes start from basic white cake ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, evaporated milk, salt and baking powder. The pistachio layer gets chopped pistachios, the cherry layer gets chopped or pureed fresh or maraschino cherries and the chocolate layer gets melted chocolate or cocoa powder. When it comes to ingredients, you have room to improvise. Adding an almond layer is one option. A vegan spumoni cake can be made without eggs, butter and milk using non-dairy substitutes instead.

Creating the Cake

• The key to making the spumoni cake is to mix the three ingredients into three separate batters -- or more, if you opt for a variation with more flavors. You can start with a yellow cake box mix or your favorite cake recipe. After mixing each batter, pour the batters into the cake pan in the desired order, such as pistachio, then cherry, then chocolate. This method creates the traditional spumoni separate bands of color. Baking temperature and time varies depending on the recipe, size of cake pan, altitude and your oven. In a 10-inch Bundt pan, for instance, a spumoni cake takes 60 to 75 minutes to bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Typically, however, you can bake according to the instructions on the cake mix. Insert a toothpick in the center. The cake is done when the toothpick comes out clean.

Finishing Touches and Variations

• The spumoni cakes icing can mimic the richness of the ice cream. Consider a cream cheese or maraschino cherry icing, or create a simple layer of sweetness with a basic powdered sugar glaze. There's always the option of adding more wicked dark chocolate, melted and drizzled over the top or shaved to fall over the cake as a festive topping. Garnish with chopped pistachios or maraschino cherries to continue the colorful presentation, if desired.