Sticky Orange Cake

A delightful sponge cake flavoured with orange and lemon rind and soaked in a sticky citrus syrup finally decorated with a drizzle of a runny white icing, fresh slices of orange and a touch of mint. I use butter but of course, this can be substituted with a vegetarian alternative but one does have to make and bake using eggs.

8 slices

25 minutes

1 hour +

180ºC

Ingredients

Cake
250g butter

- softened
400g caster sugar
3 eggs
250g plain flour

- seived
2 tsp baking powder
Sticky Orange Syrup
1 large orange

- juice and rind
1 large lemon

- juice and rind
Runny White Icing
1-2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tbsp sticky orange syrup
Decoration
1 orange

- thinly sliced
Fresh mint leaves

- optional

Instructions

Prepare tin:
01 Lightly butter the cake tin.
Make cake batter:
02 In a large bowl cream butter and 250g of the sugar together. Beat in eggs, one at time. Sift the flour and baking powder and gently fold in with a large metal spoon. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, smooth the top. Place in the oven to cook for approximately 1 hour until golden, firm to the touch and a skewer pulls through clean.
Make sticky orange syrup:
03 In a small pan combine the zest and juice of both the orange and lemon with the remaining sugar, slowly heat to dissolve. Stirring gently. Bring to the boil, simmer for 2-3 minutes and allow to cool slightly.
Soak:
04 Remove cake from oven, allow cooling for 5 minutes before pouring hot sticky syrup all over. Reserve 1 tbsp for white icing decoration.
Make runny white icing:
05 Blend together icing sugar and the reserved sticky orange syrup.
Serve:
06 Take to the table with an artistic dribble of runny white icing, slices of fresh orange and a sprig of mint.

Notes

This wonderful cake can be made using all sort of tins; 22cm round, square, 18cm ring mould or fluted tin. Keeps for several days when stored in an airtight plastic container. Double the recipe quantity if seeking to bake a truly impressive large cake.