Blogging Marathon #137 Week 1, Day 2
Theme : Sweets

This is a cheat recipe here. Originally I prepared this for last year’s Blogging marathon but I never got around publishing it due to acute case of laziness. So finally I am publishing it from my drafts folder because this is a recipe I will definitely be trying again.

I usually don’t try a lot of flavors and stick with basic vanilla and chocolate cakes, but I wanted to try this recipe the minute I saw it in the Cake Magic recipe book. It’s an excellent resource if you want to try out different cake flavors.

The cake here contains an orange cake (flavored with zest and juice), a sprinkle of cardamom syrup instead of the regular simple syrup, a light layer of orange marmalade ( I didn’t have it, so I skipped it) topped with buttercream and filled and frosted with buttercream. The book suggested honey buttercream, but I used regular buttercream instead.

Despite the absence of marmalade, the aroma and taste of orange was so nice in this cake. The zest made so much of an impact with both! I have never thought of pairing cardamom with orange and was surprised how well the two went together!

The book has a basic cake mix recipe that can be prepared ahead and stored. For different recipes, you need to measure out from this already prepared cake mix and then proceed to add more ingredients to prepare the cake you want. This works well if you are into preparing cakes frequently. For me personally, it’s a drawback. I have to prepare the cake mix recipe which yields 4 cups and then discard 1/2 cup and proceed with other ingredients for this recipe. I decided to discard the leftover cake mix since I had no clue when I would be making my next cake. So if I have one suggestion for this book, it’s that I wish they had included a cake mix recipe for 3.5 cups too to avoid wastage.

Despite this, I love this book and I come back to it many times for flavor inspirations.

Read on for the recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Orange cake (recipe below)
2. Cardamom syrup ( recipe below)
3. Readymade Orange marmalade for filling
4. Buttercream for filling and frosting

Cake mix:

• 2.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Remaining ingredients:

• 3.5 cups of cake mix from above
• 2 tablespoons orange zest
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup melted butter or oil
• 3 tablespoons orange juice
• 4 eggs

Method:

1. Prepare the cake mix, remove 1/2 cup set aside. Use it the next time you are making a cake.
2. Add remaining baking soda and powder, zest to the cake mix and whisk well.
3. Add milk, melted butter, juice and eggs. Mix until there aren’t any lumps.
4. Divide the batter into two 8” greased and lined pans. Bake at 350F for about 30-35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes free of crumbs.
5. Remove cake from the oven and let it cool down completely.

Cardamom syrup:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 cardamom pods, split open
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Add everything to a small pan and bring it to a boil. Stir in between to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat, let the flavors steep for at least 30 minutes. Strain the pods and use warm syrup on the cake.