Finally, I've baked something. It's been a while. One of my friends mentioned that she had baked an orange and passion fruit cake last week and the flavour combination stuck in my mind. I then remembered that I've had Edd Kimber's orange and passion fruit cake recipe from his first book "The Boy Who Bakes" bookmarked for the last 4 years. Now I can remove that bookmark!
I'm a bit sad that my cake sank. It was one of those "ooh it looks ready" - timer goes off - open the oven door - gently prod the cake to check it's cooked - cake wobbles in an underbaked fashion - close the oven door - cake slowly collapses - "noooooo!" moments.
What the cake lacks in presentation it more than makes up for in flavour. I had forgotten how much I loved passion fruit. It's such a sunshiney, happy flavour and pairs very well with sweet, tangy orange. A refreshing cake to eat in gloomy, winter weather! The passion fruit seeds in the icing glaze also lend a welcome bit of crunch to the cake.
Needless to say this cake didn't hang around for long. I'd better put my pinny on and bake something else!
Orange and passion fruit loaf
225g softened butter/margarine
255g caster sugar (30g reserved for making a syrup)
4 eggs, large
225g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
zest of 2 large oranges
juice of 1 orange (you get to eat the other orange, yay!)
passion fruit glaze:
3 passion fruits
125g icing sugar (I added a bit more to reach the consistency I wanted)
Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C Fan/ Gas 4. Grease and line a 23 x 10cm loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Sift together the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, give it a stir and set aside. In a separate bowl beat together the orange zest, butter and 225g of the sugar for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Alternate adding the eggs and 3 tablespoons of orange juice a little at a time, beating well between each addition, until everything is mixed evenly. Fold in the flour. Once everything is fully incorporated pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Bake for 50 - 55 minutes (at least an hour in my case) until risen, golden, firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
In the last few minutes before the cake comes out the oven make an orange syrup using the remaining juice from the orange and the 30g of sugar set aside earlier. Place in a small saucepan and leave to simmer for a few minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
Pierce holes into the top of the cake with a skewer and pour/brush the warm syrup on top, allowing it to soak into the cake. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
Once cool, finish the cake with the passion fruit glaze. To make the glaze, cut open the passion fruits, scoop out the seeds and pulp and press through a sieve. Reserve one tablespoon of the seeds. Add the icing sugar and reserved seeds to the passionfruit juice and mix until smooth and a good pouring consistency.
passion fruit glaze:
3 passion fruits
125g icing sugar (I added a bit more to reach the consistency I wanted)
Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C Fan/ Gas 4. Grease and line a 23 x 10cm loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Sift together the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, give it a stir and set aside. In a separate bowl beat together the orange zest, butter and 225g of the sugar for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Alternate adding the eggs and 3 tablespoons of orange juice a little at a time, beating well between each addition, until everything is mixed evenly. Fold in the flour. Once everything is fully incorporated pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Bake for 50 - 55 minutes (at least an hour in my case) until risen, golden, firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
In the last few minutes before the cake comes out the oven make an orange syrup using the remaining juice from the orange and the 30g of sugar set aside earlier. Place in a small saucepan and leave to simmer for a few minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
Pierce holes into the top of the cake with a skewer and pour/brush the warm syrup on top, allowing it to soak into the cake. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
Once cool, finish the cake with the passion fruit glaze. To make the glaze, cut open the passion fruits, scoop out the seeds and pulp and press through a sieve. Reserve one tablespoon of the seeds. Add the icing sugar and reserved seeds to the passionfruit juice and mix until smooth and a good pouring consistency.
