Orange and Cardamom Cake
April 14th, 2009
Knowing that orange and cardamom go together quite nicely I decided to try and bake a cake that contains them. This was my first attempt and as I liked the results I thought I would share the recipe.
Cake:
- 100g of unsalted butter
- 100g of caster sugar
- 100g of self raising flour
- 1 large egg
- Juice and zest of one largeish orange
- 10 cardamom pods
Topping:
- 150g of cream cheese
- 50g of unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons of icing sugar
- A little bit of juice from the orange
Decoration:
- 50g of caster sugar
- A little bit of juice from the orange
- 18-20cm cake tin
Set your oven temperature to 190 degrees Centigrade and grease or line your cake tin.
Put the cardamom pods in just enough water to cover them and simmer gently over a low heat for around five minutes. Leave the water to cool for another five then take out the pods.
Cream the butter and sugar together until it has lightened in colour slightly. Beat in the egg, and add the orange zest. Sift the flour into the mixture and fold in carefully. Add the cardamom water, then enough orange juice to give a good cake batter consistency. (Remember to keep some back for the icing of you can, otherwise just use another orange later if you need all the liquid.) Put the cake mixture in the tin and bake for around 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
In a clean bowl mix together the sugar, butter and cream cheese. Then add enough orange juice to make it change colour a little bit, but not so much that it goes runny. You probably need no more than two tablespoons. Reserve to spread on the cake later.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan mix together a little orange juice with the remaining caster sugar over a low heat stirring all the time. Once the sugar has melted turn up the heat and stop stirring. Bubble the sugar down until it has turned caramel-ly. (Keep smelling to check it hasn’t burned, as you won’t be able to see when the sugar burns as it will already be orangey coloured from the juice.) Allow it to cool for a moment then spread it out on to something non-stick. That re-useable cake liner stuff is good for this, but you can use a chopping board. Pop it in the fridge if you have room, until is it hard. Give it a couple of hours.
Once the cake is out of the oven, cool on a wire rack until cold. Tip the cake out onto a plate and spread the top with the cream cheese icing. Take the orange sugar out of the fridge and break it up with your fingers or the handle of a knife. Sprinkle on the top of the icing. More pictures on Flickr.
