Cake a L’orange

Friday July 10, 2009
Tokyo Midtown ABC Cooking Studio
Hot and Humid

After a grueling week at work due to an ulcer that acted up and feeling like I'm falling further behind in all my to-do's, it was time to escape again this week and bake a cake.  This week I made Cake a L'orange.   Its a very easy cake to make and because its flavored with orange, its summery and can be eaten for breakfast instead of a muffin.  

Here are the ingredients:

Orange Compote

• One orange (about 200 grams in size)
• a bit of salt
• 40 grams of sugar
• 80 cc of water
• 7.5 cc Grand Marnier

Cake

• 80 grams of egg (break the eggs and measure – about 1.5 eggs)
• 100 grams of sugar
• 40 grams of sour cream
• 90 grams of cake flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 30 grams unsalted butter
• few drops of vanilla essence

Apricot Glaze

• 40 grams of smooth apricot jam
• 20-40cc of water

How to Make:

• Orange Compote
  • Wash the orange well with the salt (must take the wax off before cooking)
  • Slice the orange carefully in 2-3mm widths
  • add to a small fry pan, sprinkle sugar and pour water over the sugar
  • Place cooking paper cut to fit the pan over the oranges
  • Heat on medium heat until just boiling
  • Lower heat and heat for 5 minutes.
  • Stop heat and let sit for 10 minutes
  • Carefully pat dry the slices of oranges very well.  Choose 2 or 3 perfect slices and place in bottom of cooking paper lined loaf pan (18x8x6cm)
  • Chop rest of orange into fine dice, pour grand marnier over, mix and set aside

Cooking the orange slices

Placing 2 perfect orange slices on the bottom of the loaf pan

Dice remaining oranges and mix with Grand Marnier.

• Making the Cake
  • In a large bowl add egg and all the sugar.  Beat at low speed until well mixed
  • Then continue beating on low speed over water warmed to 35-40C for 15 seconds only to allow air to get into the mixture
  • After 15 seconds, remove from water and continue beating at high speed until creamy
  • Add sour cream and beat on high speed the sour cream first and then blend
  • Beat at low speed to finish
  • Sift cake flour and baking soda together once onto a sheet of plastic wrap
  • Sift the flour/baking soda mixture again over the batter
  • Fold the batter until just blended
  • Fold the diced oranges in the batter until blended.
  • Pour at once into loaf pan
  • Tap loaf pan to remove air bubbles and to settle the dough
  • Bake at 180C electric oven for 35-40 min (170C, 35-40 min in Gas Oven)

This is what the batter should look like after folding the flour/baking soda mixture.

This is what the batter should look like after adding the diced oranges.

• While baking, make the Apricot Glaze:
  • Heat the jam and water on low heat until thick and syrupy.  Add the water little by little as you do not want the glaze to be watery

• Finishing the cake
  • Take cake out of oven, check the cake by piercing a toothpick through the cake.  If there is no wet batter, the cake is done
  • Remove the cake from pan carefully and place on side to cool
  • After it cools for about 10 minutes,  slice about 5cm of the top off so that the cake is steady when standing (the bottom of the cake is actually the top)
  • Generously glaze the top of the cake
  • Sprinkle with ground pistachios if you like

Let the cake cool on its side

Since the bottom of the cake is actually the top, you have to slice a small piece of the top off so that the cake can stand steadily.

With pastry brush, generously brush glaze on the top of the cake.  Decorate with crushed pistachios if you like.  Voila!  Cake a L'orange