Orange Cake

I had some oranges at home, but unfortunately we were not in the mood for orange juice. Well this rarely happens to us!! but it just did.

I couldnt bear to see these oranges just sitting in our fridge. So I started browsing the web for recipes with orange juice. I was more interested in orange chicken kind of recipes. But the first hits I got off the web were for orange cake and orange chiffon cake...well I was aware of orange cakes being in existance, but I thought they were made with orange essence...well my bad...

This is where I stumbled upon this cute orange cake. I read the recipe, had all the ingredients on hand and just started off with it...the end result was a lovely smelling home, and many smiling friends..:)

Heres the recipe for all of you.

Level: Medium
Serves: 6 to 8 people

Inspired from: http://www.whatsforlunchhoney.net/2008/03/flavors-orange-cake.html

Ingredients:
250 gms all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
40 gms vanilla pudding powder
340 gms sugar
3 eggs
5.5 tblsp butter, at room temperature
250 mls fresh orange juice
2 tsp orange zest

Method:
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 350 Deg. F. Dust a 9 inch pan with butter and flour. Keep aside.

Step 2 - In a large bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, baking powder and vanilla pudding mix. Add the eggs, sugar, butter, orange zest and orange juice. Whip it with an electric whisk till it turns nice and fluffy.

Step 3 - Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for 50 mins. or till the top of the cake browns itself and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Serve.

To get orange zest, lightly grate an orange over the small holes of a grater. Make sure you do not grate the white portion of the orange. We need just the top orange portion. The white would make the cake bitter.

Dont get over excited with the zest. Do not over use. It smells so heavenly when you zest the orange that you would think that it wouldnt hurt to add some more..BUT IT DOES! so do avoid.

Make sure you sift the flour, baking powder and vanilla pudding mixture. Just stirring it together wont fluff the cake up well.

4 tsp baking powder is not a typo. You need that much.

The link that I have provided, shows an awesome icing over this cake. I am sure that would taste heavenly. But I personally, prefer simple cakes. No icing. Hence I did not make any.

Happy cooking everyone!