I like citrus fruits in cakes. Have I mentioned that earlier? I made this Orange Sourcream cake to make use of the last of desi oranges of this season. This is a simple looking cake, till you take a bite....mmm and then you are lost in the flavour.
Talking of simple, there is this small, humble shop I visited few years back in Pune, Aadinath Stainless Steel Center. It is located in Narayan Peth, near Kanya Shala. It stores racks n racks of cake pans, cookie sheets, pudding moulds etc. And if you bug the shopkeeper a little he just might show you hidden treasures like cream-roll moulds, icing tips and bags, rose pins, scrapers; just the kind of shop a baker would be interested in.
And about half a kilometer ahead is the 'Pune Bakery', famous for its patties or puffs. We chose to try these 'naans', they were yum.
While in Pune, I also came across an innovative concept called 'Toy-brary'. It is a library of toys, games, CDs and children books where kids can go and borrow toys etc and return it in a week. Sounds fun doesn't it, to be able to play with new toys, read new books every week!
But, I digress. The cake recipe is adapted from here. This cake is tender and moist and the glaze adds to the moisture. Since I ran out of orange juice for the glaze, I went for a simple syrup and added some cardamom for flavour. You can skip the glaze and instead sprinkle powdered sugar on the top. I baked the cake in an 8" round pan, the cake was taller than shown in the original recipe.
A fine, sharp grater is the best tool to get the zest of any citrus fruit. If neither is available, you can, with a very sharp knife, take out the outermost skin of the peel. Carefully avoid the white pith beneath, it is bitter. To get the best flavour out of the zest rub it in some sugar with your finger tips. If you get zest using a knife, pulse it with sugar in a mixer/food processor.
While I was preparing the ingredients, my mother suggested to use the entire pulp of orange instead of just the juice. So I removed the skin and seeds of the orange slices and ran them in a mixer. It increased the fiber content and made the cake more moist, more flavourful. Here's the recipe:
Orange Sour Cream Cake
Ingredients:
Cake3/4 Cups + 2 Tbsps All purpose flour
1/2 Cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbsps cornflour or custard powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup ghee, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp orange zest
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup orange juice + pulp
Glaze/Syrup
3 Tbsps sugar
3 Tbsps water
1 pod cardamom, powdered
Steps:
Preheat oven to 180° C. Grease and dust an 8" round pan.In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cornflour, baking powder and salt.
Pulse the sugar and zest in mixer/food processor. In a large bowl, beat together ghee, sugar-zest mixture for 2 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, and beat mixture until smooth and well-combined. Add vanilla extract and mix.
Mix in one third of the flour mixture, followed by the sour cream. Mix in another third of the flour mixture, followed by the orange juice. Stir in all remaining flour, mixing until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.Cool the cake in cake pan for 10 minutes. Turn it out onto a wire rack.
To prepare the syrup, mix sugar and water in a pan. Put the pan on medium heat and keep stirring till sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the cardamom powder. Let the syrup cool.
While the cake is slightly warm, drizzle the syrup evenly over the cake. Allow syrup to soak in while the cake cools. Allow cake to cool completely before slicing.
Happy Baking!
Shwe
