Best Sunsets Whole Orange Cake Recipes

WHOLE ORANGE CAKE - FLOURLESS

Steps:

• Boil 10 minutes: Place oranges in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over medium high heat. Boil for 10 minutes and drain.
• Repeat x 2: Put oranges back in the pot, cover with cold water and boil again for 10 minutes. Drain, then repeat once more (ie. boil oranges 3 x 10 minutes). Shortcut: Boil 40 minutes without draining, keeping an eye on water level. (Note 4)
• Chop: Rinse oranges, then cool slightly so you can handle them. Slice into 1cm / 1/4" slices then dice, removing any seeds. Cool completely.
• Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F (140°C fan). Grease and line a 23cm/9" cake pan with baking/parchment paper. (Note 5)
• Blitz oranges: Place chopped oranges in a food processor (Note 6). Blitz on high for 4 x 10 second bursts, scraping down the sides in between, until it's pureed into a marmalade consistency with only a few visible bits of rind remaining. It does not need to be completely smooth.
• Blitz in remaining ingredients: Add almond meal, eggs, baking powder and sugar. Blitz for 5 - 10 seconds on high until combined.
• Bake 60 minutes: Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake 60 minutes until the surface is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Cool: Cool fully in cake pan. Unless using loose base pan, cover surface with baking paper to help you turn it out (cake is sticky so may stick to your hand and tear surface otherwise.)
• Serve: Decorate as desired - I used slices of fresh oranges, rind strips and sprigs of flowers. A dusting of icing sugar / powdered sugar is also lovely. Cut, then serve! See Note 7 for suggestions.

WHOLE ORANGE CAKE (SUPER MOIST)

Steps:

• HEAT OVEN TO 350F/177C. Spray 9 inch (23cm) springform pan with oil. Note 1 for other pan options.
• PREPARE ORANGES: Using a sharp knife, place orange on cutting board and slice off the thin top orange layer all around the orange. Try to get as little of the white pith layer as possible (leaving on some is fine - no need to obsess!). Then slice off the white pith layer and discard. Repeat with second orange. Cut oranges into quarters. Shortcut: If your oranges only have a very thin layer of pith, you can use the whole orange.
• CREAM BUTTER, SUGAR, EGGS: Place butter, sugar and eggs in food processor bowl. Process for 2 minutes at high speed until fluffy and creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl once or twice. Scoop mixture into medium-large bowl.
• GRIND ORANGES: Place oranges and orange peels in food processor. No need to clean out processor first. Process until finely blended, about 1 minute. Scrape orange mixture into bowl with butter mixture.
• FINISH BATTER: Add flour mixture of flour and baking powder. Gently fold into wet mixture just until incorporated. Do NOT over mix or the cake will be dense. Pour batter into prepared pan. Tap pan on counter to level the batter evenly.
• BAKE: for 45-50 minutes or until cake no longer jiggles when shaken and when cake tester or toothpick is inserted in center and comes out clean. Two 8" round pans will take less time, about 25-35 minutes. Timing depends on size of oranges (amount of liquid in cake) and your oven (all ovens are different and not perfectly accurate on temperatures). Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing on pan. Cool completely on cooling rack before frosting.
• MAKE FROSTING/GLAZE (OPTIONAL): While cake is baking, whisk icing/confectioner sugar, 1/2 of orange juice and orange zest with a fork in a small bowl. Add more orange juice until you get the consistency you like. Note 3 for traditional orange buttercream frosting.
• DECORATE: Sprinkle orange cake with powdered icing sugar (through a sieve) if not using frosting. If using frosting/glaze, spread it on top of cake letting it slip down the sides if desired. Decorate cake with orange zest strips, orange slices, drained mandarin oranges, a little bit of zest or crushed nuts if you like.

WHOLE ORANGE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Coat a 10-cup Bundt pan with cooking-oil spray. In a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs.
• Whirl orange chunks in a food processor until mostly smooth but not puréed. Add 1 1/2 cups orange mixture to batter and beat until blended. Add flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder to bowl and beat until smooth. Spread batter in prepared pan.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few crumbs clinging to it, about 55 minutes. Cool pan on a rack 10 minutes, then invert cake onto rack and let cool completely.
• Whisk together powdered sugar and orange juice in a small bowl. Drizzle over cooled cake. Let glaze set, then slice cake.

SUNSET MAGAZINE'S WHOLE ORANGE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Coat a 10-cup Bundt pan with butter. I don't have a bundt pan anymore and used a tube pan instead.
• In a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs (and almond extract if using.) Note: I used my KitchenAid stand up mixer to prep the batter.
• Whirl orange chunks in a food processor until mostly smooth but not puréed. Add the orange chunks to the batter and beat until blended.
• Add flour, salt, (cardamom if using), baking soda, and baking powder to bowl and beat until smooth. Spread batter in prepared pan.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few crumbs clinging to it, about 55 minutes. Cool pan on a rack 10 minutes, then invert cake onto rack and let cool completely.
• Whisk together powdered sugar and orange juice in a small bowl. Stir in orange blossom water if using. Drizzle over cooled cake.
• Let glaze set (garnish with toasted almonds if using) and the orange zest, then slice cake.