Moosewood Mondays: Orange Cake

 

The smell of oranges is seductively intoxicating, one of my favorite scents in all the world.  Anytime I find a recipe that allows me to fill the kitchen with one of my favorite scents I am always tempted.  A quick glance into the kitchen proved that I had more than enough oranges on hand to make this beautiful cake.  I chose to ignore the fact that this cake has three sticks of butter.  Instead, I focused on all the fresh orange juice and yogurt and declared this cake part of a perfectly well-balanced breakfast.  What can I say?  I'm good at rationalizing.

My talented friend Natashya, of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, has decided to dust off her  Moosewood Cookbooks and celebrate them each Monday, hence Moosewood Mondays.  Mollie Katzen's 15th Anniversary Moosewood Cookbook happens to be one of the first cookbooks I bought for myself back in my vegetarian years.  

Back then, Katzen was one of the only vegetarian cookbook authors and her books were like a goldmine for me.  I've always enjoyed her recipes and loved the style of her cookbooks, most of them being handwritten. 

I love the handwritten style of Katzen's cookbooks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Orange Cake isn't the healthiest of Katzen recipes, but it does highlight the scope of her recipes, as well as the beauty of her food.

Orange Cake

Adapted from Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen

Serves 12-16

Ingredients for the Orange Cake:
Butter for the pan

1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened

1-3/4 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon grated orange rid

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoons orange extract (my addition)

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream or yogurt

1/2 cup orange juice

Ingredients for the Orange Glaze:

1/2 cup orange juice

1 to 2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2-3 tablespoons Orange Liqueur or Dry Sherry (I used Grand Marnier)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Butter a 10-inch tube or bundt pan.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.

Stir in the orange rind, vanilla, and orange extract.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup sour cream or yogurt, and the 1/2 cup orange juice.  Set aside.

Sift together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add this to the butter mixture alternately with the combined sour cream (or yogurt) and orange juice, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix by hand after each addition - just enough to combine well.

Turn into the prepared pan.  Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted all the way down comes out clean.  Cool for about 15 minutes, then invert onto a plate.  Allow to cool completely.

Combine the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for about 3 minutes.  Pour the hot glaze onto the cooled cake.  Let stand for at least 10 minutes before slicing so that the glaze has an opportunity to soak into the cake.

Sift together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add this to the butter mixture 

Notes/Results:  This Orange Cake was incredible.  Everyone raved about it!  The cake itself was very reminiscent of a pound cake, both moist and dense.  We found the orange flavor spot on, not too mild or too strong.  I do want to note that I added 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract, just because I had it on hand.  I do think it helped to bring out the orange flavor, but don't think it's a necessary ingredient.  This cake is great served right away, but is even better when the orange glaze has had time to soak into the cake.
 
Note: I used Navel Oranges in both the cake batter and glaze.  The blood oranges were used only as a garnish.