Michelle Darmody: How to bake a zesty orange loaf cake and mistakes to avoid

Oranges, limes and lemons can all be used to great effect.

This is a zesty loaf full of citrus goodness. It lasts a few days in an airtight container but is particularly good on the day it is baked. Zesting citrus fruit is a great way to add flavour to your baking.

Oranges, limes and lemons can all be used to great effect. I have used grapefruit for this recipe as well and it also works quite nicely. If you are substituting the zest for another fruit, you can also substitute the juice to match.

Zesting takes a little bit of practice, and the key is to only take the first, colorful layer from the fruit. The white pith beneath will add a bitter note to your cakes and bakes.

When you are zesting hold the piece of fruit firmly in the hand you do not write with. Take the zester in the other hand. Begin at the top of the fruit and pull the zester downwards, working your way around the fruit.

Use light pressure to avoid going so deep that you remove the pith.

I find a micro plane is the best tool for the job.

One trick is to avoid putting your micro plane or zester into a dishwasher.

It will dull its sharpness.

Orange Loaf Cake

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

Zesting takes a little bit of practice, and the key is to only take the first, colorful layer from the fruit.

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 5 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 190g caster sugar

• zest 2 medium sized oranges

• 5 tbsp of orange juice

• 3 eggs

• 30mls of light olive oil

• 100g soft butter

• 200g self-raising flour

• 1 tsp of baking powder

Method

1. Line a 1lb loaf tin with parchment and heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

2. Mix the sugar, zest, juice, eggs and oil together. Beat in the soft butter.

3. Sieve the flour and baking powder together and stir these into the mixture until fully combined.

4. Scoop the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top of it with the back of a spoon.

5. Place into the centre of the oven to bake for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

6. Allow to cool in the tin.

Baker's tips 

Adding too much baking powder can result in your cake rising very quickly at the start, but the excess air bubbles will then burst causing the cake to sink in the middle. The rising agent in a cake is always the tricky element. It is a very small portion of the overall ingredients but plays a powerful part in the process.

If your loaf has not risen it could be because the baking powder or the self-raising flour has gone stale. This will result in a flat dense cake. It is good to check the best by date of the baking powder, it can sit at the back of a cupboard for a while.

A dry cake is usually the result of one of the following;
making a mistake while measuring the flour; over-mixing the batter after the flour is added; or baking the cake too long or at too high a temperature.

If your cake does seem dry after it comes out of the oven you can add an orange glaze and allow it to seep in and soften the crumb. Mix 50g of icing sugar with enough orange juice to make a viscous liquid. Scoop this over the loaf when it is still warm and in the tin. The eggs will incorporate better into the batter if you lightly beat them before adding to the mix. You can freeze this loaf cake, let it cool completely, slice it, and wrap the slices in baking parchment, place them in a freezer safe container or bag and store them away for a later date.

3 delicious variations

Chocolate & Orange loaf

There are two chocolate variations, one simply entails adding 150g of chocolate pieces to the recipe the second is icing the loaf with chocolate ganache. If you are adding the chocolate pieces stir them in at the end just before scooping the mixture into the tin. If you are making ganache heat 100ml of cream and stir in 100g of dark chocolate pieces to the cream until it is melted. Allow it to cool to room temperature and then spread it on the top of the cold loaf.

Raspberry & orange blossom cake

To make a beautiful floral and fruity version of the cake add 100g of fresh raspberries into the batter.

Stir them in just before scooping the mixture into the tin. You can also replace one tablespoon of the orange juice with one tablespoon of orange blossom water.

Lemon & lime loaf

A mixture of lime and lemon works well instead of the orange in this recipe. I use two-and-a-half tablespoons of each lemon and lime juice, and the zest of one of each. Adding lemon icing on the top of the loaf also adds a nice twist. Mix 50g of granulated sugar with the juice of a lemon and pour this over the cake while it is still in the tin and allow it to set.