I had been craving an orange cake for a long time, I don't know if it stemmed from seeing Jacques Faussat's orange cake on instagram or from talking to my best friend Julia about a mandarin cake she had made recently... but I was really craving it and decided to research orange cakes. One of my greatest frustrations with lemon cake is that the cake rarely tastes of lemon, the taste is usually in the icing, so I was determined to make an orange cake that tasted of orange without relying on any icing. I was instantly drawn to Jacques Faussats cake, it does come from a Michelin starred chef after all - but the cake required a 10inch bundt pan which I sadly lacked so I decided to keep looking - and I stumbled across this super easy recipe where you blend 1 whole seedless sweet orange (skin included) with 3 eggs, 70ml of oil, and 100g of sugar - and then mix in 250g of self raising flour - and then put it into a greased and lined 9x5inch loaf pan or an 8inch round pan and bake at 170C for 40 minutes. I made this cake and here a photo of it
The cake was a vibrant yellow with quite a heavy texture, it reminded me of pound cake which I am not fond of - but the taste was orange all day long! It reminded me slightly of marmalade which was to be expected as the cake is also made with the rind and the recipe did warn not to make it unless you like the bitter taste of oranges... it wasn't bitter per se, just marmalady.
Seeking a better texture I decided to give Faussat's cake a try, the recipe called for a 10inch bundt pan so I decided that the area of an 8inch pan was about the same and I would need to watch the cooking time like a hawk.
The cake came out wonderfully and I'll share the recipe below - I still prefer the taste of the other cake and I am working on a version that has the texture of Faussat's with the marmalady flavour of the other one so watch this space!
Ingredients
4 eggs
160g powdered sugar (plus 1tbs)
160g butter softened (plus more for the cake pan)
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
160g all purpose flour (plus more for the cake pan)
Zest and juice of 1 orange
Optional: 3tbs orange blossom water
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C - 355F.
Grease and flour an 8inch cake tin or a 10" bundt pan
separate the eggs, set aside the yolks, and whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
With a spoon or spatula mix the powdered sugar and the butter until soft and creamy. Stir in the egg yolks, orange zest, juice and orange blossom water.
Add the baking powder and flour and mix until just combined.
Fold in the whipped egg whites until the mixture is just combined. Transfer to the baking tin.
Bake for 35min if using the 8inch cake tin or 30 min if using the bundt pan - or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Once cool sprinkle with icing sugar and serve!
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