Winter Orange Cake

Hello everyone! Hope you had wonderful and joyful winter holidays! As you may know from my previous posts, me and my husband have been to Russia, and it was a memorable and great trip. We celebrated New Year and Christmas eves with the whole family, met with friends, and had lots of fun with a snow: throwing snowballs, rolling and tumbling around, and exploring virgin and deep snow on foot! Once we almost were frozen to the bones, because it was -30C/22F (and the phone told me it was felt like -40C in the night)! But wool socks, mittens, fur hats and thick coats do wonders! 😀

So, I was torn by what recipe to start 2015 with. I decided to warm up cold days with a superb and fantastically delicious winter dessert -an orange cake. Oranges and mandarins may not be the most obvious fruits in baking, but for me it symbolizes the winter season. The smell of mandarins rind always brings back my childhood memories, when my parents bought them for the New Year eve. The cake is moist, bright, tangy, and delightful in both taste and texture. It is also great any time of the year. 🙂

Winter Orange Cake

Servings: 6-8
Time: 1 1/2 hr+
Difficulty: moderate
Print

You can use fresh orange slices as is, or cook them in a sweet water (1 cup water+1/3 cup sugar) for about 20-30 minutes on a medium heat – it helps to get rid of orange bitterness.

Ingredients

2 small oranges or 1.5 medium size, sliced

3 Tbsp demerara sugar

160g butter softened

120-150g golden caster sugar, depends on your taste

3 heaped tbsp orange jam (or fine-cut marmalade)

3 eggs, beaten

160g plain flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/3 tsp baking powder

40g almond powder (ground almonds)

1.5 medium-size oranges or 2 mandarins, finely grated zest and juice

Glaze:

3 heaped tbsp orange jam/marmalade

1-2 tsp orange-flavoured liqueur (Grand Marnier or Cointreau), optional

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease the 18cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Sprinkle the base with demerara sugar. Arrange orange slices on the base, making overlapping layer.
Beat the butter and caster sugar until pale, mix in marmelade and beaten eggs. Fold in flour, salt, baking powder, almonds, orange or mandarin zest and juice.
Pour the batter into tin. Bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes, until golden and firm to touch.
Allow to cool for a few minutes at room temperature.
Meanwhile, make a glaze by warming 3 Tbsp jam and liqueur (if using) in a small pan with a little water.
Carefully turn out the cake onto a serving plate, while it’s still warm. Prick holes in the cake. Spoon glaze over the cake.
Serve warm! Enjoy!

Adapted from Jamie Oliver magazine/issue 26

24 Comments

Heather @ Sweet Precision says:

Happy New Year! This cake sounds delicious and perfect with the cold snap that we are having here in Michigan. Hope you stay warm as well with this winter weather!
January 13, 2015 at 22:19
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- milkandbun says:
  
  Nice to see you, too! 🙂 And here in Dubai +25C, but evening are still chill, that makes me happy! 😀
  January 15, 2015 at 16:05
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MamaD1xx4xy says:

This sounds great, I love orange in a cake!
January 13, 2015 at 22:28
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- milkandbun says:
  
  Thanks a lot! It a perfect cake for winter! 🙂
  January 15, 2015 at 16:06
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sarahgiebens says:

Looks great!
January 13, 2015 at 23:11
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- milkandbun says:
  
  Thank you, Sarah! 🙂
  January 15, 2015 at 16:06
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Conor Bofin says:

Lovely looking cake. Very jealous.
January 14, 2015 at 00:45
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- milkandbun says:
  
  Thank you very much, Conor! I wish I could send you this cake, but you can make it too, it’s easy! 🙂
  January 15, 2015 at 16:08
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Ginger says:

What a beautiful cake! I make a very similar one which is not half as pretty – must try harder, it seems 😉
January 14, 2015 at 00:53
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- milkandbun says:
  
  C’mon, Ginger! All your sweets look beautiful, too! 😉
  January 15, 2015 at 16:09
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CakePants says:

This looks so bright, cheery, and DELICIOUS! I could use a big piece of this right about now 🙂
January 14, 2015 at 01:07
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- milkandbun says:
  
  Sending you a huge virtual piece! 😉 Thanks a lot for the commenting! Cheers!
  January 15, 2015 at 16:11
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spiceinthecity says:

Wowwwww, that is a beautiful cake! And perfect to liven up the grey winter! Thanks for sharing Mila!
January 15, 2015 at 00:20
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- milkandbun says:
  
  And it tastes as it looks- super delicious! One of my favourite cakes!
  January 15, 2015 at 16:14
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Fae's Twist & Tango says:

Absolutely gorgeous!
January 15, 2015 at 08:45
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- milkandbun says:
  
  Thank you for the attention, Fae! 🙂
  January 15, 2015 at 16:14
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Amanda says:

This looks so beautiful. I love syrupy cakes! Sounds like your holiday season was great! So fun. Welcome back! Great color to liven up the winter.
January 15, 2015 at 09:30
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- milkandbun says:
  
  So glad to see you, Amanda! though it’s virtually but always a pleasure to chat with you! Can’t wait to check out your posts! 🙂
  January 15, 2015 at 16:17
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Choc Chip Uru says:

I do love a moist fruity cake, this one seems to be very delicious 😀

Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
January 16, 2015 at 01:28
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Francesca says:

Such a gorgeous looking cake! The color is so vibrant and it’s the perfect dessert to welcome the new year!
January 16, 2015 at 18:42
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Liuba Bejarano says:

Looks lovely!
January 20, 2015 at 09:28
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- milkandbun says:
  
  Thank you, Liuba! The cake is very yummy! 😊
  January 20, 2015 at 10:00
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Traditionally Modern Food says:

I love upside down cake:-) oramge cake looks yummy
January 26, 2015 at 09:24
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