Essentially a pound cake variation with major organginess, this is a great treat for breakfast, dessert, or afternoon tea. My version used a very rich orange marmalade that gave lots of flavor and made a substantial glaze. The cake kept for more than a week—seemed to get better as it aged. It really took me back to 4 o’clock tea with Grandma.
Source: Melissa Clark, one of my favs. Here’s a link to her video.
Orange Marmalade Cake
I say, tea time anyone?
Servings 12 slices
Calories 271kcal
Equipment
- loaf pan
- microplane grater
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup orange marmalade Divided. Use 1/3 cup in the batter and 1/3 cup in the glaze. If your marmalade choice has larger pieces of orange peel in it, chop them into small bits. I actually did a bit of searching to follow MC's ideas about marmalades. Look for darker color and orange bits to max flavor. In the end, they're all sucrose and pectin, pretty much.
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter Or use salted butter and half the added salt.
- 3/4 cup sugar I'm using organic, minimally processed sugar these days, or I'm experimenting with no/low carb natural sugar substitutes. Or a blend. Sugar used to be so simple.
- 2 tsp lime zest
- 1/2 tsp orange zest
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tbsp orange juice Squeeze the orange you zested.
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt I used fine sea salt as MC suggests. Can't see why any salt wouldn't do.
- 4 tbsp powdered sugar Confectioners' sugar, caster sugar, home-ground granulated sugar, whatever.
Instructions
- One hour ahead, set out eggs and butter to come to room temperature.
- Pre-heat oven to 350°.
- Grease a 9×5 loaf pan with butter or oil-flour spray and set aside.
- Beat together softened butter, sugar, and both zests until light and fluffy. I did this for a full five minutes in a stand mixer. If not available, use a hand mixer or even a whisk. But take the time. You'll be glad you did.
- In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt to combine. Then fold the dry stuff into the wet stuff—making sure to scrape up the bits at the bottom of the bowl— until the dry just barely disappears. Don't go beyond this or you'll overmix and you know what that means—a tough crumb. Horrors!
- Use the silicone spatula (It was made for jobs like this.) to scrape the batter into your loaf pan. Shake the pan gently, back and forth and sideways, to get the batter evenly distributed. Bake in the center of the oven for 55 minutes, turning the pan around half-way through.
- Remove from oven and test for doneness. I use my digital thermometer and look for a temp of 200-205°. The toothpick test works, too.
- Set the loaf pan on a wire rack for ten minutes, then turn it over (careful, it's hot) to remove the loaf. It should drop right out into your towel-protected hand. Return the loaf to the wire rack.
- Now, for the glaze. In a small sauce pan over medium-low heat, whisk together 1/3 cup marmalade, powdered sugar, and 1/2 tbsp butter. When fully melted and combined, pour the glaze carefully over the loaf. You may want to put a sheet pan under the loaf to catch any drips. Smooth the glaze evenly over the loaf with the back of a large spoon or offset spatula. It's great if some of the glaze drips down the sides.
- Let the loaf cool for about an hour before slicing.
- Make tea. Find a friend to share.
Nutrition
Calories: 271kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 77mg | Sodium: 176mg | Potassium: 111mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 438IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 1mg