Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Orange-Infused Cake with Candied Oranges


I've been meaning to blog about this cake for quite a while, but, as a lot of good food, it seems that as soon as it comes out of the oven it's off to a friend's house or half finished before I have time to take my camera equipment out. I love this cake because it really does bring out the intense taste of oranges, inside and out. The secret to this cake is to pour an orange juice based syrup on the cake just as it comes out of the oven, so that the orange juice can make its way through the just-baked cake batter and infuse every inch of the cake with delicious, sweet, orangey goodness.

Making candied oranges is optional here but it's really a nice touch to finish off the cake. I would suggest trying to make them if you never have, because the results always look impressive and they're such a nice treat to have around the house. You can also use leftover slices and dip them in melted chocolate which really brings them over the top! They're easy to put together (although a little time consuming)and they really taste amazing. You can apply this method to all citrus - the key being to simmer the fruit slices in water 3 different times, discarding the water after each use. Citrus rind, because of its bitterness, needs to be boiled in this way in order for the end result to be nothing else but candied deliciousness!

Orange-Infused Cake with Candied Oranges

Serves 6-8 people

4 eggs
180 grams of butter at room temperature
150 grams of sugar
200 grams of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
A pinch of salt
Juice and zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Glaze
50 grams of confectioner's sugar
1 orange, juice and zest

Preheat your oven to 350F.
In a medium-sized bowl, add the egg yolks reserving the whites in a separate bowl. Add the sugar to the yolks and mix until homogeneous. Add the room temperature butter and beat using a mixer until creamy (about 3 minutes). Add the orange juice, zest and the vanilla extract and mix until just combined. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until the mixture is homogeneous.

Beat the egg whites (with a pinch of salt) to hard peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the flour mixture into the mixture is just combined. Pour the batter in a cake mold and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk the confectioner's sugar, orange juice and zest making sure there is are no lumps.

Once the cake is cooked, let cool for a couple minutes and un-mold on a cooling rack. Place an sheet of aluminum foil underneath the cooking rack. Using a spoon, pour the glaze over the cake, making sure to cover every surface of the cake. Fold the foil to recuperate the glaze the poured off of the cake and re-pour it on the cake. Adorn with the candied oranges and serve.

Candied Oranges

3 oranges
1 1/2 cups of sugar

Thinly slice the oranges. Fill a medium-sized pot with water. Once the water reaches a simmer, carefully add the orange slices. Blanch the orange slices for about 5 minutes, discard the water and blanch them again with a new pot of water. Repeat the process 3 times. Re-Fill the pot with 1 1/2 cups of water and 1 1/2 cups of sugar and place on medium heat. Once the sugar has completely dissolved into the water, add the orange slices and leave them to simmer in the syrup for 45 minutes. Using a flat spatula, turn the oranges a couple times during that time. Gently remove the oranges from the pot and place them on a wax paper lined cookie-sheet to dry out.

47 comments:

Rebecca said...

Picture perfect! I'm glad you were able to snap a picture of this one before it was sent to a friend's house! I just made some banana bread this morning and that is going to a friend as well. Giving baked goods as gifts is the best! Don't you think?!!

Mary Bergfeld said...

Thanks so much for sharing the technique for the candied oranges with us. The cake is gorgeous.

Deana Sidney said...

I just happen to have blood oranges asking to be used... on top of this cake... love the candied oranges!

kimberleyblue said...

So beautiful! I've never candied anything citrus, but now you've convinced me to give it a go.

I like how this is different from the usual lemon loaf. I love any citrus dessert, so I'll have to try this.

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

These are gorgeous cakes and so are the photos.
Sam

Deborah said...

What a gorgeous cake. I'm definitely saving this recipe!

Patricia Scarpin said...

I have made something similar with lemons, but after cooling the lemon slices turned out to be too tough and it was hard slicing the cake.

Your petit cakes are so pretty! And I love how they shine with the orange slices on top.

Justin said...

how pretty with the slices on top!

Deeba PAB said...

Just gorgeous. I absolutely adore citrus in bakes,and am trying to post one at the moent. This is beautiful!

modcom said...

What a sensational recipe. We're snowed under, so to speak, with tangerines in our home garden, and I devised a cake recipe this week to use some of them up. Bushels to go, though!

The Cooking Ninja said...

ooh...it must smells heavenly. Gorgeous cake and I love your candied orange - very pretty. I made a orange-coconut version. :)

Lisa said...

I love citrus cakes and the candied oranges look gorgeous on top. I've made lemon and lime cakes but have yet to do an orange. Thx for the wonderful recipe!

Simones Kitchen said...

I can see why this cake would disappear too fast for you to take a photo! How delicious does this look! Love the look of the candied oranges too.

Trissa said...

Beautiful cake! I would love to make candied oranges one day and you are right - it really does elevate your cake from special to elegant!

Teanna said...

Oh my goodness that is just STUNNING. I am putting this on my must make list immediately!

Memória said...

What a lovely, refreshing cake!!! I have candied pineapples, limes, and cherries but not oranges. I bet they taste amazing. I'm bookmarking this one.

my spatula said...

wow, wow, and wow again. i'm such a fan of citrusy cakes...but yours takes the blue ribbon! gorgeous.

Agnieszka said...

Beautiful photos and so yummy content! These candied oranges look so beautiful on the top of your cake! Here in Portugal we are in the middle of the citrus harvest season so I have to give your gorgeous recipe a try.

Anonymous said...

mmm candied oranges! This looks delicious!

Mini Baker said...

what a refreshing cake! And perfect for tea on a rainy day!

Barbara said...

A beautiful, sunshiny cake! I love the candied oranges on top. Do you have to remove them before cutting?

Chocolate Shavings said...

Barbara: No you don't - the oranges are very soft once they have been candied, so they can be sliced as easily as the cake!

Pam said...

I love candied oranges and this recipe looks outstanding! Can't wait to try it!
Pam

zested said...

Lovely cake. What happens if you don't blanch the oranges multiple times in different pots of water? Do they come out more bitter?

Julie said...

This is stunning! I'll bet it would be as delicious done up in lemon. So glad I found your blog!

Chocolate Shavings said...

Zested: You should make sure to change the water after every blanching to remove the bitterness in the orange's skin, otherwise your candied oranges will indeed taste bitter!

sbhdawn said...

What is the correct conversion from grams to cups?

Katie @ Cozydelicious said...

This looks like the perfect cake to bring to a friend! I love th candied oranges - they make it so beautiful. I'm going to make it today! But I'm trying to think of other things to do with candied oranges since I bet I'll have extra... I wonder if they'd be good chopped up in scones?

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

What a marvelous recipe and a truly wonderful blog...
bjs e boa semana.

Christine said...

Your cake looks so good, I'm drooling!

tasteofbeirut said...

Beautiful cake and orange and cake go so well together!

Tara Vorhes said...

Oh wow- this looks soooo good!

CookiePie said...

Ooooh - that is gorgeous! Such a perfect winter dessert.

Amanda said...

Gorgeous recipe! The glaze and orange slices are so simple and delicate but they add so much to the look of the cake. Love it!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful cake!

Anonymous said...

This cake looks amazing! I love a good orange cake and will definitely try your recipe.

El said...

I love the look of this cake and especially love the addition of candied oranges. Gorgeous!

Lori said...

I love these kind of tea cakes and the oranges make it that much better! Very pretty.

Megan Gordon said...

I know what you mean about not bothering/having time to break out the camera...sometimes seems like such a burden! This looks so lovely though. Excited to try the candied oranges out at home. Plus, citrus is a stand-by at this time of year...not a ton of fresh other options...

Sari @ Cook Your Dream said...

I'm not a big fan of candied oranges, I actually don't like a marmalade. However this cake looks delicious! :) Your photos make it looks divine!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, I am actually salivating by looking at this post! I could lick the screen and roll around in it a bit too! (I wonder if that counts as calories?) Thanks for the wonderful post!

Zsofi Anna said...

Infusions of orange + cake. What could be better, especially in the dark days of February?!

I know what you mean about missing photo ops--I do that all the time, too. :)

Eileen @ Passions to Pastry said...

This is just lovely! Beautiful photos on your site.

Michael said...

Wow! This is an amazing recipe! I tried baking this up 2 weeks ago for a friend's birthday and everybody loved it! They ask me for recipes and I gave them your link. It went really well with a cup of hot coffee made from my cuisinart coffee maker Great post!

Chocolate Shavings said...

mike: I'm glad you are your friends enjoyed the orange cake - it's an easy and tasty dessert isn't it?

almond said...

This is such an amazing swweet little thing, I made it while ago and was a success, easy to make and more enjoyable to eat!

Michael said...

Absolutely delicious recipe! I have made this last night and everyone loved it. The instructions are very easy to follow too. Hope I can post this in one of my espresso machine reviews as this went really well with a hot cup of coffee. Thanks!

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