Orange Cake

My dear readers! 

I'm back! First of all, I would like to explain my long absence on the blog. The reason for it is the fact that my daughter got married! Whilst this event evoked so many joyful and wonderful emotions in me and our whole family, it also involved a whole lot of preparation and organization, as all weddings do! The wedding was in France, and just to sum up: it was beautiful and very romantic!

But now all the wedding hassles are behind us, I can finally focus on my blog again!

Orange cake

I find that cakes and pastries with fresh oranges have a nice citric, fresh and juicy taste. This cake is well suited for birthday or dinner parties since it looks quite festive! But it doesn't take much effort and skills to prepare, as all the recipes that I share on this blog.

Ingredients (8 servings): 

For the base:
1/2 cup + 6 tbsp (200 g) butter, softened

4/5 cup (2 dl) sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup + 1/4 cup (3 dl) all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla sugar

For moistening the cake:

juice of two large oranges

1/5 dl (1/2 dl) sugar

For the cream: 

2 sheets of gelatin

7 oz (200 g) cream cheese, for example Philadelphia (mango flavor, optional)

1-2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

4/5 cup (2 dl) heavy cream

Glazing: 

1-2 large oranges, peeled and sliced

4/5 cup (2 dl) heavy cream

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla sugar

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 
2. Grease a 8.5-by-4.5-inch loaf pan (21x11 cm) and sprinkle some flour/bread crumbs on top in order to prevent the cake batter from sticking to the pan.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Add eggs, one by one, as you beat.
4. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, vanilla sugar and add it to the egg-butter mixture. Mix, until well incorporated. 
5. Bake for about 40 minutes. Make the toothpick test to see if the cake is ready. 
6. Take out the cooled cake from the loaf pan and cut it into 2 layers.  
7. In a small bowl, dilute the sugar in orange juice.  
8. In the meantime, place the gelatin sheets in cold water. Using a fork soften the cream cheese. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream and combine it with the cream cheese. Add lemon juice, stir until the mixture is uniform. Take the gelatin sheets and melt them in the microwave. Incorporate into the cream filling. 
9. Moisten one cake layer with orange juice and cover it with the cream filling. Place the second layer on top and moisten it with orange juice as well. Wrap the cake with a plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least four hours or, for best results, overnight. 
10. In a medium bowl, whip the heavy cream and sugar. Spread the glazing on the sides of the cake. You can use a piping bag. Place the orange slices on top of the cake.

                                                                                                                                                             

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