A few months back when Simi’s daughter made this cake for her birthday I decided to make it for my husband for his birthday. When I was going through her post I learned that it is from “At the Corner of Happy and Harried.” I started admiring her blog since then. After a few days, Anjana sent me a friend request on Facebook, and I found out that she is the owner of it. She is a brilliant blogger and an amazing person. When I told her I was going to make her cake recipe for my husband’s birthday she could not stop her excitement. Simi and Anjana, I owe you guys big time for this. Here is Simi’s post and Anjana’s original recipe.
In the original recipe Anjana only used oranges, but I infused some rosemary for the extra kick (and M loves it).
To compensate for last year I also gifted him a ski package, and we are very excited to spend a fabulous two days in Bretton Woods, NH. I never went skiing in my entire life, but he promised to teach me. He is a professional skier, and he is equipped for cross country and alpine skiing. I probably will get tired, go to the hotel spa and enjoy my day indoors 😉
Many people say to me that he is a lucky husband. But I think I am the luckiest person on earth to have a husband like him. It’s not that we do not fight. No matter how much we fight, he will never forget to make eggs for me in the morning or nicely pack my lunch. If I am tired and angry, he will prepare a bubble bath for me. He takes care of me more than my mother did when I was sick. I do not know how many of you know but he is the one who made this brilliant logo for our site. He edits every single post before I publish it. He eats all the food I make–sometimes three chicken pot pies and 100 cookies. He is also the biggest supporter of my photography madness. Our apartment is half filled with my props and camera gear. He complains but again goes with me to buy more props. No matter what happens, he will never miss taking me on date night which has happened every Friday since we got married. Now you tell me, am I not the lucky one?
Trust me, I am not a great baker. I bake biscottis and cookies quite often, but a cake is not my forte. We both love oranges but using orange in a cake is very unusual for me. I was a little hesitant but when I saw Simi’s daughter baked this for her, I thought of giving it a try. Rosemary integrates with the orange and gives a nice fresh flavor to this cake. The cake is super moist and super soft.
Do you see the half eaten cake piece in one of the pictures? That is because it was super hard for me to resist while shooting. I was nibbling on a piece while shooting! 😛
Thank you ANJANA for this recipe. SIMI, it would never possible without your birthday cake post.
Makes one 9″x5″ loaf cake. I used 1 naval orange to make the orange juice and orange zest.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- orange zest of 1 big or 2 medium oranges – it should yield about 1 tablespoon of zest.
- 1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For Orange Rosemary Syrup
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- orange zest of 1 small orange – optional
- 1 tablespoon rosemary leaves
Instructions
1. Pre-heat oven at 350F. Grease a 9″x5″ loaf pan.
2. In your stand mixer add butter and sugar until they are fluffy. Add eggs and orange zest and mix well.
3. Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt) in a bowl.
4. In another bowl, combine orange juice, milk and vanilla extract.
5. Add flour and orange mixture to the stand mixture alternately. Mix it well at medium speed. Batter will be thick.
6. Pour the batter into the baking pan. As the better is thick, I used spatula to take it out. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until it passes the toothpick test. For me, it took 50 minutes almost.
7. Cool the cake on the wire rack about 10 minutes.
Orange Rosemary Syrup
1. In a non-stick saucepan, over medium heat, heat orange juice, sugar, orange zest and rosemary. Stir it continuously until it thickens. Set it aside in a bowl to let cool.
2. Remove the cake from the wire rack and place a sheet of foil underneath to catch the syrup. I used an old baking pan for this.
3. Poke holes all over the cake with a toothpick. Pour the syrup over cake with a spoon and spread evenly. Cool it completely before serving.
Looks gorgeous, Dolphia!
Awesome Recipe it is Anjana 🙂
This cake sounds YUMMY and I will try it very soon. Here’s a trick that I have learned: Whenever I decide to cut up oranges for just plain eating, I always zest
it first b/f peeling. I freeze the zest in little containers for later use and still have
the orange to serve. The freezing doesn’t affect the flavor or consistency and it
comes in handy when you need it and don’t have an orange in the house. One
thing though: Freeze in small glass or stainless steel containers as the acid from the orange oil will leech into plastic and degrade it. Not healthy at all ! You can get these in the Container Store. BTW, I loved the photos and the blog.
BTW, I think Matt is pretty lucky too.
That is a great tip, will keep in mind 🙂