When life bestows lemons upon one, lemonade is the generic item of production.
When life gives you oranges, you can make freshly-squeezed orange juice - or get a little creative with a zesty cake.
When life gives you oranges, you can make freshly-squeezed orange juice - or get a little creative with a zesty cake.
A spinoff of my too-sweet Matcha Chiffon Cake, this Orange Chiffon utilized reduced amounts of granulated sugar, but compensated in sweetness via the addition of citrusy simply syrup.
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Admittedly, the pairing of a shallow pan and delicate crumb was not a good combination for stability. Like Cooking Tree, I should probably invest in a proper bucket-like version for more visually appealing creations.
Ingredients
(Recipe inspired by and adapted from Cooking Tree)
Chiffon Cake
- 4 egg yolks
- 24g (approx. 1/4 cup) granulated sugar *
- 1 g (pinch) salt
- 52g (approx. 1/3 cup) vegetable oil
- 70g (approx. 1/2 cup) milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 72g (approx. 0.53 cups) cake flour
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 tsp corn starch *
- 4 egg whites
- 50g (approx. 1/3 cup) granulated sugar
Candied Orange Slices
- 1 orange, cut into thin slices
- 1 cup granulated sugar
Frosting
- 2 cups whipping cream
- candied orange syrup *
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 4 drops green food colouring (opt.)
- 2 drops red food colouring (opt.)
Directions:
i) Chiffon Cake
1) Preheat the oven to 170 C / 340 F. Grease a chiffon cake or angel food cake pan.
2) In a large bowl, beat egg yolks, sugar, and salt until pale yellow ribbons form.
3) Add in vegetable oil. Mix well to incorporate.
4) Add in milk and vanilla extract. Mix well to incorporate.
5) Obtain zest from 1 orange, then cut the remainder of the fruit into thin slices. Set aside the slices.
6) Add in majority of orange zest and mix well. Set aside a small portion of zest to use in the frosting.
7) Sift in cake flour and baking powder. Fold dry ingredients into mixture.
8) In a medium bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add in sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
7) Transfer to cake pan, and smooth out the surface.
8) Bake for 35-45 minutes. Observe as the surface of the cakes turns golden brown; surface cracking is a good indication of doneness, however using a toothpick to check for rawness in the centremost region is vital.
9) Let cool and remove from pan.
10) Set aside while preparing other components.
ii) Candied Orange Slices
1) Preheat the oven to 240 F.
2) Combine orange slices and sugar In a medium saucepan over high heat.
3) Stir constantly to prevent burning. It is essential to use a gentle hand to prevent breakage of the slices.
4) Continue to stir and flip slilces as sugar melts down to a sticky simple syrup.
5) Turn off heat when slices have softened and are evenly coated in the syrup. Transfer slices to a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
6) Add a small amount of water to the remaining sugar syrup in the saucepan. Mix well and set aside.
7) Allow orange slices to dry for several minutes. Should they be too damp for one's liking, allow them to dehydrate in the oven for 10 minutes on each side.
iii) Frosting
1) Beat whipping cream in a large foam until foamy.
2) Add in orange simple syrup (obtained from making Candied Orange Slices) and granulated sugar once soft peaks begin to form. Beat again.
3) Add in food colouring (optional) and orange zest saved from Part i). Beat until stiff peaks.
4) Halt beating when the consistency reaches one akin to whipped butter.
iv) Assembly
1) Slice top of chiffon cake to ensure a level frosting surface.
2) Transfer cake to turntable and cover in entirety with cream frosting.
3) Garnish with Candied Orange Slices as desired.
4) Refrigerate for a minimum of 1.5 hours before slicing.
5) Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- The original recipe by Cooking Tree utilized metric units (ie. grams), though these amounts have been converted to cups and/or tsps for improved clarity.
- While the initial recipe called for both baking powder and baking soda, the latter was omitted in this rendition and a greater amount of baking powder was added to compensate. Texture-wise, there were no distinct deviations from the sample (as far as I could perceive).
- Feel free to adjust the amount of granulated sugar to one's liking in all components of the cake. The listed amounts yielded an optimal degree of sweetness for my preferences.
- Cooking Tree's original recipe utilized matcha powder as a highlight flavour. As matcha powder was swapped for orange zest, an ingredient possessing a higher moisture content, a small amount of cornstarch (dry ingredient) was added to compensate. Alternatively, one could also use glutinous rice flour, tapioca starch, or a small portion of cake flour.
- The leftover simple syrup was added into the frosting for enhanced citrusy flavours. One can also choose to add in orange-flavoured extract and/or powdered sugar in this step to suit one's palate.
- Food colouring is optional in this recipe, though contributes greater visual appeal to the final product.
(Recipe inspired by and adapted from Cooking Tree)
Chiffon Cake
- 4 egg yolks
- 24g (approx. 1/4 cup) granulated sugar *
- 1 g (pinch) salt
- 52g (approx. 1/3 cup) vegetable oil
- 70g (approx. 1/2 cup) milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 72g (approx. 0.53 cups) cake flour
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 tsp corn starch *
- 4 egg whites
- 50g (approx. 1/3 cup) granulated sugar
Candied Orange Slices
- 1 orange, cut into thin slices
- 1 cup granulated sugar
Frosting
- 2 cups whipping cream
- candied orange syrup *
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 4 drops green food colouring (opt.)
- 2 drops red food colouring (opt.)
Directions:
i) Chiffon Cake
1) Preheat the oven to 170 C / 340 F. Grease a chiffon cake or angel food cake pan.
2) In a large bowl, beat egg yolks, sugar, and salt until pale yellow ribbons form.
3) Add in vegetable oil. Mix well to incorporate.
4) Add in milk and vanilla extract. Mix well to incorporate.
5) Obtain zest from 1 orange, then cut the remainder of the fruit into thin slices. Set aside the slices.
6) Add in majority of orange zest and mix well. Set aside a small portion of zest to use in the frosting.
7) Sift in cake flour and baking powder. Fold dry ingredients into mixture.
8) In a medium bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add in sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
7) Transfer to cake pan, and smooth out the surface.
8) Bake for 35-45 minutes. Observe as the surface of the cakes turns golden brown; surface cracking is a good indication of doneness, however using a toothpick to check for rawness in the centremost region is vital.
9) Let cool and remove from pan.
10) Set aside while preparing other components.
ii) Candied Orange Slices
1) Preheat the oven to 240 F.
2) Combine orange slices and sugar In a medium saucepan over high heat.
3) Stir constantly to prevent burning. It is essential to use a gentle hand to prevent breakage of the slices.
4) Continue to stir and flip slilces as sugar melts down to a sticky simple syrup.
5) Turn off heat when slices have softened and are evenly coated in the syrup. Transfer slices to a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
6) Add a small amount of water to the remaining sugar syrup in the saucepan. Mix well and set aside.
7) Allow orange slices to dry for several minutes. Should they be too damp for one's liking, allow them to dehydrate in the oven for 10 minutes on each side.
iii) Frosting
1) Beat whipping cream in a large foam until foamy.
2) Add in orange simple syrup (obtained from making Candied Orange Slices) and granulated sugar once soft peaks begin to form. Beat again.
3) Add in food colouring (optional) and orange zest saved from Part i). Beat until stiff peaks.
4) Halt beating when the consistency reaches one akin to whipped butter.
iv) Assembly
1) Slice top of chiffon cake to ensure a level frosting surface.
2) Transfer cake to turntable and cover in entirety with cream frosting.
3) Garnish with Candied Orange Slices as desired.
4) Refrigerate for a minimum of 1.5 hours before slicing.
5) Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- The original recipe by Cooking Tree utilized metric units (ie. grams), though these amounts have been converted to cups and/or tsps for improved clarity.
- While the initial recipe called for both baking powder and baking soda, the latter was omitted in this rendition and a greater amount of baking powder was added to compensate. Texture-wise, there were no distinct deviations from the sample (as far as I could perceive).
- Feel free to adjust the amount of granulated sugar to one's liking in all components of the cake. The listed amounts yielded an optimal degree of sweetness for my preferences.
- Cooking Tree's original recipe utilized matcha powder as a highlight flavour. As matcha powder was swapped for orange zest, an ingredient possessing a higher moisture content, a small amount of cornstarch (dry ingredient) was added to compensate. Alternatively, one could also use glutinous rice flour, tapioca starch, or a small portion of cake flour.
- The leftover simple syrup was added into the frosting for enhanced citrusy flavours. One can also choose to add in orange-flavoured extract and/or powdered sugar in this step to suit one's palate.
- Food colouring is optional in this recipe, though contributes greater visual appeal to the final product.
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