The last orange...

Update: 17 August 2010 - This cake actually tasted so much better the next day.

There was one last orange sitting all by its lonesome self in the fruit basket. So I used it up in my latest attempt to find a light, fluffy eggless cake. 

You'll just have to bear awhile with my current obsession with oranges. I promise the next post will be a flavour far from orange as it can get. Oh wait... I was planning to make Orange-Cardamom macarons. Oh well... we'll see what I can sneak in by way of a different flavour between all the orange.

Meanwhile, I found this recipe here. I also found a few others with ingredients that sounded like they would have made a lovely, soft cake, but this is the one I tried first. 

I changed it a little here and there, so I could use up the lonely orange, substituted milk for the water called for in the original recipe and added some double-action baking powder. 

How did it turn out? It was certainly moist as I expected, but I found the texture a little sticky and pudding-like. Perhaps from the milk, oil and baking powder addition? I'm not sure. I'd like to try this again with water, melted butter and no baking powder... but that's another day and post.

The Orange-Cardamom Tea Cake from the weekend gets my vote for being eggless and delicious.

It didn't cut as cleanly as the Orange-Cardamom Tea Cake

Sweet Orange Cake

Adapted from Bored But Busy

1 large orange

180g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp double-action baking powder

200g castor sugar

6 tbsp canola/sunflower oil

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp orange essence

Milk

• Preheat oven at 140C.
• Grease and line a 19cm diameter round cake tin. 
• Grate the rind of the orange and set aside.
• Squeeze the orange juice into a measuring cup. Top-up with milk to make 1 cup of juice/milk mixture.

1. Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda thrice into a large bowl.
2. Stir in the sugar and grated orange rind with a wooden spoon until well-mixed through.
3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.
4. Pour in the juice/milk mixture, oil, vinegar and essence.
5. Beat for 5 seconds with an electric mixer until all the ingredients are just combined and there are no lumps.
6. Pour batter into the prepared tin.
7. Bake at 160C for 40 - 45 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. 
8. Cool for about 20 minutes in the tin.
9. Run a small knife slowly around the cake to loosen the edges before turning out carefully onto a wire rack to cool completely.