Orange Macaroon Cake

Orange and coconut. The minute I saw the combination of these two ingredients in master baker Dan Lepard's recipe, I knew I had to make his Orange Macaroon Cake. I have fast become a Dan Lepard fan simply because his recipes  - whether for bread of desserts - are truly, subliminally delicious and uncomplicated. 

While there is really no reason to tweak a Dan Lepard recipe - why mess with the best, right - I had to deviate a little from this one because whether in cooking or baking, I love using fresh coconut in place of desiccated (air dried) coconut, especially since we have such easy access to fresh coconut here.  When I was young, my mum used to make me grate coconuts for cooking and it was a tedious task. And sometimes, if I day dreamed too much while doing it, I'd end up scraping my palms. I'd then make a big fuss to try and get out of the chore (the plan hardly ever worked, of course). These days, all I have to do is go to my neighbourhood grocer and buy freshly grated coconut whenever I want. So easy. 

So, why fresh coconut? Well, apart from the moisture it brings to the cake, the one thing fresh coconut has that is missing from desiccated coconut is the slight sourness that accompanies the sweetness of the flesh. I love that. I also love the texture fresh coconut brings to the cake ... the slight chewiness from the shards of grated coconut. You can't see the coconut but you definitely bite into it amidst the softness  of the cake. 

I added more coconut that was recommended in the recipe because I really wanted a full coconut flavour to accompany the strong flavour of the orange (Lepard says that when baking a orange/lemon cake, you want it to taste "resoundingly" of orange and lemon).  I was afraid the addition of more coconut may affect the texture of the cake but it came out really well. 

To intensify the orange flavour, Lepard adds not only orange zest into the batter but also some orange liqueur - Cointreau or Grand Marnier. I added the zest but didn't have the liqueur so I improvised and added some orange juice in rum instead (I didn't want to leave out the alcohol altogether!). 

Lepard's recipe is layered - two layers with a glaze in the middle and on top but I stuck to making two single layer cakes).

And, to top it all off, the glaze - orange juice + zest + icing sugar. Of course, I added some fresh, grated coconut too! I love a glaze that captures the essence of the cake and this one does exactly that. Love it!

Orange Macaroon Cake ( Dan Lepard Recipe from Short and Sweet; my notes are in red).

3 large oranges

175g unsalted butter, softened (I used salted butter)

175g caster sugar

3 large eggs

50g desiccated coconut (I used 100g fresh coconut + 2 tbsp for the glaze)

150g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

75ml Grand Marnier/Cointreau (I used 40ml rum + 20ml fresh orange juice)

125g icing sugar 

Line the base of two 18cm sponge tins with a disc of baking parchment and preheat the oven to 180C. Finely grate the zest of two oranges into a bowl with the butter and sugar and beat until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the coconut. Sift the flour and baking powder together that beat half into the butter mixture, followed by the Cointreau (rum/juice), then fold through the remaining flour. 

Divide between the tins and bake for 25-30 mins. 

Leave to cool in the tin, then remove and peel the parchment off the bottom. Finely grate the zest of the remaining orange into a bowl. Add the icing sugar and beat with a few tablespoons of orange juice until spreadable. I mixed in the 2 tbsp of fresh coconut at the end. Pour and spread the glaze over the two cakes when cool. 

Dark Chocolate Mousse Tart

Intense. That's one word that perfectly describes this dark chocolate mousse tart. Intense colour, intense flavour and intensely ... satisfying too. If you've visited this blog lately, you'll know full well how I've been consumed with making pastry off late. Pies, tarts, puffs ... that's about all I've been making for the last couple of weeks. And so, when I watched Mindy, a contestant on Masterchef Australia (season 4) make a chocolate mousse tart with a chocolate shortcrust pastry shell, I knew I had to give it a go. A chocolate crust: wow! (Mindy went on to win the challenge and her tart was featured on the cover of the Masterchef magazine — didn't know there was such a mag. But you can check it our here). 

So anyway, I decided to follow her recipe for two reasons: first, it looked bloody good — chocolate on chocolate? I mean who can resist, right? Second, while I love watching episodes of Masterchef (the Australian one, not the American version),  I am always curious about how good the dishes really are. I mean, the ones that the judges rave on about. The abilities of the home cooks are without a doubt gasp-worthy but I just wonder how the dishes actually taste. So, by trying out Mindy's recipe, I'd be able to satisfy my curiosity.  

I followed her recipe with minimal changes: she poured a caramel orange syrup over her tart, I chose to drizzle a spiced orange syrup instead. Also, she used 3 egg yolks on top of 2 whole eggs, I just used 2 yolks as I had just four eggs left at home.

The instructions in Mindy's recipe were easy enough to follow. The crust used a fair amount of cocoa powder which was combined with flour, icing sugar and ground almonds. It's a shortcrust pastry: chilled butter is rubbed into the dry ingredients and then a liquid (in this case an egg) is added to bind the dough together. The pastry was rich and very chocolaty. It was also a little more wet than your regular shortcrust shell. I liked the taste: it wasn't too sweet ... in fact it wasn't sweet at all, allowing the chocolate to be the star ingredient and flavour. I might try using ground hazelnuts instead of almonds the next time as I think hazelnuts go so well with chocolate. (I did try using hazelnuts and it was brilliant. I think I'd go with hazelnuts in future. It also combines well with the cocoa and flour and you don't see specks of beige as with the almonds). But, yeah it turned out to be a really nice crust.

The end product was a deeply satisfying chocolate treat. Rich, warm and comforting and "super yum", as the judges on the show eloquently described it. Super yum indeed.

Chocolate Mousse Tart
(Adapted from Mindy Woods recipe from Masterchef)

For the pastry
100g plain flour
70g cocoa powder
pinch of salt
60g icing sugar
20g ground almonds
90g butter, chilled and cubed
1 egg

For the mousse
275g dark chocolate
140g butter
2 eggs
2 egg yolks (the original had 3 egg yolks)
110g castor sugar
zest of one orange

Orange syrup (not from the original recipe)
3 tbsp castor sugar
3 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp orange zest
3 tbsp water
1 star anise

For the pastry, whisk the flour, sugar, ground almond and cocoa together in a bowl. Add the cold butter and rub into the flour mixture with fingertips until you get what resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg and bring the crumbs together to form a dough. It will be slightly (just slightly) wet. Shape into a disc and chill for at least 30 mins.

Once chilled, place the disc in between two sheets of non grease paper and roll till about 4 mm thick. transfer onto the tart pan (10-inch) and gently mould to fit the pan.

Prick the base of the pastry case with a fork and chill for 15 mins. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180C. Pre-bake the crust for 15 mins, until the base of the pastry has dried and hardened a little.

For the filling, add he chocolate and butter in a bowl and place the bowl above a pot of simmering water. Stir until both the butter and chocolate melts and becomes a shiny ganache. Remove and let cool.

Turn the heat off the water but keep the pan on the stove. Add the eggs, yolks and sugar in a bowl and place the bowl above the steaming water. Whisk with an electric hand held mixer or a balloon whisk till the mixture almost tripled in volume and you can form ribbons with the mixture. Stir in the zest.

Add to the cooled chocolate ganache (in three installments) and fold in gently.

Pour the filling into the pre-baked crust and bake for 18 mins. Remove and cool.

Make the syrup: add all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves and the syrup thickens. Drizzle over tart.

Orange Poppyseed Cupcakes

And the orange binge continues. 

These orange poppyseed mini cupcakes are officially my all-time favourite cupcakes and my all-time favourite orange cake too. I make them ALL the time. Anytime anyone asks me for a recipe for a light, delicious cake, I give them this one. It's that good. Trust me. 

I've posted the original recipe for this orange poppyseed cake on this blog before. But that was a long time ago... about two years ago actually and I really feel the time has come for a revisit. The recipe is from Moroccan-born cook Nadine Abensur from her book Enjoy (a review of which is also posted on this blog). 

Abensur's recipe is for a cake but I preferred to make mini cupcakes from the batter this time instead of a whole cake. Mini cupcakes are awesome.  You can just pop the whole thing in your mouth. It's that simple. And this one — with the orange and the poppyseed — literally pops in your mouth.

Pop. There goes another one in my mouth. Pop. And another. 

Abensur's cake isn't sweet. It's delicious but it isn't sweet. But the cake comes with a spiced syrup which is drizzled over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. The syrup not only adds the necessary sweetness to the cake, it also keeps the cake nice and moist. And the spice adds another dimension to a basic orange cake. 

Also, the original cake isn't frosted but I topped these mini cupcakes with a light cream cheese frosting which I feel goes well with the cake. Plus, frosting makes a cake looks so festive, right? (Oh ok, I'll come out and admit it. I am also practicing my skills at frosting and I am taking every opportunity I can get to master the art of frosting. Still it does add to the cake!)

Alright. Enough talk already. I hope I have convinced you to make this cake. The recipe follows. 

Orange Poppyseed Cake
(adapted from Nadine Abensur's Enjoy)

For the cake
50g poppy seed
60ml milk
185g butter
200g Castor sugar
2 tbsp orange zest
3 eggs
175g self-raising flour, sifted
50g plain flour, sifted
50g ground almond
100ml orange juice

Soak the poppy seed in the milk for about 10 mins. (The poppy seeds need to absorb moisture from the milk or they may be too hard).

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cream the butter, zest and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. Lower the speed of your mixer and add the eggs (one at a time) and mix till incorporated.

Add the flour, orange juice and milk with the poppy seeds — alternating between the three — until everything is combined.

Fill the cupcake liners with batter.

Bake for 15-18 mins or till a toothpick comes out clean.

For the Syrup
3 tbsp Castor sugar
3 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp orange zest
3 tbsp water
1 star anise

Mix the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat till sugar dissolves and a thick syrup emerges.
Drizzle on the cakes once they're hot out of the oven.

For the Frosting
170g cream cheese
170g butter
11/2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Cream on high speed until light and very fluffy.

Orange Olive Oil Cake

I've been on an orange binge lately, experimenting with different orange cake recipes in search of the perfect orange cake — a tender, moist cake that has more than just a hint of orange flavour. I wanted to be able to get more than just a hint of orange. I wanted a full-flavoured orange cake.

My favourite recipe so far is an Orange Poppy Seed Cake from Moroccan-born cook Nadine Abensur. Her cake is simply fabulous: citrusy, tender with a little crunch from the poppy seeds and moist, because of the spiced orange syrup that's poured onto the baked cake. You can really get the orange flavour in Abensur's cake as it has a fair amount of orange goodness: both the zest and juice are incorporated into the batter and the aforementioned syrup. And, if you still want more, the cake goes well with a light cream cheese frosting, orange flavoured of course. (The original recipe has no frosting and frankly, the cake doesn't need it.)

Abensur's recipe translated into mini cupcakes

I was quite happy to use Abensur's recipe as a base for future orange cakes. And then, I came across this recipe for this Orange Scented Olive Oil Cake from Saveur.com. 

This recipe uses not just the juice and the zest of the orange but the entire fruit: the rind, the pulp... everything but the seeds. Now, if you're looking for more orange flavour, surely this was the way to go ...right? The olive oil was an extra pull —  I made a Lemon Olive Oil cake a while back and I loved it. So, I was psyched to give this recipe a go.

Now, let me tell you straight off the bat that if you don't like the bitter-sweet taste of marmalade, chances are high you will not like this cake. Like in the making of marmalade, the oranges are cooked in a sugar syrup before they pureed and used in the batter.

Surprisingly, the orange doesn't overpower the cake. You get the unmistakable flavour of orange but it's still pretty subtle. What you do get is a nicely textured cake, thanks to the fruit puree that is mixed into the batter.

The flavour of the olive oil is pretty distinguishable and if you are not a fan of olive oil, you may find it a little overpowering.  But I love it. It's sweet, moist, a little twang of bitterness here and there. Oh, and the orange glaze and the sprinkling of sea salt atop the glazed cake is just such a clever touch.

The cake isn't difficult to make but it is a little time consuming because you have to boil the oranges in water a couple of times and then again in a sugar syrup until the peels are soft and almost translucent. Then you have to wait for the oranges to cool before you start making the cake.

 So yeah, you have to plan ahead and perhaps prepare the oranges well ahead of time. Get the recipe for this Orange Olive Oil Cake here.

Citrus Flavoured Butter Cake

My quest, for as long as I can remember, has been to make a perfect butter cake.

I love butter cakes more than any other cake on the planet. A simple butter cake — you know, the kind you have at birthday parties, iced with a delicious buttercream topping that's sweet and uncomplicated? A butter cake that is tender and moist?

Yup, butter cakes make me happy. It reminds me of my childhood, of family, of close friends and of happy occasions. No one mourns or sulks with butter cake. Nope, that's what ice cream and chocolate is for. Butter cakes are celebratory.

I've tried a number of recipes and while always tasty, they were never perfect. The texture was never just right, you know? A little dry, a little dense. A crumb that was too thick or not apparent enough. It was frustrating, to say the least.

Then I stumbled upon a recipe for Trish Boyle's Plainly Perfect Pound Cake. Now, I've never quite understood the difference between the two (the pound cake and butter cake). To my understanding, the difference is that a pound cake is supposed to be made with a pound of each of the main ingredients: flour, butter, sugar and eggs and if you adjust the quantities, you have to adjust them equally). Taste wise, I'd say the two are very similar, except that the pound cake is perhaps a little denser.

 Trish Boyle's Plainly Perfect Pound Cake is kinda like a pound cake (the measurements for all four ingredients are equal, almost) but it sure tastes like the butter cakes I grew up eating and still love to eat so much. If someone else has a better distinction between the two I'd be indebted to learn. :)

Apart from the four essential ingredients (flour, butter, sugar and eggs) and the leavening agent (baking powder), she also adds a small measure of heavy cream which gives the cake an obvious rich and creamy texture which I really adored.

The citrus accents from the zests of both oranges and lemons added a freshness to the cake that I welcomes.

Hers came plain, without any frosting which is fine but I decided to slather on a thin layer of butter cream frosting, also flavoured with the citrus zest.

Trish Boyle's Plainly Perfect Pound Cake
(adapted from Shirley of Kokken69)

200g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
226g butter (softened)
226g sugar (you don't have to be so precise; 200 or 250 is fine)
4 eggs
80ml heavy cream
1 tsp orange zest, or slightly more if desired
1 tsp lemon zest, or slightly more if desired
1 tsp vanilla essence

Topping (enough for only the top of the cake)
50g butter, softened
100g icing sugar, sieved

Preheat the oven to 170C

Sieve the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

Cream the butter until light and pale. Add the sugar and beat till light and fluffy, about 3 mins.

Add the eggs, one at a time and mix till well incorporated. Add the vanilla and the zests.

Lower the speed of the mixer and add the flour in three installments, alternating with the cream.

Pour batter into a greased/lined/greased and lined loaf pan.

Reduce the heat to 160C and bake for 60-70 mins or till a tester  inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, cream butter until light and add the sugar. Beat till fluffy. Chill for at least 30 mins. Remove and beat till soft (about 2 mins) and spread on the cake once it has cooled.