Zingy, Tangy Orange Squares

Good afternoon all!

Today, I made these tangy and moist Orange and Rapeseed Oil Cakes. The oil replaces the butter in these cakes, making them healthier than they would be, had I used butter. Well, I say 'healthier' using my own opinion as if I were to make this cake using butter, I'd probably use around 220g of butter. But no research has gone into this. It shall forever remain Oil vs Butter- according to Ciara. All I've researched is that rapeseed oil is abundant and rich in Vitamin E, and is a natural antioxidant. 

(http://www.rapeseedoilbenefits.com/guide-to-rapeseed-oil/rapeseed-oil-health-benefits.aspx)

The link above, is where I obtained my research on rapeseed oil. I like it for its rich, warming colour and taste. It tastes healthier than other oils and is locally produced. I like to support local. 

Here's a slightly wider shot

I have an order for these next week and as always I like to practice what I am going to bake for an order, as it gives me a chance to see how it looks, how it tastes and what the cooking times will be. It also means that I have another excuse to do what I do best, bake. 

I've always said, that if I ever have the opportunity and good fortune to design where I am going to live (a long, long way off, really a Pipe Dream), my main priority and focus would always be the kitchen. The kitchen is the heart of the house. It is where the good and bad times are had and where the love is, the fridge. The fridge holds the key to all happiness and comfort. 

- If you are bored, and want to bored-eat- the fridge is there.

- If you are upset and need to comfort eat- the fridge is there.

- If you want to celebrate and get out the bubbly- the fridge is there.

- If it's a warm day and you're sweltering like a slice of hot toast, cooling on a plate- the fridge is there.

- If you have the midnight munchies and crave ice cream, the fridge (well, actually the freezer) is there for you.

- I do my best thinking in two places;

1) The shower; I don't know, it's something about the hot water and how it totally relaxes you... or maybe it is because I don't talk in the shower and therefore give my vocal cords a rest. Apart from when I'm singing out of tune, out of beat and well out of everything when it comes to musical involvement?

2) The fridge; looking in to all that wonderful food, gently lit by the golden ray that is the fridge light. The sunlight in the fridge world. It's the fridge light that will show you the way out of all the shadowed food. The food that we all put in there for appearances and everyone would rather deny its existence.

This is until, you over- fill the fridge with food and it keeps cutting out. Or when you want to turn down the temperature and the light goes off as if to say; 'Nah, if you are turning the temperature down on me, I'm off '... literally!

This recipe is lovely and fresh. It is zingy and tangy in all the right ways. Sticky and light and crumbly. Moreish. 

When I first looked at this recipe, I thought, ' Wow, 10 oranges is a tad excessive. I mean, it is like you're asking for heart burn with all that citrus', but it is actually really, really lovely. That, along with the oil, gives this cake a distinct flavour and texture. Just scrummy! 

I'm listening to Frank Sinatra 'The Way You Look Tonight'. When I listen to the lyrics, I'm envisioning this cake. 'With each word, your tenderness grows'...'Touches my foolish heart'...'Cause I love you, just the way you look tonight'... It just fits. This cake is perfection, but happily leaves room for innovation. So it is a variation of perfection. This time, I add mascarpone and orange zest, the next I might add Cointreau?

This recipe uses a BBC Food recipe.

The ingredients that you will need for this cake are:

Cake:

- 10 Oranges, 8 of which need to be zested, peeled and the flesh cut up into little chunks. The other 2 are for the syrup and decoration.

- 200 ml Rapeseed Oil

- 8 Eggs, cracked into one bowl and lightly whisked

- 500g Caster Sugar

- 250g Self- Raising Flour

- 250g Ground Almonds 

- 4 tsp Baking Powder

Sugar Syrup:

- 50g Caster Sugar

- A dribble of orange juice

- Zest

Icing:

(My own recipe)

- 2 Tubs of Mascarpone Cheese

- 100g Icing Sugar; or to taste, depending on how sweet you like your cheese.

- Juice of 1/2 fresh orange 

- Zest of 1 whole orange 

These ingredients are luscious, delicious and absolutely beautiful! I prefer Mascarpone opposed to your everyday cream cheese. Now many people who know me, will say, that's awfully BT9 of you, but it isn't. I love cream cheese, but for a dessert as delicious and decedent as this orange cake is, it deserves an equally as delightful icing. 

Plus, many of the ingredients, you'll have as staples in the kitchen anyway, and well if they aren't, well then I guess we just can't be friends. No, now that was BT9. I'm joking of course.

The method you want to make this cake in, is particular. In that it is specific. In that it is pernickety. In that, don't change a damn thing. Lol, go on, change it... I dare you. :)

Method:

Start off by greasing two, 20cm, rectangular cake tins with melted butter and line them both with baking paper. Not all round, just the base and two of the four sides. This way, the cake won't stick to the base and you won't have as much a chance of the cake sticking to the sides. It's all well and good to have your cake's bottom happy and not stuck to the cake tin, but non of this matters when the sides are sticking- ruining the whole aesthetic aspect of the little cakes when the cake comes out of the tin. So as said, line the base and two of the sides, like you would, were you making a Swiss Roll.

Once your tins are greased and happily lined, leave them aside until you need them, which obviously won't be until you start making the mixture. Shall we?

I highly recommend weighing and preparing all of these ingredients before starting as it is a time consuming process. Majority of the time you spend on this cake, will be weighing out and preparing these ingredients for the cake.

Once all the ingredients are weighed out and prepared, you can start.

Bung the eggs and caster sugar into a bowl and whisk like you've never whisked before. Or, just use an electric mixer and let it whisk the eggs and sugar until light, frothy and thick. This really is like making a swiss roll in that your only raising agent is the little baking powder, and the air that has been whisked into the batter, using this method.

Whilst the eggs and sugar are whisking and becoming this fluffy mixture, put the orange flesh into a food processor and blitz until smooth and so that there are no really massive chunks.

Slowly, incorporate the oil. This will make the mixture silky and soft. Giving the orange mix a sheen that is wonderfully shiny. Mix this in slowly, as you don't want it to split. Once this is done, set aside and check on the egg/ sugar mix.

The sugar mix has to be thick and hold its shape. It needs to be able to imprint on the surface of the mix when falling back on itself, for at least a few seconds. Wow, reading that back , 'needs to be able to imprint on the surface of the mix when falling back on itself, for at least a few seconds' sounds a little inception like. Or is this just me? Anyway, when it does, that means it is ready.

Put the flour, baking powder and almonds into a bowl and mix together.

With the whisk on a low speed, add half of the orange and oil mix in; pouring into the side as you don't want to flatten and burst all those lovely bubbles you've made by being a heavy handed brute.

Then half the flour/almond and powder mix and mix in slowly as not to deflate any of the mix. Repeat this process until all the ingredients are together and happily mixed.

Now, this is where your greasy tins come in. Pour the batter equally into the tins and if you have a little leftover, that's no bother. Just make little cupcakes or something. Don't drink it though, thinking it'll make this new and exciting sports, energy drink. It won't. You're basically drinking raw eggs and flour, not to mention the uncooked baking powder.

Carefully transfer the batter filled cake tins to the oven, which has been preheating to 170 in a fan oven... maybe I should have mentioned that earlier? Ah well, that shows you for not reading the whole recipe before diving in. 

Close the door and bake for 1 hr or so. My cakes baked for around 45 minutes and I turned it down to 150 for the last 15 minutes, or at whatever stage it starts to go a darkened, golden brown colour.

When the cakes are baked all the way through; you can tell this by gently pressing on the cakes and seeing if they feel spongy and spring back or when you insert a skewer and it comes out clean. I also go by the feel. I can feel when putting in the skewer, when the cake it cooked. The skewer pulls against the crumbs, it feels like it has substance there.

Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for around 5 minutes and then, using a cooling tray and a piece of parchment, flip the cake out. Do this by putting the cooling tray and parchment over the cake tin and then flip it, so that the base of the cake tin is facing upwards. Then peel off the tin and paper and allow to cool for around 2 hours. It needs to be really cold and set as it is a delicate cake.

In this time, I said hello to the sister and then popped off to the charity shop to volunteer or something. No no I actually did, that and having a bit of a fight with the manikin. Someone bought the dress and I had to re-dress it. I felt like I didn't know mannequin #3 well enough to be making such decisions for her.

Weirdly enough or not, whilst no one is watching ( as if they were, they'd think me a little strange) I introduce myself to the manikin and talk to it. This is probably where my nickname 'Motor-Mouth' comes from. I never shut up. Always nattering to something or someone. Anyway, 3 hours later, I arrived home. Yes, yes, I know I said leave the cake for 2 hours, but it really doesn't matter, as long as it is in a cool, dry place, covered and safe. I started on the icing when I came home.

To make the icing, one should throw some mascarpone into a bowl, along with some orange zest, juice and icing sugar.

Then I whisked this all together until it was wonderfully creamy, light and zesty.

When this is done, leave it and chill. You still need to cut the cake. But before you do this, make a syrup to dab on the cake and make it moist.

Put around 50g of caster sugar into a pot along with the orange juice and zest and heat until it begins to bubble and forms a syrup.

Using a pastry brush, dab this onto the cake. This will make it moist and sticky- yum!

All syrupy 

Cut the cake into nine equal squares. Use a sharp knife and have a piece of kitchen roll or something close by, as this will get rather ooey and gooey as the syrup is on the cake.

I appologise in advance for going a bit crazy on the number of photos coming up. I just love the look of these so much and got really excited about it.

Line a piping bag with a star nozzle and fill with the cheese icing. Pipe little stars onto each cake square and sprinkle on some orange zest strips. Boom- they're done!

I tried a full cake design, as I had an extra cake. Just have fun with it!

Enjoy, as I did!

Ciara