Week 5 (aka the real week 1...makeup): Orange Cake

 

This recipe has a story attached, as many recipes do.

It was Saturday night. Ryan and I were watching "Burn Notice" on CastTV.com (we don't have cable) (but at least we have CastTV and Hulu). I got the sudden urge to bake. But I didn't want to bake just anything--chocolate chip cookies or brownies or anything normal wouldn't do. I wanted to make something different. Ryan somehow came up with the idea of an orange cake (and he didn't even know we had oranges!). After a little searching, we found a ridiculously awesome looking recipe in our Betty Crocker Cookbook--the one printed in 1973. The recipes in 1973 were so much yummier than the recipes today because there is actually fat and calories (and a lot of it) in the recipes. Anyway, I made a quick trip to the store and got started on my first ever cake made from scratch. I didn't start it until 9:00 p.m., so we didn't get to eat any until about 10:30 or 11:00; but it was worth the wait. Here is the recipe:

2 eggs, separated

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 1/4 c. cake flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/3 c. vegetable oil

Juice of one orange + enough milk to make one cup

Grated peal of one orange

Heat oven to 350*. Grease and flour baking pans (2 round layer pans). In small mixer bowl, beat egg whites until foamy (My note: Don't throw away the yolks! You need them later). Beat in 1/2 cup of the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue beating until very stiff and glossy. Set meringue aside. (My note: You have to beat it for a long time! Don't worry if it is taking a while.)

Measure remaining sugar, the flour, baking powder, and salt into large mixer bowl. Add oil, orange juice + milk combo, and grated rind. Beat one minute on high speed, scraping bowl constantly. Add eggs yolks; beat 1 minute, scraping bowl occasionally. Fold in meringue. Pour into pan(s).

Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. (My note: my oven cooks very hot and fast, so it only took my cakes 23 minutes.) Split to make four layers. Fill layers with Orange filling (below). In chilled bowl, beat 1 cup chilled whipping cream until stiff. (My note: I definitely added powdered sugar and vanilla to my whipping cream--I like it sweet!) Frost side and top of cake.

Orange Filling:

Prepare 1 package (3 oz.) vanilla pudding and pie filling (My note: not instant pudding!) as directed on package except omit milk and add grated peel of 1 orange and juice of 1 orange plus enough water to measure 1 cup liquid. Cool. In chilled bowl, beat 1/2 c. chilled whipping cream until stiff. Fold in pudding.

My Review:

Oh. My. Goodness. Cake heaven. This cake was SO good. I think it is my favorite cake of all time and is definitely going to be my birthday cake this year. YUM. Ryan and I would have eaten it all on Saturday night, but decided that would be a bad plan so took it over to my parents' house to share on Sunday. YUM!!!

 

Go make an orange cake. You know you want to.