This week's recipe from Baking Chez Moi was a simple cake
infused with orange flavors. Not only is there zest flavored sugar
in the batter, but freshly squeezed orange juice is added as well.
I attempted to make the poached orange topping that Dorie suggests as her
"Bonne Idée" but I did not end up poaching enough orange slices to cover
the top. Actually, when I poached them, the slices ended up falling apart
so I had to do a patch job and decided to only cover the center of the cake.
I then added the orange syrup to the cake and finished with an orange
marmalade glaze. We both thought the cake was moist and quite delicious.
Per Tricia ~
This was a fun little orange cake.
I found myself charmed at Dorie's backstory about receiving the recipe from
her friend Odile de Lannoy. Arriving at Dorie's home for the first time, Odile
brought not only the namesake cake but the handwritten recipe as well. She
said she hoped the cake was not "too simple", but wanted to share it because
it is one that she actually prepares for her family (i.e. not fancy food).
Right up Dorie's alley.
And mine.
I was lucky enough to score some blood oranges at the local market so I used those.
We hemmed and hawed about whether I should try to cut the recipe in half but I
decided to just make the whole thing (the devil on my shoulder usually wins.....).
I was glad I did this time around, as it does not make a large cake.
My pan is actually a German braided loaf pan. Bought at Williams-Sonoma
in the late 80's, it is evidently now considered "vintage". Ouch.
It is roughly 4 inches by 11 inches, to give you an idea of the finished cake size.
And while we do not reprint recipes from this book as part of the "Tuesdays
with Dorie community, the recipe can be found on the web where it was
reprinted with permission, if you Google search for it. Go forth.
This marks another Tuesday recipe testing as we cook along with the "Tuesdays with Dorie" online group. Please note that we do not post the recipes, per the group rules, but we do encourage others to RUN out and buy their own copy of Dorie Greenspan's "Baking Chez Moi". Better yet, buy the book and JOIN THE GROUP ! www.TuesdaysWithDorie.wordpress.com
You both did a marvellous job - the poached oranges on top make it look special. Tricia, I do like your German braided pan - very unusual.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to trying this! Nana I actually like the way your oranges are in the centre, I think it looks really pretty. Tricia the "vintage" pan is gorgeous and the blood oranges look amazing!
ReplyDeleteBoth variations of this cake are awesome! My favorite mother and daughter team in the whole wide world!
ReplyDeleteWow, this looks delicious and so, so pretty. Both of them are beautiful. It's late (10pm is late for me) and I am hungry and would like a slice right now. It's 1AM in your neck of the woods so I can say, Happy International Women's Day, 2016. You are two special women and I so love knowing the both of you.
ReplyDeleteThey both look great. The cake looked to plain with no decoration. I could not find blood oranges but that is so cool.
ReplyDeleteWell done both of you! Tricia I LOVE the pan and Nana - the oranges just in the middle are really pretty. I was a huge fan of this one!
ReplyDeleteTricia - live the pan... your execution is so elegant! Nana - I ran into the same problem as you (not enough oranges), so I scrapped them and just did the poaching glaze followed by the marmalade glaze!
ReplyDeleteNana, your cake looks perfect and really delicious! Tricia, the German loaf pan you used along with the blood oranges on top of your cake adds a lot of elegance!
ReplyDeleteBoth cakes are so lovely and special and personal. The vintage loaf pan is simply charming. The right size for this small cake. I can relate to the part of the oranges falling apart. I proceeded with using the whole orange instead since I had only two blood oranges.
ReplyDeleteI love how beautiful and individual your cakes look. The braid pan reminds me of a bridged dough that my German friend once taught me to make.
ReplyDeleteI loved this cake, too! Nana, your choice to keep the oranges to the centre of the cake was an elegant one and Tricia, I love the way your cake looks - though I did wince at the thought of bakeware from the 80s being vintage. Ouch, indeed!
ReplyDeleteNana, your cake is very pretty and your gorgeous photos really capture the citrusy flavour of it, especially the slice shot - I can almost taste it! Tricia, your pan is just lovely and so well suited to showing off the beautiful topping.
ReplyDeleteNana your cake turned out perfect, much rounder than mine. Tricia I love that you used blood oranges, so pretty. I may have to make this again with the poached oranges.
ReplyDeleteOooh, I love both versions! I think most people had their poached oranges fall apart -- I know mine did! And I loved the 'vintage' pan! (I'm older than the pan -- does that make me vintage?)
ReplyDeleteNana, I love how you just put the poached oranges in the middle! I bet it was the perfect amount on each slice. Tricia, I love you pan…your cake looks so elegant and different than the ordinary round pans :) Great job, both of them look fabulous!
ReplyDeleteYour cakes look delicious!
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