Orange Cake

Orange Cake

Hi this is Faith again! I made this cake a few weeks ago for my brother in law's birthday. I'v had more time to bake/cook during this quarantine time. I found this recipe on pinterest. 

This recipe was from Leigh Anne Wilkes who has her own cookbook and website: https://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/. I'd like to check out and use her other recipes in the future, like her Brown Sugar Bacon or Bacon Egg and Cheese Breakfast Casserole Recipes. Yeah I like bacon! 

Ideally this cake should take an hour, half an hour of prep time and half an hour of cook time. There are 14 ingredients :D 

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup shortening- I didn't have shortening and substituted butter- turned out fine!
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cup cake flour sifted
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup orange juice fresh squeezed, less 2 Tbsp
• 2 Tbsp orange juice concentrate- I didn't have this either but used orange juice as a substitute

Creamy Orange Frosting- Best frosting ever!!!

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 6 cups powdered sugar sifted
• 1/4 cup orange juice fresh
• 2 tsp orange zest
• dash salt

Instructions

• Cream together butter, shortening and rind. I did not use a Kitchen Aid but instead mixed in a bowl. 
• Very gradually add sugar, creaming until light
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each
• Continue beating 5 minutes
• Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with orange juice to creamed mixture
• Add in orange juice concentrate- added more orange juice
• Beat only until smooth after each addition
• Bake in 2 greased and floured 8 inch round pans at 350 for 25-30 minutes. The biggest mistake I made was not making the two cakes even, one came out bigger. I wasn't paying attention and because of this the larger one came out decompressed in the middle. I cut up  fresh orange slices and put those in the middle to even out the cake layer. When we ate it in the middle there was an orange surprise. The cakes themselves came out well, not over done from what I can tell but I haven't made many cakes in my life. I believe they were done in 25 minuets, and I ran a  butter knife through the larger cake to make sure it was cooked through before taking out.
• Cool 10 minutes on rack and then remove from pans and cool
• Wrap cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze for an hour to overnight before frosting. (See frosting directions below). The recipe called for this to freeze overnight however we needed it for that day so I let it cool then frosted. Overall for a beginner in cakes this came out pretty well and would highly recommend, the frosting and the fresh orange slices in cake and on cake were extremely refreshing and delicious. 

Creamy Orange Frosting

• Cream butter and cream cheese
• Gradually beat in sugar alternately with orange juice beating until smooth
• Stir in orange rind and salt
• Add a drop or two of orange food coloring to tint a light orange. I did not add the food coloring, another ingredient I lacked.
• Beat until creamy and spreading consistency.
• Place frosting between cake layers.  Put a thin coating of frosting over entire cake, a crumb coat and then freeze cake for 30 minutes. I did get the chance to put in the freezer for a good 45 minuets before we ate after lunch. The cake after being chilled was infinitely better, especially the frosting, now almost molded to the cake. 
• Add final layer of frosting over entire cake.  Garnish with some fresh orange slices.

The frosting is the best part of the cake. Even though I missed some ingredients the cake still came out well, and I will definitely make this again!