Waste Naught, Want Naught

Well, firstly, sorry it's been a couple of weeks since we last met to discuss the wonderful world of baking. I haven't been able to do much of it recently. The downside of baking is you run the risk of turning into Michelle McManus in an alarmingly short period  of time. Baking feels so comforting and tastes so wonderful precisely because it's so bad for you! But only in large quantities right? Everything in moderation. So let's get on with it.

Due to my thoughts on food waste, I am very interested in the role baking can take in helping to cut down on food waste. A past-its-best piece of fruit or veg is incredibly difficult to sell as a tasty treat, but just try keeping cake or cookies or tart around the house for more than a couple of days. Baking is the original and best (not to mention the most delicious) way to use up things in the fridge.

So what have I been using up? Well, Ed and I get a fruit box delivered each week. Sometimes we get a large quantity of oranges and we never get through them fast as we're both too lazy to peel anything! So I had a few big oranges going soft and taking on a life of their own in the fruit bowl. They're perfect to make an orange cake. I adapted this recipe from one for a lemon cake, so if it's lemons you've got lying around then feel free to substitute. This cake is extremely light and moist, juicy and creamy. It's a perfect sunny afternoon cake, or perhaps at a party with a glass of champagne.

Ingredients (cake):

225g butter, diced
225g granulated sugar
225g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
50ml double cream
Grated zest and juice of 1-2 oranges (your choice)

Ingredients (filling):

Grated zest and juice of an orange
2 eggs
60g butter
90g sugar
200g mascarpone

Ingredients (topping):

Juice of one orange
50g sugar

Method:

First off we need to make an orange curd for the filling. Put all the filling ingredients in a heatproof bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water on the hob (just fill a saucepan half full, let the water gently make bubbles but not boil and place the bowl with ingredients in the pan). Whisk it up until the butter is melted then just keep ooooooooooon whisking for a few minutes until it looks a bit like thick custard. Gloop it through a seive into a bowl, cover in clingfilm and shove it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Now we do the usual, preheat the oven to 170deg, 190 if you don't have a fan oven and gas mark 5 if you're retro. Butter up a cake tin, somewhere around 20cm if you have it. Removable based tins are really useful, but I used silicon and it worked just fine. Butter it generously if you have neither. Pop all the ingredients into a big bowl and cream together. Way easier with a processor but I don't have one so you'll be fine. Once it's all smooth and yummy looking, spoon it into the tin and bake it for between 45-55 mins. Keep testing it, make sure it's cooked (skewer will come out clean) but not tough or burned at all. When it's out, and still hot, combine the topping ingredients and spoon it over the cake. Leave it now, if you can! The juice will sink in to the sponge.

Blend up 100g of the orange curd with the mascarpone. You probs won't need it all, more like half, but apparently it's awesome on toast :) Cut the cake in two with a bread knife, gently cutting round. Spread the filling generously and reassemble the cake. If you're not going to eat it right away, cover and chill it but bring back to room temp before serving.

And that's it! It really is amazingly tasty and light. Give it a go.

A x