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.
Enjoy the read!
Rebecca
January 20, 2010 at 12:57 pm (14 years ago)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
January 20, 2010 at 1:31 pm (14 years ago)Thanks so much for sharing the technique for the candied oranges with us. The cake is gorgeous.
lostpastremembered
January 20, 2010 at 2:40 pm (14 years ago)I just happen to have blood oranges asking to be used… on top of this cake… love the candied oranges!
kimberleyblue
January 20, 2010 at 4:33 pm (14 years ago)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.
My Carolina Kitchen
January 20, 2010 at 6:16 pm (14 years ago)These are gorgeous cakes and so are the photos.
Sam
Deborah
January 20, 2010 at 11:11 pm (14 years ago)What a gorgeous cake. I’m definitely saving this recipe!
Patricia Scarpin
January 21, 2010 at 8:18 am (14 years ago)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
January 21, 2010 at 9:03 am (14 years ago)how pretty with the slices on top!
Deeba PAB
January 21, 2010 at 10:53 am (14 years ago)Just gorgeous. I absolutely adore citrus in bakes,and am trying to post one at the moent. This is beautiful!
modcom
January 21, 2010 at 10:58 am (14 years ago)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
January 21, 2010 at 11:05 am (14 years ago)ooh…it must smells heavenly. Gorgeous cake and I love your candied orange – very pretty. I made a orange-coconut version. 🙂
lisa @ dandysugar
January 21, 2010 at 1:35 pm (14 years ago)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!
Junglefrog
January 21, 2010 at 2:37 pm (14 years ago)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
January 21, 2010 at 4:48 pm (14 years ago)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
January 21, 2010 at 7:14 pm (14 years ago)Oh my goodness that is just STUNNING. I am putting this on my must make list immediately!
Memória
January 21, 2010 at 8:15 pm (14 years ago)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
January 21, 2010 at 8:35 pm (14 years ago)wow, wow, and wow again. i’m such a fan of citrusy cakes…but yours takes the blue ribbon! gorgeous.
Agnieszka
January 22, 2010 at 11:43 am (14 years ago)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.
betchacanteatjustone
January 22, 2010 at 11:57 am (14 years ago)mmm candied oranges! This looks delicious!
Mini Baker
January 22, 2010 at 3:13 pm (14 years ago)what a refreshing cake! And perfect for tea on a rainy day!
Barbara
January 22, 2010 at 8:09 pm (14 years ago)A beautiful, sunshiny cake! I love the candied oranges on top. Do you have to remove them before cutting?
Chocolate Shavings
January 22, 2010 at 11:56 pm (14 years ago)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!
The Gypsy Chef
January 23, 2010 at 8:48 pm (14 years ago)I love candied oranges and this recipe looks outstanding! Can’t wait to try it!
Pam
zested
January 23, 2010 at 11:32 pm (14 years ago)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
January 23, 2010 at 11:54 pm (14 years ago)This is stunning! I’ll bet it would be as delicious done up in lemon. So glad I found your blog!
Chocolate Shavings
January 24, 2010 at 1:09 am (14 years ago)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
January 24, 2010 at 4:18 am (14 years ago)What is the correct conversion from grams to cups?
Carsten
January 24, 2010 at 2:39 pm (14 years ago)Hi, I didn’t know how to contact you so I left a comment here. I like to invite you to http://www.tasteandshare.com, a food & wine social network, where you can share photos, videos and a link to your own blog.
Katie @ Cozydelicious
January 24, 2010 at 4:44 pm (14 years ago)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?
Vanillastrawberryspringfields
January 25, 2010 at 5:04 pm (14 years ago)What a marvelous recipe and a truly wonderful blog…
bjs e boa semana.
Christine
January 26, 2010 at 12:36 pm (14 years ago)Your cake looks so good, I’m drooling!
tasteofbeirut
January 27, 2010 at 6:08 am (14 years ago)Beautiful cake and orange and cake go so well together!
Tara
January 28, 2010 at 12:31 am (14 years ago)Oh wow- this looks soooo good!
CookiePie
January 28, 2010 at 5:35 pm (14 years ago)Ooooh – that is gorgeous! Such a perfect winter dessert.
Amanda
January 29, 2010 at 12:10 pm (14 years ago)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!
thecookieshopinenglish
January 29, 2010 at 3:09 pm (14 years ago)Beautiful cake!
Ellie
January 31, 2010 at 4:49 am (14 years ago)This cake looks amazing! I love a good orange cake and will definitely try your recipe.
El
January 31, 2010 at 11:51 pm (14 years ago)I love the look of this cake and especially love the addition of candied oranges. Gorgeous!
Lori
February 1, 2010 at 9:17 am (14 years ago)I love these kind of tea cakes and the oranges make it that much better! Very pretty.
Megan Gordon
February 4, 2010 at 8:19 pm (14 years ago)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
February 4, 2010 at 9:08 pm (14 years ago)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!
danazia
February 5, 2010 at 2:37 am (14 years ago)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!
Anna
February 10, 2010 at 11:35 pm (14 years ago)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
February 17, 2010 at 2:20 pm (14 years ago)This is just lovely! Beautiful photos on your site.
mike
April 20, 2010 at 12:09 pm (14 years ago)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
April 20, 2010 at 1:03 pm (14 years ago)mike: I’m glad you are your friends enjoyed the orange cake – it’s an easy and tasty dessert isn’t it?
almond
June 15, 2010 at 11:55 am (14 years ago)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
August 12, 2010 at 9:59 am (14 years ago)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!