Monday, July 18, 2011

Secret Recipe Club: Orange Berry Cake


I can't believe that another month has flown by so quickly. It's time for another round up for the Secret Recipe Club. I'm baking from Alessio's blog, Recipe Taster. His blog features beautiful pictures and recipes. Many of his recipes stem from his Sicilian background. Delizioso!

When I saw his recipe for Orange Cake, I knew right away that I wanted to try it because I love the fresh taste of oranges in cakes and pastries. I will admit that some worry and nervousness set in when it came time to convert the recipe from grams to the American equivalents. I don't own a kitchen scale so I knew that I was going to have to rely on any Internet findings to get me through this time. You can imagine my surprise when I realized that there were no exact conversions for this measurements in this recipe. I decided to wing it anyway and I must say, I'm so happy that I did. This was a truly delicious cake. It was very light and moist, showered with a wonderful orange flavoring. The orange zest hits it out of the park. Do not even be tempted to leave it out.

Alessio shows several different ways to decorate the cake on his blog but I choose to use a low sugar real berry jam as a glaze for the top of the cake, along with a sprinkling of orange zest on top.


So simple and pretty! It pairs perfectly with a cup of herbal tea. The recipe will definitely go into my "favorites" pile.

Orange Berry Cake
adapted from the blog: Recipe Taster

7 tbsp. butter, softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
zest of 3 lg. oranges
1 lg. egg yolk
2 lg. eggs
1 3/4 tbsp. canola oil
1/2 c. 100% real orange juice
1 c. all purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
4 heaping tbsp. low sugar real berry jam
zest of 1 orange for decoration

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease and flour a 9 inch or 10 inch spring form pan and set aside.

I would recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe, although it could be mixed with a hand mixer.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the butter and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar to the butter and beat until no longer grainy and the mixture is light and fluffy.

Mix in the orange zest from 3 oranges.

Add egg yolk to the mixture and beat until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until everything is mixed together and looks smooth and creamy.

With the beaters still running, stream in the canola oil. Mix well.

Alternate pouring the flour and the orange juice into the wet mixture in the bowl. Mix well after each addition.

Spoon the batter into the spring form pan. Tap the pan on the counter top to release the air bubbles in the batter.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. My cake was perfectly baked at 22 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting it onto a cake platter.

Melt 4 heaping tbsp. low sugar real berry jam in the microwave or on the stove top. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the melted jam over the top of the cake.

Sprinkle the zest of 1 orange over top of the jam.

My husband and kids, as well as I, really enjoyed this cake so I can't tell you what to do with any leftovers. I would imagine that the cake tastes the best if eaten the same day it was baked.


Time to gear up for next month's Secret Recipe Club event! Click here from more info. on how you can join in on the fun!

You just can't help but to drool over all of these beauties below. We love comments! Let us know what you think!!





17 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, wonderful looking cake. You've just reminded me that it's entirely possible to bake a gorgeous cake without the need for a weighing scale!

Beth said...

This looks amazing. I've done internet conversions and I always feel like I'm chancing it a bit. Sounds like yours really worked out!

amanda @ fake ginger said...

I love how bright and summery this looks! Delicious!

Barb Szyszkiewicz said...

What a pretty cake! I'd probably top it with whipped cream and dark chocolate shavings...mmm...

AlessioFangano said...

Lovely rendition of my Orange cake! I am sure that the berry jam went greatly with this buttery cake :D
By the way, for conversion between metric and the rest I usually use this website:
http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/cooking

For baking, I would suggest you to get a scale, easier to get reliable results :D

Jo said...

Your cake looks fantastic! And great work on getting it converted over!

Kathy Walker said...

Your cake looks refreshing...just perfect for dessert..or snack...or anytime!

Barbara Bakes said...

Love the gorgeous color on top. It looks scrumptious.

Shelby said...

This sounds wonderful and I love how you choose to top it!

Lisa~~ said...

Your cake looks wonderful and love the color of the topping.

If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my SRC recipe this month: Holy Guacamole.

Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook

Sara said...

This looks super delicious - love berries and orange together, yum! :)

Nicole @ The Daily Dish said...

oooooh that looks not only delicious but beautiful. What a pretty dessert and how can you not love the pairing of berries and orange? Delish!

Kim - Liv Life said...

Nicely done! Love the low sugar topping you used, I'm always trying to cut a bit here and there, but with that you don't lose the flavor. Orange is always a hit in my house, and I'm thinking this one would be too! Wonderful SRC post!

Chelle B said...

This cake looks so delicious and the color is vibrant. Yummy!

La-linda007 said...

WOW! your BLOG is delicious! I so wish I could pluck it right off my PC and eat it all! Looking forward to continuing to check out your blog often.

Anne @ Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy said...

I love how you frosted it so simply and beautifully - looks gorgeous!

dentist 90048 said...

Wow, that's beautiful and does look good too!

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