Orange Fruit Cake with Toffee Sauce

Although I do agree that fruit cakes must be baked and had at Christmas time, they are not my favourite kind. So I try to work around that by making fruit cakes but with only one fruit. That counts, right?

This cake recipe started off somewhere else entirely and ended up as an orange cake. SJ and I were discussing a book she recommended (more on that in a later post) and she sent me the recipe for a lemon loaf cake that she said I must try.

Now, as a general rule, which I only sometimes break, I don't like lemon-based desserts. Here's an exception. I love lemon or lime and the flavour but not so much in sweet things. So I decided substituting orange in a lemon cake recipe can't be all bad.

The batter is extremely fragrant and if you decide to spice it up, even better. Use fresh orange zest, none of that dried stuff please!

The cake bakes up nice and spongy and doesn't rise too much so don't panic. I decided to do away with the lemon glaze recipe that comes with the lemon loaf cake and use the toffee sauce that goes so well with the sticky date cake (another great cake for the Christmas season!) that I have now baked countless times.

The cake calls for vegetable oil and usually I am wary of using oil in cakes (I have tried a few with mixed results) but I needn't have worried at all. It worked like a charm.

One-Bowl Orange Fruit Cake with Toffee Sauce
Makes one large 8" cake
Adapted very loosely from Piece of Cake

Ingredients:
1.5 cups regular flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 tsp fresh orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

How I Made It:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

2. Add eggs, sour cream, oil, orange zest and vanilla to the flour mixture. Using an electric blender on med-low speed, beat for 1 min, until blended. Scrap sides and bottom, beat on med. speed for 1 min. If beating by hand, do it briskly in one direction for about 3-4 mins until well blended and you can't see traces of flour sticking out.

3. Spread batter in greased cake pan or loaf pan.

4. Bake at 350F / 180C for 50-55min. Let cool in the pan for 10mins.

5. Poke holes all over warm cake with a fork and pour the toffee sauce over it. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

Store leftover cake in the refrigerate and bring to room temperature or microwave in low heat for 1 min before serving.

Toffee Sauce Recipe
Makes 1 cup and a bit more

Ingredients:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/8 t salt
1/2 cup cream (I use whipping cream)
6 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
1tsp vanilla extract

How to:

In a pan, combine sugar, cream, salt and butter. Bring to a boil whisking continuously. Reduce heat and simmer whisking for 2mins till sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Let it cool for 5mins or till slightly thickened. Pour over cake while still warm.

This sauce can be refrigerated for up to a week and used on any dessert or ice cream of choice. It's delicious and gets it's consistency back by microwaving on low heat or leaving out for 10 mins at room temperature.

Notes:

- To make this orange cake a christmas cake, add 1 tsp cinnamon powder and 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder to the above recipe. You can also try adding 1/2 tsp fresh garam masala to make it spicier.

- When measuring flour, use the scoop and sweep method - ie - scoop flour loosely into the measuring cup and when full, sweep the excess off the top.

- This is a one-bowl cake and is very easy to put together so there's no need for creaming of butter and sugar or sifting of dry ingredients. Using an electric mixer makes the mixing process more uniform so I would recommend that.