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This should be the very first family recipe I'm sharing. I can't guarantee my greatgrandmother didn't learn it from somewhere or someone else, but it's reached me after a couple of generations and to me it's already part of the family. It's pretty simple to make, very fresh and not overly sweet, but really tasty. I imagine you could make a grapefruit, tangerine or lemon version too. I've been thinking about trying those or why not all of them together to make a citrics cake!


A thick layer of orange cream, oh yeah!


Orange Cream Cake
a Bakeddict original

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
4 egg yolks
4 tbsp. of white caster sugar
4 tbsp. of all purpose flour
2 tsps. of baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract or orange zest (optional)

For the Filling:
200 grs. of heavy whipping cream
2 egg yolks
Zest of 1 orange
Freshly squeezed juice from 3 oranges
3 heaped tbsp. of cornstarch
1 tbsp. of white caster sugar

For the glaze:
1 cup of powder sugar
Freshly squeezed orange juice (as much as necessary)

Beat the egg whites until they are thick and fluffy, when you turn the bowl upside-down, they shouldn't fall off. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks together with the sugar until they are lighter in colour and thick. Sift the flour and the baking powder and slowly mix them together with the yolks mix and half of the egg whites mix. Be careful not to overdo it or you'll lose the fluff of the batter and you don't want a flat cake. Now add the other half of the egg whites and mix that nicely but with delicate movements. Butter and flour a round or rectangular mold and transfer the batter. Bake at 356ºF for about 20 mns. or until you can poke a skewer in the cake and it comes out clean.

To make the filling, dissolve the cornstarch in some of the orange juice with the orange zest in a small pot. Add the egg yolks, the sugar and the rest of the juice. Heat this up on the stove until it thickens, you'll need to make sure it boils or the cornstarch won't cook. Remove the mix constantly to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Once it's thick and smooth, remove it from the heat, transfer to a bowl and cover it with plastic making sure it touches the cream or you'll end up with a layer of dried cream on top. Let it cool to room temperatute while you whip the cream. If you need to, leave the cream in the fridge until the orange cream is ready, you don't want to add it while it's hot or it will melt. Once the orange cream is cool enough, add the whipped cream and mix gently with a spoon or spatula until blended.

Cut the cake in half, spread the cream in it. Now, to finish the cake (so wait until the cake has come to room temperature), add orange juice to your sugar cup gradually. You don't want to add it all at once or you might need to add more sugar. Add a little juice, mix with a teaspoon, keep adding as much as necessary until you get a thick liquid that can be spread with a brush. If it's too liquid, the cake will absorb it, so make sure it's more like a liquid paste than a fluid liquid. Brush your top layer with the glaze as quickly as you can as it'll dry up if you let it sit for too long. And you're done!