The church calendar says that the 6th
January is Epiphany, which celebrates the visit of the Magi to the Christ
Child. It is the 12th day of
Christmas, and the final days of Christmas.
So, if I were a person who celebrated the 12 days, today would be the
last day. So I guess that is the last
day for eating Christmas food, treats while starting an increase of intake of
carrots, celery, apples and lean meat!
Speaking of cake, I have developed
the reputation at church for baking good cakes.
Recently three different people asked me to bake birthday cakes for
after church service coffee time. I’ve
been glad to oblige.
One of the recipes I found in my Granny’s recipe box. Someone had asked for a lemon cake and I
thought I’d seen a recipe I could use in either my mother’s or grandmothers’
recipe boxes. As it turned out, there
was lemon cake recipe that required a box cake mix and a packet of lemon
flavoured gelatine. Since that was an
American recipe, I didn’t feel confident trying to make it as I am not familiar
with the British equivalent of those products.
A felt a scratch recipe was best.
I came across a scratch cake recipe for Orange cake. So, I want to share that with you.
Lemon Curd is very popular here in
Great Britain. I thought using curd,
which has the consistency of pudding, would be a nice change from a
powdered/icing sugar topping.
Here is the
link to the lemon curd recipe I used. I
used freshly squeezed lemon juice. I
bought five fresh lemons from the local green grocer. Before I scraped the zest off, I put them
into the microwave for about 30 seconds each.
This made them super easy to juice.
After squeezing five lemons, my rings were very clean and shiny! A nice side benefit! http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/24336/easy-lemon-curd.aspx
The orange
cake recipe came from the back panel of a box of Swans Down Cake Flour. I’m not sure how old the recipe is, because
Swans Down Cake flour is a product that has been produced since 1894. http://www.swansdown.com/site.php. You can even buy this on-line--just Google Swans
Down to find it in the UK.
Orange
Cake
2 ½ cups sifted Swans Down Cake Flour
2 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ (4 oz.) cup butter or margarine*
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 eggs
3 Tablespoons milk*
¾ cup (6 oz.) orange juice
*or use vegetable shortening and
increase milk to 1/3 cup
Method:
1)
Preheat oven to
375ºF/190ºC/Gas Mark 5.
2) Grease and flour two 8-inch layer cake pans. (I usually line the bottom with grease-proof
paper to keep the bottom from sticking.
Sometimes it sticks even after being greased and floured.) Set to side.
3) In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder,
baking soda and salt.
4) Cream butter with orange rind. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and
fluffy.
5) Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each
addition.
6) Add about one-fourth of the flour mixture and beat
until smooth.
7) Beat in milk.
8) Add remaining flour mixture alternately with the
orange juice, beating after each addition until smooth.
9) Pour into cake tins.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until cake tester inserted in centre comes
out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes.
10) Removed from pan
and finish cooling on racks.
11) Frost/top as
desired.
No comments:
Post a Comment