Today, we’re talking oranges and orange-flavoured liqueurs (again). We seem to have a bit of an unplanned theme going on here! In my post about Orangecello earlier this year, I’d talked about using liqueurs to spruce up a cake or a pudding. Here’s a go at that from my end!
The Cointreau was, however, a bit of a wild-card entrant. I wasn’t sure if the pronounced boldness of the orange in the cake would complement the potent liqueur. I very hesitantly substituted the orange juice the recipe called for, with one small trickle at a time of Cointreau.. it just somehow worked itself out – the robustness of the base fully held up to this crystal-coated magic!
If you visit this blog on a regular basis you’ll know that I love citrus zest, and my experiments with using it in all things sweet and savoury have run amok. Ah, the flavour, colour, zinginess. A whole orange’s worth makes this cake all the more intense, which is perfectly grounded with the sweetness of the glaze. Are you ready to make your taste buds sing?
INGREDIENTS:
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse & Rachel Allen
All-purpose flour – 125 grams
Icing sugar – 70 grams
Unsalted butter – 100 grams
Baking powder – 1 tsp
2 eggs
A pinch of salt
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
Zest of 1 orange (only the outermost layer, avoiding the white pith underneath)
For the glaze:
Cointreau
Icing sugar – 75 grams
METHOD:
Pre-heat oven to 180°C and grease and line a baking pan.
Gently melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and orange zest for 2 minutes using an electric whisk. Whisking continuously, add the icing sugar a little bit at a time until well incorporated. Pour in the melted butter and vanilla, and mix through.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the egg mixture and gently fold together with a spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool to room temperature before you glaze.
Glaze:
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add a little trickle of Cointreau at a time to make a runny icing. Frost as desired.
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