I get a phone call and I am still in my PJs. Saturday and my lovely pals, Laura and David, are on their way over with a gift. I’m the type of gal who can’t take without reciprocating. I have an hour… I know what. I’ll bake them a cake to take home. Problem is, I have ingredients for a madeira cake but little else. There are a handful of oranges in the bowl. Eureka! I’ll make an Orange Drizzle Cake.

I set to work and tasting along the way, it all seems fine. It is baking so when my pals arrive, they are greeted with the aroma of sweet cake. I take it out of the oven, add the warm orange syrup and let cool. They seem delighted and text later to say it’s a hit!

While I love the zing of lemons, this really is a worthwhile alternative. I add the juice of half an orange to the zest, let it sit before adding to the cake mix because I like a more, intense, orangey flavour. As with all cakes and food, it is simply a case of matching your food to your palate…

Orange drizzle cake

Ingredients

Cake
4 large eggs, beaten
8 ounces unsalted butter
8 ounces self-raising flour, sifted
8 ounces castor sugar
Zest of one orange
Juice of half orange or a teaspoon of orange essence (optional)

Syrup
3.5 ounces of icing sugar
Juice of one orange

Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 180 C
2. Prepare a loaf tin by lining with greaseproof paper (tin should be about 8 x 21 cm)
3. Blend the butter and sugar until pale
4. Add in the beaten eggs, a bit at a time, combining as you go
5. Add in the flour in three stages
6. Add in the zest of the orange
7. Add in the juice or essence
8. When combined, fold into the tin and level out the top
9. Bake in the centre of the oven for 45-50 minutes (the cake is done when the skewer comes away clean and the cake is pulling away from the sides of the tin)
10. As the cake is cooling, melt the icing sugar with the orange juice over a low heat until it becomes a syrup
11. Pierce the top of the warm cake with the skewer randomly
12. Pour over the warm syrup onto the cake
13. Let the cake cool in the tin
14. Serve with cream and raspberries or simply a big mug of coffee!

** See here for Lime Drizzle Cake: https://teeninattic.com/2018/12/13/lime-drizzle-cake/