Orange Cake~

Orange Cake~The Recipe

This cake is a take on the yogourt cake, using some orange elements instead of the traditional lemon, and substituting melted butter for the vegetable oil. I find that vegetable oil in cakes can sometimes result in a bit of a strange taste--butter instead, always makes cakes taste luscious! I reduced the overall amount of fat used though, so it wouldn't taste too heavy or greasy, and put in some other exciting ingredients instead! As you can see from the photo, the cake was amazingly moist and stayed that way for the few days we managed to keep it around. I believe this is due to the tenderizing effect of the yogourt.

Ingredients:

~1.5 cups unbleached all purpose flour

~2 tsp baking powder

~1/4 tsp salt

~1 cup plain (organic) whole-milk yogourt

~3/4 cups sugar

~3 large eggs

~1 tsp finely grated orange peel

~1/2 tsp vanilla extract

~1/4 cup butter, melted

~3 tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate, melted

~3 tbsp orange liquer

For the glaze:

~3-4 tbsp orange marmalade

~1-2 tsp water

1. Position rack in centre of oven, preheat to 350 degrees.

2. Generously butter an 8.5" x 4.5" loaf pan, and line the bottom with parchement paper.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.

4. Beat the eggs in a large bowl and add the yogourt, sugar, orange peel, vanilla, butter, orange juice concentrate and the orange liquer. Mix until well blended.

5. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet.

6. Transfer batter to the prepared pan and bake until a tester inserted comes out clean, about 50 minutes.

7. Cool loaf on rack for 5 minutes. Turn the cake onto the rack and let cool.

8. In a tiny pot, melt the marmalade with the water. Brush glaze onto loaf and allow to set.

9. Serve in large pieces--for breakfast, for dessert, for snack, in lunches, and any other time you can think of...

Happy orange winter friends!

PS: Antonio told me his mom just purchased 20kg of oranges for 8 Euros. Can you imagine? I couldn't even think where she would store them until I realized that the temperature in Sicily on the balcony wouldn't be cold enough for the oranges to freeze... What I wouldn't give for some really fresh local oranges right now...