Soft Fluffy Orange Cake

I have been making orange cakes several times and this recipe is by far the best and the most satisfying one.

I whipped this cake when we had our sibling get-together session on the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri.  We have not been meeting each other for almost three months. Since the meet up was arranged during tea time at mom's house, I was thinking that perhaps a simple homemade cake would just go perfect with a cup of hot coffee.

Coincidentally, I stumbled upon this amazing recipe on Google+ while waiting for my sister's call.  I could not exactly recall what attracted me to this recipe but all I knew, this could be THE  recipe I was looking for and before I could say anything further, I was already in the kitchen whipping my magic.

Thankfully, everything turned out well and I was absolutely pleased with the results.  The cake rose and baked beautifully in the oven.  For the first time ever, in my baking history - No domed shape!  No cracked top!  No over-burned top!  What came out was - a soft, moist and fluffy little sweet treat, all ready to wow me and the entire family.

True enough, the cake was a winner that afternoon.  In fact, it's always a bliss to eat a cake while it's still warm, soft and fluffy.  That could be the reason everyone was going around ooh and ahh and subsequently complementing me and my wife.  Wait a minute, my WIFE?  What has she got to do with the cake?  Actually, what they meant was....."you are damn lucky to have such an amazing husband."  LOL!  Well, to me it was THE RECIPE that made me so-called AMAZING, okay!  I - JUST - FOLLOW! 

So, my dear friends, if you wanna be as AMAZING as I am, then FOLLOW the recipe below....(hehehe!)


The Recipe:
(adapted from Monica of  Lick The Bowl Good)

Note : For this recipe, I have reduced the amount of sugar both in the cake and in the orange glaze.  I find the sugar used in the orange glaze was a little crazy.

Cake:

• 1 cup (2 sticks/about 230g) unsalted butter, room temp.
• 1 cup granulated sugar (I reduced to 3/4 cup)
• 4 eggs, room temp.
• 1 1/2 tsp. grated orange zest
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 7 Tbsp. fresh squeezed orange juice

Glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar (I reduced to 1 cup)
• 3 Tbsp. fresh squeezed orange juice
• 1 tsp orange zest

The Method:

1. Heat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. 
2. Then butter the paper and set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar well, until it is very pale and thick - this will take quite a while.
4. Add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition, then add the zest. Add the flour, baking powder and salt all at once, and beat well, then slowly add the orange juice until it is incorporated.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, and bake for 35-40 minutes - or until an inserted skewer comes out clean (slow is best, so don' t be afraid to cook it longer. If it starts to brown too much on the top, cover loosely with a sheet of buttered foil.)
6. Allow cake to cool in pan for 15-20 minutes on a wire rack. Then invert onto a plate, remove the parchment paper and allow to cool completely before glazing.
7. To make the icing, stir the orange juice into the icing sugar until you have the right spreading consistency. 
8. Pour the icing onto the cake and spread with a spatula or butter knife, allowing the icing to drip down the sides of the cake.
9. Leave the icing to set before cutting the cake into wedges or storing in an airtight container.

NOTE (from Monica) : I thought the glaze was rather sweet and needed more orange flavor so I suggest adding some grated orange zest to the glaze for more intense flavor.

Raisin-Almond-Orange Streusel Cake

This is my first time baking a streusel cake.  Obviously, the word itself was so alien to me when I first heard it.  It sounded so English that I thought it was some kind of a candy or even a name of a branded shoe. Or could it a type of gardening tool or some dog breed? Oh my God! There goes my apish ignorance!

I bet that most of us have eaten a streusel or at a very least seen it before but not knowing what it is called.  After some read-ups, I came to know that basically streusel is a crumblike topping for coffee cakes and rich breads, consisting of flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon, and sometimes chopped nutmeats.  Streusel is indeed a German word which means 'something scattered or sprinkled'.  True enough, this sugary crumbs are generously scattered on top of the cake giving the whole cake a tinge of sweetness.  If you have weakness for butter, then this little something will without fail pamper your taste buds to the max. 

Surprisingly, my son who normally has no craving for cakes sort of like this bake a lot.  Personally, I find this cake so-so as I do not like the sourish zing from the raisins.  Probably, I have over-soaked the raisins causing it to lose its sweetness.  The only thing that has made up for the flaw is the streusel topping.  The buttery and sugary crunch from the topping is simply satisfying and indeed completes everything. 

This cake will be perfect to go with a cuppa hot coffee on a hot afternoon in a private garden enjoyed together with a bunch of close friends or family members.  Aaahhh.....heavenly! 

For those who want to give this dessert a shot, here's the secret......

The Recipe

A) Batter
     55g unsalted butter, at room temperature
     100g brown sugar (1/2 cup)
     1 large egg, at room temperature
     125g all-purpose flour (1 cup)
     1/8 teaspoon salt
     1 tsp baking powder
     1/2 cup orange juice
     1/2 cup raisins, soaked and drained
     small handful almond flakes


B) Streusel
      60g all-purpose flour (1/2 cup)
      55g cold, unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces
      55g caster sugar (1/4 cup)

Method:

Preheat your oven at 175C degrees and butter a 8-inch square pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir to blend. 

In another, larger bowl, beat the sugar and butter together until they become creamy and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat well. 

Add half of the flour mix into the egg-butter-sugar mix, bit well, then add half the orange juice and beat again.

Do the same with the remaining half flour mix and orange juice (and zest if you are using it). Beat the mixture until it is smooth. Stir in the raisins. Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan.

Make the Streusel

In a small bowl combine the flour, sugar, butter pieces and mix it with your fingers until it becomes crumbly.

Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the pan and stud with the almond flakes. 

Bake the cake for 20-30 minutes or until it is golden brown. Test with a toothpick to see if it is ready, if the toothpick comes out clean it is ready. 

Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then unmold and serve warm or at room temperature.


Enjoy!!