Orange Cake

Well, I still have copious amounts of Orange Simple Syrup in my fridge and am attempting to use it up. The decadently written book Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes is scattered with chapters of Tuscan recipes (one major reason I love travel/food books). Mayes just happened to include a recipe for lemon cake and as I read, my mind said, "Ah Ha! Use orange instead of lemon!" So I did and the result was better than I could have imagined. The cake is still super moist after several days and the orange flavor is so crisp and indulgent all at once.

In honor of Mayes, here is her lemon cake recipe with my adaptations to follow:

"Cream together 1 cup of sweet butter and 2 cups of sugar. Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time. The mixture should be light. Mix together 3 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and incorporate this with the butter mixture alternately with 1 cup buttermilk. (In Italy, I use one cup of cream since buttermilk is not available.) Begin and end with the flour mixture. Add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and the grated zest of the lemon. Bake in a nonstick tube pan at 300 for 50 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick..." 

Mayes, F. (1996). Under the Tuscan Sun. New York: Broadway Books, 238-239.

 Creaming together sugar and butter:

Add 3 eggs, 1 at a time.

I also used cream (instead of buttermilk), since I had it on hand. 

 

I substituted the zest of an orange and 3 T orange syrup. 

I used most (3/4) of the zest in the cake, reserving some (1/4) for the icing. 

I greased and floured my nonstick pan, just to be on the safe side.

 

The icing on the cake!

To make icing:

Whip the following ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk and pour icing over cake.*

3 c powdered sugar
1/2 c cream
reserved orange zest from cake recipe
3 T orange syrup
3 T  softened butter

*This makes more than enough...use the extra on some left-over Christmas sugar cookies

Tiny Treats

 Miniature Pumpkin Pies and Orange Chocolate Truffles

Need I say more???

These tiny pies are so cute and will look smashing with a dollop of 

Bourbon-Maple Whipped Cream on top. 

The chocolate truffles were simple to make and I used the orange-infused simple syrup that resulted from my candied orange peels.

 Some I covered in cocoa powder, others with powdered sugar.

 They make a perfect gift wrapped up in parchment paper!

 Now for the recipes:

Pie filling:

Thanks to Bobby Flay's Throwdown

The Bourbon-Maple Whipped cream recipe is there as well, but I at least double what is called for regarding maple syrup and bourbon.  

Pie crust:

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup flour

2 tablespoons water

• Cut together with a hand-held pastry blender and roll out on a floured counter top. Cut circles to the size of your muffin tin. 

• Butter and flour muffin pan. Place pie crust circles into muffin pan and fill almost to the top with pie filling. Bake at 425 for about 30 minutes. Watch carefully as these small pies may cook up more quickly than you expect. Test with a toothpick for done-ness.

Orange Chocolate Truffles

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated Jan/Feb 2012 edition

• melt 1 bag dark chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli's chips) in microwave

• mix 3 T orange simple syrup and a pinch of salt into 1/2 cup heavy cream

• barely warm cream mixture in mircowave

• pour cream mixture over melted chocolate and stir together. 

• Pour into a parchment paper lined baking dish.Cover and set on counter to cool for 2 hours, then place in refrigerator to chill for another 2 hours.

• Remove, cut into 1-inch squares, rolls squares into balls and cover in cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar, walnuts, sprinkles...

Candied Orange Peels

Thanks go out to my brother for inspiring and guiding this recipe! 

This is such a tasty treat and as simple as boiling water. 

Take them to your next holiday shindig for a real crowd pleaser.

Start by peeling your oranges. I used 4 and worked in 2 batches.

Removing the pith will reduce bitterness, but that is a personal preference. 

Fill sauce pan half-way full of water and bring to a boil. 

Add peels and boil for 5 minutes.

Drain water and repeat boiling process.

Drain water and refill sauce pan with water one more time. 

This time use 2 cups of water and and 1 1/2 cups sugar and (optional) 1 T ginger.

Boil peels for another 5 minutes.

Drain once again.

Look at that sugary goodness!

Who knew making candy was as easy as boiling water?!?!

Tip: 

Place a large bowl under the colander to catch the "Orange Infused Simple Syrup" 

that you have inadvertently made during this last boiling process.

My will be used in Chocolate Truffles.

Stay tuned...

The cherry on top:

Dip candied orange peels in chocolate.

Then, dip the orange sections in chocolate.

If I were better at picture taking. This last photo would look delicious. I just couldn't get them to not look like slugs. My husband is kinder: he says they look like peppers in this pic.