Slow Cooker Spumoni Cake is an easy dessert recipe with vanilla cake, pistachio pudding, white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and pistachios.
Vanilla Pound Cake is the base for this Slow Cooker twist on a popular Italian ice cream flavor. Making delicious Cakes in a crockpot is about to you new favorite dessert hack!
You don’t need to be Italian to enjoy the sweet and creamy flavors of Spumoni Cake! The vanilla, pistachio, chocolate, and cherry flavors are a classic combination that will have everyone saying amore and please lots more-yay! Okay, silly stuff aside, this cake is delightful and delicious and sure to be a hit at your next holiday potluck.
Table of contents
Sabrina’s Slow Cooker Spumoni Cake Recipe
Crockpots aren’t just for savory dishes or dips, you can make all kinds of sweet desserts like this Slow Cooker Spumoni Cake. A slow cooker makes this cake super tender and moist, with a melt-in-your-mouth pudding texture and allows the flavors to deepen. It’s the perfect Christmas dessert you can let it bake while you are preparing your other holiday dishes without taking up any valuable oven space.
This Slow Cooker Spumoni Cake recipe starts with a rich and buttery vanilla pound cake mix that is made from scratch.The maraschino cherries adds the perfect sweet, chewy fruity burst in the vanilla cake. The next classic flavor in a Spumoni dessert is pistachio. Slow Cooker Spumoni Cake has a creamy pistachio layer made with pudding that bakes on the bottom. When you invert the cake, the gooey pistachio layer becomes the frosting and everything is topped off with a mix of white and semisweet chocolate chips and pistachio nuts. It’s an easy, festive cake for holidays or whenever you’re craving an Italian dessert.
Ingredients
- Cake Mix Batter: Instead of a box of cake mix, this fabulous cake starts with an easy homemade vanilla cake mix. The butter, egg and milk give it a much richer flavor than a package of cake mix and it’s not that much extra prep time to whip it together with common pantry ingredients.
- Maraschino Cherries: Maraschino cherries are candied cherries with a super sweet delicious cherry flavor. Instead of folding the cherries into batter, they get arranged on top so they sink down just slightly during the bake time. This gives the cake a layer of chewy sweet goodness in every bite.
- Pistachio Pudding: To make this cake easier, you use a package of instant pistachio pudding mix. The pudding bakes in the bottom of the cake, but then you flip the cake over so it becomes a delicious gooey topping.
- Toppings: The cake is finished with a cup pistachio nuts, white baking chips, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Along with the different layers in the cake, all the separate flavors come together for one indulgent, amazing cake.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Slow Cooker: You’ll need a 5-6 quart slow cooker to make this cake recipe. You don’t want it to be bigger or the cake will be very thin.
- Baking Bag: A baking bag, like the kind for roasting, keeps the cake from sticking so you can easily flip it over onto the plate. Plus there’s way less clean up!
- Stand Mixer: A stand mixer makes preparing the cake batter a breeze and whips lots of air into the wet ingredients for a softer, lighter cake. You could also use a hand mixer or mix it by hand if needed.
How to Make
Time needed: 4 hours and 30 minutes.
- Mix the Wet Ingredients
Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and milk to the butter mixture and beat until smooth.
- Combine the Cake Batter
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture to the bowl, mixing until just combined. Set aside.
- Prepare the Pudding
Add the box pistachio instant pudding and milk to another mixing bowl and whisk for 2 minutes until creamy. Let it set for 5 minutes.
- Layer the Cake Batter
Line the inside of the slow cooker insert with a baking bag. Pour the pudding mixture into the bottom and use a spatula to even it out. Carefully add the bake batter over the pudding and smooth out the top.
- Cook the Cake
Sprinkle the cherry pieces over the top of the cake batter. Cover and cook the cake on low heat for 4 hours, until the edges are golden brown. Remove the insert and cool on the stove top for 10 minutes.
- Flip the Cake
Place the insert on a baking sheet then place your serving platter or second baking sheet over the top. Holding the plate firmly to the top, carefully flip everything over so the plate is on the bottom.
- Add the Toppings
Gently remove the baking bag, carefully because everything will be very hot. Sprinkle the white chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips around the top and then add the pistachios. Serve warm with ice cream.
Can this be made ahead of time?
You can definitely make the layers of this cake separately in advance but you will want to cook it once it’s assembled because you don’t want to refrigerate the slow cooker insert. You can make the pudding a day or two ahead of time and the cake batter will stay good overnight.
Nutritional Facts
Slow Cooker Spumoni Cake Tips
- Add More Delicious Toppings
If you want to frost your Spumoni Cake, let it cool completely then add a layer of Cream Cheese Frosting or other favorite frosting before adding the chocolate chips and nuts. You could also drizzle your cake with Salted Caramel Sauce after you add the toppings.
- Use a Kitchen Towel
To keep your cake from getting too moist, you can lay a clean linen kitchen towel over the top before adding the lid. This will catch the excess moisture for a less gooey cake.
How to Serve
Once your Slow Cooker Spumoni Cake is finished baking, you invert the cake to see every layer when presenting it. You could also just scoop the baked cake from the slow cooker and top with the chocolate chips and pistachios to serve. No matter how you want to present your cake, a scoop of cool Vanilla Ice Cream or Whipped Cream is delicious with this Slow Cooker Spumoni Cake.
How to Store
Store: Once your Slow Cooker Spumoni Cake is cooled, transfer to an airtight container. You can keep it at room temperature for up to 3 days and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Reheat: Bring it to room temperature before serving leftovers if you have chilled them. If you prefer it all warm and gooey, pop it in the oven or microwave to heat it back up.
Freeze: Cool Slow Cooker Spumoni Cake completely and place in a sealed container. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw overnight before warming to serve.
Frequent Questions
Spumoni is a classic Italian gelato dessert that layers three different flavors of ice cream or gelato in a mold with fruit and nuts between the layers. The traditional flavors are cherry, chocolate and pistachio ice cream with pistachios and cherries between the layers. The molded ice cream is then cut and served in slices.
You can replace the cake mix with a box of vanilla cake mix but it’s worth making homemade if you have just a few extra minutes and the ingredients. If you do want to use cake mix, use yellow cake or vanilla cake mix for a similar flavor.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup maraschino cherries , patted dry and chopped
Pistachio Pudding:
- 3.4 ounces instant pistachio pudding mix
- 3 cups whole milk
Toppings:
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup shelled pistachios , chopped
Instructions
Vanilla Cake:
- To a stand mixer add the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Add in eggs, vanilla and milk until smooth.
- Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and add it to the stand mixer on the lowest speed setting until just combined.
Pistachio Pudding:
- Whisk pudding mix and milk together for 2 minutes until creamy.
- Let sit for 5 minutes.
To Cook:
- Line a round 5 quart slow cooker with baking bag.
- Add the pistachio pudding in an even layer.
- Top with vanilla cake batter and sprinkle cherries over the top.
- Cook on low for 4 hours until cake is cooked through and edges are browning.
- Remove the slow cooker insert and place on stovetop to let cool for 10 minutes.
- Remove insert from slow cooker and place onto baking sheet.
- Place second baking sheet or serving tray upside down over it.
- Flip carefully and remove baking bag carefully (it will be hot!).
- Top with white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips and pistachios.
Nutrition
Want to save this recipe? Create a free account to easily save your favorite recipes
Variations
Chocolate Chips: Fold in chocolate chips to your cake batter for more chocolatey flavor. You can also add cherry baking chips, butterscotch chips, or peanut butter chips to the batter. Swap out the semi-sweet chocolate chips with dark chocolate chips for more intense flavor.
Nuts: Instead of pistachios, you can add slivered almonds, chopped pecans, cashews, or macadamia nuts. Toast the pistachios or other nuts to bring more nutty flavor.
Boxed Cake Mix: You can replace the dry cake mix ingredients with a boxed cake mix. Keep all the wet ingredients the same so it’s extra rich and flavorful. Swap out the vanilla cake mix with white cake mix, chocolate cake mix, or another flavor you like.
Related Recipes
More Amazing Slow Cooker Desserts
