Yesterday found me awake at 6:30AM and baking my first ever loaf of Artisan Bread and a deliciously sweet Orange Yogurt Cake with Candied Orange Peel Syrup... by 7:00AM. I needed to start early to get it out of the way so I could do my design work without having to keep an eye on rising dough and a baking cake.
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| Pretty but not all I expected as to the flavor. |
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| Served with Honey Butter. |
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| Serve with a dollop of yogurt, or with whipped cream and lemon grass leaves as pictured here. |
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| Let the syrup sink into the cake and let stand in the pan about half an hour. The candied orange peel will stick nicely to the top. Slide a thin spatula around the edge of the pan and gently lift out and slide onto a serving stand. You could also serve directly from the pan. |
The cake simply came about because I was flipping through and old cookbook looking for a bread recipe. I saw the recipe for Lemon Yogurt cake in my MARIE CLAIRE COOKING with Donna Hay and thought... that would be good to use the last cup of yogurt and some of our oranges. Of course I tweaked the recipe a bit... I substituted oranges for lemons... why not. Lime or grapefruit would work just as well. I also added the chopped candied orange rind to the top. She says to simply toss in the rind in thick strips and remove before pouring on the cake. Those extra bits really amp up the flavor.
For the cake
1 stick butter (4oz)
1 cup caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs
1 cup thick plain yogurt
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
For the orange syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 an orange rind cut into 1/8" strips then diced into small pieces
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Butter a 9" cake pan.
3. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well.
Stir in the orange juice and zest and half the flour. Then add the yogurt, the remaining flour, and the baking soda, and mix to combine.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, and smooth the top well. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until the cake starts to come away from the sides of the tin, and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
5. A few minutes before the cake is ready to come out of the oven, prepare the syrup. Place the sugar, water, orange juice, and strips of orange rind in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring, over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Allow the syrup to simmer gently for 6-8 minutes. Immediately pour the syrup over the top of the cake, while it is still hot and in the tin. Evenly distribute the candied orange rind across the top of the cake.
Let the cake sit for at least 30 minutes before turning out of the tin and serving. Serve plain or with a dollop of yogurt. We ran out of yogurt so I whipped up 1/2 cup heavy cream with 1 tablespoon honey and 1/4 cup powdered sugar to put on top. Orange and Honey!!! YES PLEASE.
