A classic winter favourite! Orange and Lemon joins their flavour-forces in this light and fresh citrus cake. A perfectly soft cake crumb with a rich cream cheese icing, tanged up with a smooth lemon curd. She’s perfect for tea time.
INGREDIENTS
CAKE 1 ¼ cup castor sugar 1 orange, zest (± 1 tbsp) 4 eggs, separated ½ cup oil ¾ cup orange juice (± 2 oranges) 1 tbsp vanilla essence 2 cups cake flour 4 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt 1 tsp cream of tartar LEMON CURD (Tip 1) 2 egg yolks 1/3 cup castor sugar ½ tsp maizena (corn flour) ¼ cup lemon juice (± 1 lemon) 2 tbsp butter (30g) CREAM CHEESE ICING 125g butter, softened 200g icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla essence Pinch of salt 1 tub (230g) cream cheese
METHOD
CAKE 1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC and place the oven rack in the middle. 2. Prepare a bunt cake tin with enough non-stick spray (Tip 2). 3. In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and orange zest. Mix with a mixer to “infuse” the sugar. 4. Separate the eggs and set the egg whites aside. 5. Add the egg yolks, one by one, to the sugar and whisk well after each addition. 6. Add the oil to the sugar and egg mixture. Whisk until light and fluffy. 7. Add the orange juice and vanilla to your mixture and whisk until well combined. 8. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt over the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. 9. In a separate glass bowl, with a clean mixer, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the cake mix until well combined. 10. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes (Tip 3). 11. Allow the cake to rest for 10 minutes before demoulding onto a cooling rack. LEMON CURD 1. Add the egg yolks to a small saucepan and whisk with a hand whisk. 2. Add the castor sugar and maizena to the egg yolks and whisk until a smooth paste forms. 3. Slowly add the lemon juice and whisk until well combined. 4. Place the saucepan over your stovetop and cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the mixture thickens (8-10 minutes). 5. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the butter. Mix until smooth and glossy. 6. Pour the curd into a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap, directly onto the lemon curd (Tip 4). 7. Allow the curd to cool down. Once the cake is cooled down and iced, place spoonful’s over the icing and decorate as desired. This curd adds so much texture and flavour to the cake. CREAM CHEESE ICING 1. In a medium bowl, whisk the butter until light and fluffy. 2. Add the icing sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until well combined. 3. Add the vanilla, salt and cream cheese and mix until smooth. 4. Decorate the cooled cake with your icing and top with lemon curd.
TIPS 1. You are more than welcome to use store bought lemon curd. However, this recipe is so easy and you can really taste the difference! 2. You can also use two small cake tins (18-20cm) or any baking dish. 3. The cake tester should have some moist crumbs on when testing the cake. When the cake tester comes out clean, the cake is most probably over baked. 4. The plastic wrap should touch the lemon curd, this prevents a dry layer to form on top. The same trick works with any custard.