Watermelon, Cantaloupe & Honeydew Melon Cake ft. Mojito Frosting + Melon Balls
I truly love fall and am excited for upcoming seasonal cakes, but here is one last shout-out to summer. You can thank our local grocery store for having melons on sale that were so delicious and juicy that I had no choice but to convert them into cakes.
I had made a watermelon mojito cake for my mom's birthday this summer so I built upon this by adding in some cantalopue and honeydew as well. I used a melon baller and ice cream scoop to de-seed and divide up each melon before using a blender to puree each. You will only end up needing 1/3 cup of each for the cake batter, so go ahead and use the rest of the puree in a big ol' end-of-summer smoothie (or, mojito).
In theory you could blend all three melons together but the colors, though beautiful on their own, would actually combine to make a dirty dishwater gray-brown. So I chose to keep the three flavors and colors separate throughout the process - this way, you can bake three separate cakes or layer the batters into one pan (as I did).
This cake turns out fluffy like angel food cake, though the final flavors and colors are more subtle than strong. So I added food coloring to the cake batters for more vivid colors and you can garnish the final cake with fresh melon balls for visual and edible pops of color.
watermelon, cantaloupe & honeydew melon cakes
1 box white cake mix
4 egg whites
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. ea / watermelon, cantaloupe & honeydew melon puree
1 tbsp. mint syrup (see below)
food coloring (optional)
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease pan with butter or a non-stick spray like PAM. Cut up each type of melon into small chunks, blend each separately to puree until smooth, and set aside.
Separate egg yolks and whites, and beat egg whites in a large mixing bowl first on low speed and then on high until foamy. Beat in vegetable oil. Slowly add in cake mix, beating well after each addition until mixture becomes thick like a meringue.
Divide this batter into thirds and spoon each portion into the three bowls of melon puree. Beat each of these separately at high speed for three flavored batters and add in food coloring for bolder colors. You can either bake these as three separate cakes to be layered together or you can pour each layer of batter into one pan - like I did - for a tie-dye effect.
Fill pans 2/3 of the way full and bake according to the times on the back of the mix box, depending on the types of pans you are using.
mojito frosting
1/2 c. butter
4 c. confectioners sugar
2 tbsp. mint syrup (see below)
4 tbsp. rum
1 tbsp. lime juice
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In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, rum, and mint syrup until blended. Slowly add in sugar and continue to mix on high until frosting forms.
mint syrup
mint leaves
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
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In a small saucepan on the stovetop, mix water and sugar over low heat for 1 minute, then add in mint leaves. Stir for 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves and a syrup forms (you won't end up using the mint leaves but they will flavor the syrup for the frosting).
