A little cake that packs a punch, this cake is quick to make for a last minute special occasion. In this recipe I used blood orange juice and navel orange zest, but you could use any orange and get great results. An old time cake that just became a new found favorite at our house.
Orange Cake with Orange Butter Frosting
2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup blood orange juice
1 TB orange zest
1/2 cup room temp butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs-separated
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Measure and sift first three ingredients together. Set aside.
Beat egg whites with clean beaters until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Cream butter until soft and creamy. Add sugar gradually, beating as you add. Beat eggs yolks until thick and lemon colored. Add eggs yolks and orange zest to butter mix and beat until creamy and smooth. Add dry ingredients, alternately with juice (1/3 at a time). Fold in egg whites last.
Scrape batter into an 8x8 pan greased and lined with waxed paper or parchment. Bake for 45 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean from center of cake. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes or so. Remove from pan and set on towel or rack and allow to cool completely before frosting. Once cool, spread all of frosting on top of cake.
Orange Butter Frosting
3 Tbs soft butter
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbs to 1/4 cup orange juice, sufficient to spread
Cream together butter and sugar, adding orange juice in small amounts until the frosting reaches a nice smooth spreading consistency.
Update:
Ok, so you have to try this cake with the passion fruit frosting I put together tonight. So good!!
Use the above frosting recipe, substituting passion fruit juice for the orange juice. (Requires about 5 passion fruit. Strain the juice to remove the seeds, pressing as much juice as possible through the strainer.)
