Piece of Cake

[madbaker]

Recipe 1: Olive Oil Orange Cake.

1 1/3 cups olive oil
3 eggses (I used duck)
1 1/4 cups whole milk (I used buttermilk)
grated orange zest from 1 orange
1/4 cup fresh orange juice, also from said 1 orange
1/4 cup Gran Marnier or other orange liqueur
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Heat oven to 325, grease a springform pan, add a parchment circle, and regrease. Do not make this in a regular 9" cake pan; it will overflow.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggses and olive oil to emulsify. Add the milk, zest, and juice. Whisk. Add the sugar and whisk. Add in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk just until incorporated - do not overmix. The batter will be thin.

Pour into prepared pan and bake on a sheet (in case of drips) for 70-75 minutes. Cake will be golden brown and domed in the center when done, and the toothpick test should be clean.

Allow to cool for 1 hour before releasing and finish cooling on a wire rack.

What worked: It was tasty. Quite moist. It worked well with the frosting (below).

What didn't: It was almost too moist in texture. The parchment tore off a bit in the center, despite the spray.
I didn't get much orange flavor.

Will I make it again? Probably, yes. The homeowners' meeting liked it and it was quite good with tea the next day.

Recipe 2: Neoclassic Buttercream.

3 large egg yolks (we used duck)
3/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup (we used dark; it's the only kind we keep in the house)
1 cup / 2 sticks unsalted butter
flavoring: 1 to 2 Tbsp (we used: 1/2 tsp each almond extract, vanilla, and orange extract)

Have ready a greased 1-cup glass measure near the stove.
In a bowl beat the yolks with and electric mixer until light in color. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan and heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup comes to a rolling boil. (The entire surface will be covered with large bubbles.) Immediately transfer the syrup to the glass measure to stop the cooking.

Beat the syrup into the yolks in a steady stream. Don't allow syrup to fall on the beaters or they will spin it onto the sides of the bowl. Use a rubber scraper to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measure and continue beating until completely cool.

Gradually beat in the butter and if desired, any flavoring.

What worked: This was delicious, rich, and easy to frost. The recipe promises it "is an easier technique than that of classic buttercream and yields identical results... some of the sugar and all of the water is replaced by corn syrup. It provides just the right amount of water so that when brought to a full boil, the temperature of the syrup is exactly the needed 238 F. It also prevents crystallization."

It certainly seemed to work without as much hassle as standard buttercream. It was actually nicer to eat when refrigerated than at room temperature, even though it needs to be room to spread on the cake.

What didn't: We should have used chicken egg yolks; the larger size (and color) impacted the frosting a bit. As did using dark corn syrup, and about half the minimum flavoring quantities. (We were trying to err on the side of not overpowering for the first time through.)

Everything was a bit beige. It would have been nicer with a pop of color - a dribble of raspberry jam, pomegranate seeds, something.

Will I make it again? It's not a thing I do very often, but for the sort of cake that wants a buttercream frosting, definitely.

Comments

[tshuma]

The cake almost sounds like this thing I made, which seemed like a lot of work but was really lovely. I think maybe it had a touch more orange flavor than you were going for, but since she was trying to feature the olive oil, not much.

Dealing with the blood oranges was a bit of a pain, but I got better at supreming them by the end.

I'm definitely taking notes on your buttercream here, though.

[madbaker]

That cake looks fabulous. We don't tend to make buttercream frosting, but if and when we do we will likely use this recipe and refrigerate after frosting.

[tshuma]

I've now deliberately picked up blood oranges again with the plan of making that cake. I'll let you know how it turns out, particularly if I end up doing a small one with the buttercream as well.