Tangerine sour cream cake

After I started tweaking Epicuriou’s yogurt cake recipe for different cake flavors it took me a good while to make cake using butter again – every time I thought of it, I had to drop the idea for not having enough time for the butter to soften (I don’t have a microwave oven). 

The day came when I had to use up some heavy cream sitting on the fridge before it went bad, and ended up making a sour cream cake that called for butter. It turned out very tender, perfumed with tangerines – both zest and juice – and delicious. My husband loved the cake with the glaze on top. 

The cake is drenched in tangerine juice after being unmolded, which makes it wonderfully moist. Do try the recipe with oranges in case you don’t have tangerines around (the original recipe calls for lemon).

Tangerine sour cream cake

adapted from this recipe

 

Cake:

2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon table salt

1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar

finely grated zest of 2 medium tangerines

180g unsalted butter, softened

3 large eggs, room temperature

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons Cointreau - optional

1 cup sour cream*

 

To brush the cake:

3 tablespoons tangerine juice

 

Glaze:

½ cup (70g) icing sugar

2 tablespoons tangerine juice

 

Start with the cake: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour an 8-cup capacity Bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Place sugar and tangerine zest in the bowl of an electric mixer and rub them together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Add the butter then beat until mixture is very light and fluffy – scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula several times throughout the making of the cake. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat in the vanilla and Cointreau (if using).

On low speed, beat in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream in two additions. Beat until combined only – do not overmix.

Spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 20 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack. Once cake is unmolded, brush it all over with the tangerine juice, until it is absorbed completely.

Make the glaze: gradually add the tangerine juice to the icing sugar, mixing until you get the desired consistency. Pour over the cooled cake.

*homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 10-12