Readers, I’m getting more experimental these days with
sponge cakes. I’ve realised that
birthday or celebration cakes can be more exciting than a standard Victoria
Sponge. Don’t get me wrong, there’s
nothing wrong with a classic cake every so often, however, sometimes just
adding a couple of extra ingredients puts a whole new dimension on a sponge
cake.
I was challenged to make something for a person who
absolutely doesn’t like chocolate cake (or anything chocolate related… really,
those people exist??!) but they love citrus cake. I didn’t want to make a
standard lemon drizzle, so decided to experiment with orange and cardamom.
The cardamom gives amazing nutty and spiced undertones to
the cake whilst the orange juice and zest make it light, fresh tasting and
airy.
This recipe is easily adaptable from a classic sponge cake aaaaannndddd... I'm also entering it into #recipeoftheweek over at A Mummy Too
Orange
and Cardamom Celebration Sponge Cake
Ingredients
200g self raising flour
200g unsalted butter (softened)
200g caster sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
4 medium eggs
Zest of 1 large navel orange (finely grated)
Juice of 1 large navel orange
1 heaped teaspoon ground cardamom
Cake Filling and Decoration
200g butter
300g Icing Sugar
2 heaped dessert spoons orange marmalade with champagne
Method
- Grease and line 2 x 8in cake pans. Preheat the oven to 190c/Fan 170c/Gas 5.
- Cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Grate
in the zest of one large navel orange and mix to combine.
Note the orange colour once the zest has been added - Add in the eggs one by one, and fully stir in each egg with a teaspoonful of flour to prevent curdling, before adding in the next egg.
- Add
in the cardamom and mix to combine.
Adding in the ground cardamom - Once mixed, sift in the baking powder and self raising flour and mix until a cake batter is created.
- Juice one large orange and add the juice to your cake batter, stir to combine.
- Equally split the batter between the two cake pans and smooth out the top with a spatula.
- Transfer to the oven (same shelf) and bake for around 20 minutes until golden on top and a metal skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- Remove
from the oven, transfer to a cooling rack and cool in tins for a few
minutes, before removing from the tins and cooling fully on the cooling rack.
Fresh from the oven - While cakes are cooling begin prepping the frosting for the filling, top and edges.
- Soften
the butter using an electric mixer and when smooth, add in the orange
drizzle icing bit by bit until combined. Then, add in the plain icing
sugar and mix until fully combined and smooth, to a consistency which can
be spread with a pallet knife.
Smooth consistency of buttercream - Add in orange food colouring bit by bit, and mix until your buttercream frosting reaches the desired colour.
- Once
cakes are cooled, spread some of the frosting over half of the one of the
cakes and then top with the orange marmalade with champagne. Sandwich the two cakes together.
Top with the second cake to finish the sandwich - Decorate the top and sides with the frosting, to cover the entire cake and finish with additional décor as required.
- Refrigerate
on completion to firm up the decoration then store in an airtight
container for 2-3 days.
The finished cake before cutting
That looks sooo good and the flavours sound amazing. Not something I would ever have though of but really fancy trying!
ReplyDeleteHi Jacqui! It's a new flavour combo for me, but the troops at work loved it. Cake was gone in 10 minutes!
DeleteInteresting choice of flavours! Mel #RecipeoftheWeek
ReplyDeleteThanks! Wasn't sure how it would turn out, but everyone loved it. Really zesty and light.
DeleteThis looks so scrumptious! I bet it tasted great too! #recipeoftheweek
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. It's easy to adapt from a standard Victoria Sponge. #recipeoftheweek
DeleteOoh lovely! I'm always looking for cake variations and this looks like a good one, especially as we've got a friend's birthday coming up this week....
ReplyDelete#Recipeoftheweek
Hi Sophie - let me know how you get on. Fingers crossed it works ok for you. Any questions, just get in touch!
ReplyDeleteLove citrus too and interested in how it works with cardamom, looks lovely and though I've never been very successful with sponge cakes would love to give it a try. #RecipeoftheWeek.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah. It seems it's quite an unusual combination, but my tasters loved it. The secret is an easy to follow recipe and a steady oven temperature, I find!
DeleteThis sounds intriguing. I don't generally use cardamom but it sounds a lovely variation.
ReplyDelete#RecipeoftheWeek
Kate, it's definitely worth a try. Could probably make cupcakes out of the recipe too! Thanks for your comment.
Delete