Sunday, August 18, 2019

Orange Yoghurt Cake, Simply Sweet



Do you feel like whipping up a delicious cake for afternoon tea today, after all it is Sunday. I always feel that if there is any day you can justify indulging in morning or afternoon tea with cake, it's today. This is a traditional kind of cake, but with the addition of yoghurt and beaten egg whites, and topped off with delicious orange flavoured icing and grated orange zest. With all of the citrus around, and oranges in my fruit bowl, my choice of cake had to be orange. The yoghurt and egg whites give this cake a very light but firm texture and it will keep fresh in your cake tin for a few days, if you can hide it that is. In my house, cake never lasts long, but it's really nice to know it is there to offer our friends who might just call in for a cuppa.




I know I just said that Sunday is a perfect day for cake for afternoon tea, however I made this cake for last Tuesday afternoon when our weekly Mahjong "tournament" was being held at my place. We take turns in each others homes. So Chris, Marj, Jill, and Lou all arrived for Mahjong, we played a couple of games and then Mr. HRK my resident barista did his thing and made us all perfect flat white espresso coffees, with a little coffee art added as well, which went beautifully with the orange cake. Nobody wants tea when he makes coffee. Neil roasts the imported coffee beans himself at least once every week, and then using our Rancilio coffee machine, he  makes a very nice coffee. However he does say that it is really the Italian Coffee Grinder that makes the difference. I am very lucky, as each morning I am treated to a great coffee here at home. We rarely go out just for coffee here in Mackay, unless I occasionally meet a friend for a catchup. It certainly saves a lot of money and honestly I think that there are a lot of coffee shops around now serving very average coffee. Do you go out for coffee much my friends, or do you prefer to have it at home as well?




Orange Cake recipe

Ingredients:

125 g butter
1 good tablespoon grated orange rind
1 cup castor sugar
3 eggs, separated
2 cups self raising flour
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup plain yoghurt

ORANGE ICING

1 1/2 cups icing sugar
30g softened butter
2 tablespoons orange juice, or a little more if needed

 Let's cook:

Grease a 14cm x 21cm loaf pan, line the base and the sides with baking paper. Grease the paper well.

Cream the butter, the orange rind and the sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. ( I have a small portable mixer just for this kind of job. My kitchen aid bowl is too large to mix this quantity. )

Beat in the egg yolks one at a time.

Meanwhile mix together the orange juice and the yoghurt in a separate small bowl.

Transfer the butter, sugar and egg mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in by hand half the sifted flour and half the orange juice and yoghurt which you have mixed together. Stir in the remaining flour and yoghurt mixture.

Beat the egg whites in a clean and dry small bowl until soft peaks form. This won't take long at all at a high speed. Fold lightly into the cake mixture in two lots.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin.

Bake in a slow oven (150 deg. C.) or (300 deg F.) for 75 minutes, and test it with a skewer to see if it is cooked.

Stand for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool. Spread the cold cake with icing.




Orange icing:

Combine the sifted icing sugar and butter in a medium sized bowl. Stir in enough juice to mix the icing to a spreadable consistency. If it is too moist, add a little more icing sugar until it is a spreadable consistency. Remember the cake must be cold before you spread the icing onto it or it will all slide off.





Have a great Sunday wherever you are.

Best wishes,

Pauline

xxx








12 comments:

  1. That cake looks delicious, Pauline. Normally at this time of year I make a whole orange cake but haven't done that so far. The problem is that I eat too much of it when I do make a cake so it's best not to be tempted I guess.

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    1. Thanks Chel, yes I only make one now when visitors are coming to help us eat it, or I end up giving some of it away as well. It is such a treat though isn't it?

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  2. this does indeed look very delish pauline. i love citrus-y flavours, so this would be a winner for me. i have to say i love a bit of cake with my icing so i might have to double it:-) cheers S

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  3. Yum
    I am making my first batch of yoghurt today. I might make this cake once it is ready. Thank you.

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    1. Thanks Bernie. I'm sure this cake will be especially delicious using homemade yoghurt. I must make some as well:)

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  4. This is my kind of cake! I have only ever played Mahjong on the computer and would be clueless as how to play it with friends :)

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    1. Thanks Tandy. It is such a great game and quite different to the game played on the computer. We don't score or bet so it is quite social but we are still quite competitive and have a lot of fun. If you get a chance to join a Mahjong group you should, I'm sure you would enjoy it.

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  5. I have so many oranges and not much else in the fruit bowl and this sounds delicious! :D

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    1. Thanks lovely, this is easy. Citrus is what it's all about at the moment, but when they're gone, they're really gone and become expensive.

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  6. Hi Pauline i am going to make this one tomorrow,thankyou for sharing your wonderful recipes xx

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    1. Thanks so much my new blogging friend. I just know you will enjoy this cake, perfect for the weekend.

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