Orange Cake

Whenever I see citrus fruits, I just think about using them up in my cooking: as a fresh ingredients or a cooked one. The reason is nothing but citrus fruits are very refreshing. Hope you will agree that even a simple lemon juice with a dash of salt is a way of rejuvenation when you are exhausted. If you are apprehensive about using salt in lemon juice, i would say it is highly recommended. This comes from my days in the NCC when salted and sugared lemon juice was served during breaks. 

The idea of an orange cake has been in my mind for quite some time. Somehow the addition of the whole orange peel kept me thinking whether i should try this or not. Finally, I stumbled upon an orange extract recently. I knew I cant buy it just for a one time use. So i thought about preparing orange soufflé, orange cupcakes, orange muffins and of course an orange cake to use the whole thing up. And then I dint buy the orange extract. An orange extract is not actually needed for the cake. Fresh orange is used to bring out the flavor. 

the recipe

Orange - 2

Flour - 3/4 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Egg - 2

Caster sugar - 1/2 cup

Oil - 1/2 cup

Milk - 5 tbsp

Vanilla extract - 3/4 tsp

to prepare the pan

Butter - 2 tsp

Flour - 1 tsp

the method

Chop the one orange into tiny pieces along with the peel. Deseed the orange as you cut it. This can be done by cutting the orange into half horizontally and then cutting through the segments. Keep it aside.

Prepare a cake pan by greasing it with butter and then by sprinkling flour. Dust off excess flour. I used a bundt pan 'coz the cake mixture is moist

Sift the flour and baking powder three times. 

Preheat the oven at 180 C for 5 minutes.

In a bowl, beat the eggs one by one at minimum speed. Add the sugar 1 tbsp at a time and run the electric beater in swirls. When all the sugar is added turn to high speed and beat the egg and sugar mix until it has doubled in volume. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. Pour the oil and beat till thoroughly incorporated. (I use a spatula to mix flour). Keep aside 1/4 of the flour. Add the remaining flour in batches alternatively with tablespoons of milk starting and ending with flour.

Mix the chopped orange with 1/4 of the flour (this is to make sure that the orange doesn't get collected at the bottom of the pan). Add to the cake mix, mix well. Pour it into the prepared pan and bake at 180 C for 35 - 40 minutes. Check whether a skewer or knife comes out clean. Take the cake out of the pan after ten minutes or when the cake has partially cooled. Pour juice from one orange on top of the cake. 

afterthoughts:

If you feel the top of the cake is getting overly browned / burnt cover the cake pan with parchment paper after the first 12-15 minutes of baking.

I have used a whole orange in this cake - peel on.....kids may be fussy about eating the peel....the peel can be substituted with rind from one orange.