orange Archives - Sugar et al

Orange Almond Cake

4|01|2017

This recipe was meant to be shared before Christmas last year. As some of you already know that I am travelling and despite having everything ready to go, issues with Internet connectivity delayed it by a whole year:-) I thought I was well organised for my holidays this time but some things are just meant to be. Maybe it was meant to for a 2017 post. Happy New Year to all my dear readers! I hope each and every one of you have great experiences this year and are able to embrace what life throws at you without fear or regret. It is hard but this is something I am trying to learn at a personal level. I’m trying not to dwell on things…what should be..why they shouldn’t and so on. Life only moves in one direction…forward. Unless you let go of the old, there won’t be room for the new. This may be a good start. Also this year I wanted to make a few tea cakes. While frosted, layer cakes allow room for creativity and visual appeal, some of us would rather go with a simple one layered, uncomplicated treat for many occasions that one can mix and bake in minutes. This Orange Almond Cake is one such cake.

I swapped the milk in this cake with a delicious orange juice for for an extra orange kick. The warm orange syrup makes the cake moist and really delicious.

Orange Almond Cake
Makes a round 6 inch cake

160 g butter
3/4 cup (155 g) caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (150 g) self-raising flour
1/2 cup (55 g) almond meal
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
Pinch of ground cinnamon
1/3 cup (80 ml) unsweetened orange juice (freshly made or store bought) (I used Daily Juice)

Orange Syrup

1 cup unsweetened orange juice
1 tsp grated orange zest
1/3 cup castor sugar
1 stick cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease and line the base of a 6 inch round cake pan with baking paper.

Use an electric beater to beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until combined. Use a large metal spoon to gently fold in half the flour, almond meal, orange zest, cinnamon and juice until combined. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture (do not over mix or the cake will be tough). Spoon the cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside in the pan for 2 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack over a baking tray.

Meanwhile, to make the orange syrup, combine orange juice, zest, sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to the boil. Boil, occasionally brushing down the side of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water, for 5 minutes or until mixture is syrupy. Remove cinnamon and discard.

Spoon the hot syrup and orange rind over the warm cake. Set aside for 30 minutes to cool. Decorate with flaked almonds and orange segments.

Orange and Carrot Cake

27|07|2016

The best part about winter for a person like me who does not really enjoy the cold is definitely the food. I like a bit of spice in everything, sweet or savory! I noticed that I’ve been using nutmeg a lot this winter as compared to the rest of the year when the spice is lying quietly in one corner of my cupboard. What is a Winter without Carrot Cake? The Internet is flooded with Carrot cake recipes and there is no point in me adding just another one. So I’ve combined the flavours of a classic carrot cake with zesty oranges and the marriage is nothing short of a flavour explosion! Think of warm spices, soft caramel kissed Carrot Cake, the bitterness of orange marmalade and just a touch of sweet white chocolate. I’ll let the pictures do the talking for you.

Cakes like these don’t need tonnes of buttercream. It is there in the cake to cement the flavours and the layers together. So I have applied a thin coat of swiss meringue buttercream and a generous amount of orange marmalade to complement the cake. One important factor that I always stress on is that making a cake should not mean toiling away in the kitchen or an elaborate prep. I did not even grate the carrots at home this time. The supermarkets sell shredded carrots that obviously differ in thickness. I’ve been meaning to try them out as I was pretty sure they would add a bit more texture to the soft cake. I was right! So I easily skipped the longest step in making a carrot cake. The top as quite a few of you asked me on Instagram is entirely edible. There are meringues, edible flowers and little candy discs that I created in a two-tone effect using candy melts. I sprinkled a bit of gold dust on them. They are are my favourite new experiment and they just take your desserts to a whole new level. You know what, I can’t wait till Christmas. I am all about sprinkles, chocolate and candy already.

Orange And Carrot Cake (carrot cake adapted with variation from Epicurious)
Makes a 6 inch, 3 layered round cake

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
|1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3/4 cup castor sugar
4 large eggs
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup citrus peel (or 1 tbsp freshly grated orange peel)
2 cups self-raising flour
11/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups finely grated peeled carrot
1/2 cup raisins
Cinnamon swiss meringue buttercream (recipe below)
1/2 cup Orange Marmalade
Decorations- meringue kisses, edible flowers, candy discs, grated chocolate

Cinnamon Buttercream
4 egg whites
1 cup castor sugar
300 g unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed
1 tsp powdered cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla essence
2-3 drops of orange food colouring (I used a mix of red and yellow coloring)

For the orange colored, white chocolate ganache
100 g white chocolate, roughly chopped
3 tbsp heavy cream
3-4 drops of a mix of red and yellow food colour

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Lightly grease the sides and bottom and line the bottoms of 3, 6-inch pans with non-stick baking paper.

Using an electric mixer (or by hand), beat oil and both sugars in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in orange juice and peel. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt into large bowl; add to sugar mixture and beat to blend. Stir in carrots and raisins.

Pour batter into the prepared pans. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool cake for 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto a wire rack. Remove baking paper and cool. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic and store at room temperature.)

To make the cinnamon swiss meringue buttercream
Place the egg whites and sugar in a large bowl that is placed over a saucepan of simmering water (over low heat), and whisk continuously, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the bottom of the bowl is warm to touch

Remove the bowl from the heat and whip on high speed until meringue holds stiff peaks and looks glossy. The bowl should have completely cooled by now.
Add the butter, 2 tablespoon at a time, until thick and fluffy. If it begins to look curdled, continue to whip until it comes back together, before adding in remaining butter.
When the buttercream is smooth and has come together, add the cinnamon, vanilla and food color and whip gently again to blend.

To make the orange colored, white chocolate ganache: Heat the white chocolate and heavy cream over very low heat in a small saucepan. When cream just reaches boiling point, remove from heat and leave aside. Stir with a spoon to make a smooth mix. Add the food colour and stir to blend.

To assemble
Once the cake layers are completely cool, start assembling..
On a cake plate or stand, spread a little buttercream in the centre and place one layer of the cake (so that the cake does not move about while frosting). Spread about 1/2 a cup of cinnamon swiss meringue buttercream. Spread half the quantity of orange marmalade. Place the second layer. Repeat. Place the last layer upside down (so you get a flat top). Spread buttercream on the top and sides. If you want to make it look like a naked cake, a thin layer of frosting is good enough.
Stick the cake into the refrigerator for 15-20 mins.
Make the white chocolate ganache 5 minutes before you take the cake out from the fridge.Once the ganche is cool, but still flowing freely when you lift it with a spoon, spoon it onto the cake slowly. Be gentle on the edges to create the drippy effect.
Decorate with meringues, candy and edible flowers.

Orange Cupcakes With Cherries

4|07|2016

It is so easy to forget that it is winter here in Australia when you gaze at the vibrant summery posts across the blog-o-sphere and certainly when you see lush red cherries and colourful berries on Instagram. Living in Sydney, we are fortunate to have access to every kind of fresh produce at any time of the year whether local or imported. Usually I won’t even look at imported produce and believe in eating fruits in season because they are not only fresher and cheaper but it also means supporting our wonderful farm community that I am a die hard fan of. There are however, two instances when I find myself deviating from this. Either when I am working for a publication on the other side of the globe and I am shooting summer in winter (speaking of which, I have some wonderful news to share soon) and when I spot CHERRIES! Sorry, can’t resist! No matter what!

I haven’t met my little brother and darling cousins who live in the USA and UK for years and I’ve kind of made a mental note to be there only during cherry season. Who doesn’t want to enjoy 2 cherry seasons in the same year? But that has to wait and this at least is easier. Buying it from from the supermarket! I couldn’t stop staring at them last week when I saw them. They were 5 times the regular price but no, there was no thinking twice when so many combinations were racing in my mind. Oh the possibilities!

I decided to make orange flavored cupcakes and add cherries to the batter. It was delicious. The best of winter and summer in a cupcake! I had some leftover vanilla frosting from a cake I made for a dear friend’s son’s birthday and I thought the colours would looking amazing together. To add extra tang to the cupcakes, I’ve used citrus peel that you could either make at home or use store bought. They are inexpensive and a great addition to your pantry if you like baking. You could add them to pretty much anything a get a nice little citrus boost in your baked goods. The birthday cake, I mentioned earlier (Chocolate Mud Cake with Pineapple Tim tams and vanilla frosting) was a huge success so I am sharing a photo of that as well at the end of the post.

Do you ever buy produce that is not in season? What is that one fruit or vegetable you would be ready to defy the seasons to bring home?

Orange Cupcakes With Cherries (partly adapted from Taste.com)
Makes 12

2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
3/4 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup milk
125 g butter, melted, cooled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 oranges, rind grated, juiced
1/2 cup citrus peel (divided)
1/2 cup cherries, pitted and roughly chopped (can use frozen or canned as well)
Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream, to frost
Fresh Cherries, to decorate

Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
4 egg whites
1 cup castor sugar
300 g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1-2 drops, food coloring of your choice (optional)(I used teal)

To make the cupcakes : Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (180 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases.
Combine flour and caster sugar in a bowl. Make a well in the center.
Add milk, butter, eggs, orange rind, vanilla and 1/2 cup of orange juice to flour mixture. Using a large metal spoon, stir gently to combine. Gently fold in 1/4 cup of the citrus peel and the chopped cherries.
Spoon mixture into prepared muffin pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Stand in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

To make the Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream : Place the egg whites and sugar in a large bowl that is placed over a saucepan of simmering water (over low heat), and whisk continuously, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the bottom of the bowl is warm to touch

When the buttercream has come together, add the vanilla extract and food coloring (if using) and mix till you get the desired shade.

To assemble: Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe a swirl of buttercream on the tops or could dollop it with an ice cream scoop. Decorate with fresh cherries and the leftover citrus peel.

Earl Grey Cupcakes

7|06|2016

When we moved countries a few years ago, the one big lifestyle change that happened to us as a couple was that we gave up drinking Chai. The milk-added version of tea. It’s kind of sad. Because tea was one of the first things that was taught to girls in Indian homes when I was growing up, it brings back a great deal of nostalgia. I learnt to make a good cup of chai from my grandmother. Good quality tea leaves with a great milk-water-sugar ratio and a hint of cardamom and ginger is the secret to a rejuvenating cup of tea. Like my Dad would say ‘ good cup of tea in the morning is a great start to the day’. Alas! In the last few years I became totally Australian in my love for coffee.

It all started during our first few months in Australia. Moving out of your comfort zone in to a new country means starting life anew. What we brought with us for the kitchen was minimal and most often, everything was cooked in either in the single frying pan or single saucepan we had with us. So boiling tea the traditional way didn’t seem like a good idea when the cleaning was quite a task. So we switched over to tea bags. I experimented with all varieties of tea I could find but never fell in love with any. Coffee was instead what I got hooked on to. The tea bags were soon used to flavour desserts. Tea is a wonderful flavour infuser. And Earl Grey is a classic! These cupcakes have a strong dose of Earl Grey tea and they are fabulous. They use the tea inside the bags to not only add flavour but texture as well. Unlike infusing milk ,cream or water with the tea bags, this recipe uses the actual leaves in the batter.

I’ve used an orange buttercream to frost the cupcakes to stick to the citrus notes in the cupcake. Did you know the flavour in Earl Grey is actually from the rind of Bergamot Oranges? Well, I’ve never seen that variety but how gorgeous is the flavour!

Earl Grey Cupcakes With Orange Buttercream
Makes 12 (cupcakes adapted from here)

2 Earl Grey tea bags
(1/4 cup) boiling water
1/3 cup (80 ml )milk
100 g butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
2/3 cup castor sugar
1 1/4 cups (190 g) self-raising flour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper liners

Empty the tea leaves from the tea bags into a cup and add the boiling water. Set aside for 3 minutes. Stir in the milk and then transfer to a large bowl.

Add the butter, eggs, sugar and flour to the tea mixture. Use electric beaters on low speed to beat until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat until the mixture is pale and creamy (the mixture may look slightly curdled).

Spoon the mixture evenly into the greased pans. Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside for 2-3 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

Once completely cooled, frost them with orange buttercream using a piping bag and a star nozzle. Decorate with sugar flowers.

Orange Swiss Meringue Buttercream
4 egg whites
1 cup castor sugar
300 g unsalted butter, room temperature
Finely grated zest of one orange
2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tsp Orange liquor (I used Cointreau), optional

To make the Buttercream : Place the egg whites and sugar in a large bowl that is placed over a saucepan of simmering water (over low heat), and whisk continuously, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the bottom of the bowl is warm to touch

When the buttercream has come together, add the orange zest and juice (and liquor, if using) and mix till smooth and well blended.