...- LUcidLUcent: ORANGE CAKE WITH CARAMELISED ORANGE

The first time I tried to bake an Orange Cake, I messed it up. Instead of beating the eggs with a beater/whisk, I used the mixie and the cake fell flat. L This was about 3 years ago and I hadn’t baked an orange cake since that disastrous episode.

The Cosmic Egg

I had many oranges at home and for my parents’ anniversary, I decided to bake them an Orange cake. This was a different recipe from the one I’d tried earlier. The earlier one had a stronger flavour of orange in it but this one was more moist and soft. (I suppose it’s because of the addition of buttermilk in this recipe)

Do your cakes crack on top when baking? It’s either due to the oven being over heated or excess leavening agent (baking powder or baking soda) in the batter. My cake cracked on top. (I might have added extra baking powder) Since this was a cake for an occasion, I couldn’t leave it with a cracked top. So, I decided to caramelise some oranges and place them on top. J

This cake is very, very light, airy and moist. It forms a lovely brown crust on top. You can see bits of the orange zest in the cake. The cake has a subtle hint of orange. The caramelised oranges are tender, juicy and sweet (the pith doesn’t taste bitter). You can have them with the peel. I’ve adapted the recipe for the caramelised oranges from Nigella’s recipes. I’ve retained the pith and the peel. Some of the other recipes also call for toasting these caramel soaked oranges in the oven but I skipped that step. As I was typing this post, I saw Rachel Allen’s recipe and she uses unsalted butter in her caramel mixture.

This cake will make your kitchen smell delicious.

ORANGE CAKE WITH CARAMELISED ORANGES

Ingredients:

For the cake

Flour- 1 ½ cups

Baking powder – ½ tsp

Baking soda- ¼ tsp

Salt- ½ tsp

Sugar- 1 cup

Eggs – 2

Buttermilk – 100 ml

Unsalted Butter - ½ cup

Zest of one orange ( 1 heaped tsp)

Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Orange juice – ½ cup

For the caramelised orange

Orange – 1

Sugar – ½ cup

Water – ¼ cup

Cinnamon – a pinch

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C.

2. Cream the butter with sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. To make the Buttermilk – Add 1 tbsp white vinegar or freshly squeezed lime juice to 100 ml milk and set aside for half an hour.

5. Add the buttermilk and vanilla extract and beat again. (The mixture will appear curdled. Do not worry)

6. Add the orange juice and zest.

7. Incorporate the dry ingredients into the batter and beat well. (The batter will now be thick and fall in ribbons )

8. Bake at 180C for 20 minutes or until done.

9. For the caramelised orange: Cut the orange into thin slices and keep aside with the juice.

10. To make the caramel, put sugar and water into a saucepan and swirl (not stir) a little to dissolve the sugar. Add a pinch of cinnamon powder.

11. Then slowly bring to a boil without stirring, until syrup becomes a dark amber colour.

12. Tip in the oranges (plus juice, if any) collected, into the caramel and coat the slices in the caramel and then quickly pour the contents on a flat plate.

13. Keep the plate in the fridge to chill.

14. After 10 minutes, place the orange slices on the cake and pour the liquid on the cake.