Orange cake

One of the movie trailers I saw at the theater last week was for the remake of “Clash of the Titans” – the original is one of my all time favorites. I remember watching it dozens of times on TV throughout my childhood and teen years – after I turned 11 and started cooking and baking, I’d always make something especially for the movie session, and there was an orange cake I’d repeat to exhaustion back then; unfortunately, I never kept the recipe.

What a lovely surprise it was for me to find this recipe in one of my old magazines – it is really, really similar to the one I used to make as a girl and brought me such fond memories from those afternoons.

Orange cake
from Donna Hay magazine

½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (162g) caster sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ cups + 2 ½ tablespoons (225g) all purpose flour, sifted
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder, sifted
1 tablespoon milk
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
4 tablespoons orange juice

Orange icing:
1 ¼ cups (175g) icing sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons orange juice
zest of 1 orange, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°; butter a 20x10cm (8x4in) loaf pan* and line with baking paper; butter the paper as well.
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well. Add the flour and baking powder and mix well. Add the milk, orange juice and zest and mix until smooth. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes or until golden and cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool completely on a wire rack, then carefully unmold.
To make the icing: combine the sugar and orange juice in a small bowl and mix to form a smooth paste. Use a palette knife to spread the orange icing over the cake and top with the zest.

* the cake almost did not fit the pan – I recommend using a slightly larger pan

Serves 8-10