Orange Peel Cake

This is an in-your-face orange cake. It screams OH-RANGE! There is orange juice, orange zest and orange peel in the cake and orange slices on the cake. Honestly I found it much too orangey but the orange aficionados will love this orangey buttery cake.

I found this recipe in a cookbook by Alex Goh and I thought the cake looked rather pretty. I am a sucker for pretty pictures in cookbooks and I can stare at them for hours. This cake calls for 150g of orange peel and I wasn't sure what that meant. Candied orange peel or just plain old orange peel. Mr Goh's cookbook is bilingual and I reckon the original text is in Chinese. This is where confusion can happen and things get lost in translation. My partner was not around to read the original text so I went ahead with my own interpretation. Just like how I went ahead with my own theories when I sat for my physics paper.

This butter cake uses the egg separation method and calls for 6 eggs whites and 9 egg yolks. I like that - 9 egg yolks, my favorite part of the egg. This method produces a fluffier texture BUT only if you mixed the egg yolk batter and the stiff egg whites properly. I did not do a good job on this occasion and over mixed the batter. That resulted in a dense cake. 

Thin slice of cake. Not for me :)

I baked this cake in a 9" springform pan and had to tent the cake after 45 minutes because the top was already brown but the cake was still not cooked in the center. It was smelling very good - buttery aroma with a nice orange scent. That was a promising sign and my only concern was if the cake would be too sweet even though I reduced the sugar.

As usual, the cake cracked. But it is OK because it is going to be flipped.

When the cake was done, I let it cool for about 15 minutes before unmoulding it. Because the top of the cake was domed, the sides lacked support when flipped over resulting in some slight cracks at the center. But it was fine and I liked the look of the cake.

The next morning I glazed the cake with some peach jam. As I sliced the cake, I could detect some resistance and I knew I had a dense cake. Moment of truth. I had my first bite and Kapow! OH-Range! It was a mouthful of sweet citrusy sensation. Nice but it was a bit too much for me. But I am not saying that I didn't like it because I finished the whole slice and it was a big slice. The candied orange peel had a chewy texture and it was as if there were orange flavored gummy bears in the cake.

Fat slice of cake. It looks better that the thin one. Can this be said for us chunky girls? Please say yes.

I reckon you can bake this cake using your favorite basic butter cake recipe. Just add the orange components and you have yourself an Orange Peel Cake or maybe we can also call this an Orange Upside Down Cake.  

Orange Peel Cake
Recipe source : Creative Making of Cakes by Alex Goh (page 52)

Ingredients :
- 250g butter
- 100g sugar (I used 60g)
- pinch of salt
- 9 egg yolks
- 60ml orange juice (I used juice from 1 orange)
- Zest of 1 orange
- 6 egg whites
- 140g sugar (I used 60g)
- 250g flour (I used self-raising)
- 1tsp baking powder
- 30g ground almonds
- 150g orange peel (I used candied orange peel, cut into small pieces)

Method :
1. Grease and line a 9" round mould. Slice an orange into thin slices and arrange the orange slices on the bottom of the mould. Set aside.
2. Cream butter, sugar and salt until light and creamy.
3. Add egg yolks one by one and cream until smooth and light.
4. Add orange juice and orange zest and mix well. Set aside.
5. Whip egg whites and sugar until stiff peaks and fold into the butter mixture until evenly blended.
6. Add flour and ground almonds (I sifted flour and then used a whisk to evenly mix the flour and ground almonds) and fold until evenly blended.
7. Lastly add orange peel and mix until well combined.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in a preheated oven at 160C for 60 minutes or until skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Ann of Anncoo Journal.

This post is also linked to Cook-Your-Books #11 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.