Kek Oren / Orange Butter Cake

Kek Oren / Orange Butter Cake

   November 18, 2019       Lyn Alina

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Orange cake is always special to me.
Baking orange butter cake makes me reminisce of my childhood.
Back in the day, almost every year I've baked orange cake, along with kek batik and kek lapis masam manis to be served to our guests during Eid Mubarak.
Usually, on the first night of Eid Mubarak I was still busy with my cake baking, as I wanted to serve  freshly baked cakes for my guests on the next day.
It was so tiring, of course..being the only daughter of the family with basically nobody to help me with the house cleaning, cooking and making cookies and cakes.
But..nothing could be more happier than to see my guests to happily enjoying our delicacies, freshly prepared by ourselves.

So, I am making orange butter cake again, to fulfill the request of Mr Hubby.
Last three days ago, we bought a bunch of oranges.
Unfortunately, the oranges are a little bit sour, than the last batch of oranges that we bought before.
Since my hubby is quite "allergic" to sourness, I have to turn the sour oranges that we bought into something that he can enjoy eating.
So here it is, the moist and delicious orange butter cake, with the freshness aroma of squeezed orange juice and it's zest!

We know that eating sweet treats like cake can be a big spoiler of your diet.
Each time I bake a cake, I always try to reduce the sugar content and add a new twist into my cake recipes by adding chocolate chips, raisins or nuts to add more flavors in my cake.
But remember to be cautious when adjusting the portion of the ingredients, or unless the whole cake will be spoiled.
Sugar is an important component for making cakes, as it helps to not only adding flavor, but also to moisten and tenderize the cake structure.
Too much reduction of sugar can result in a dry, crumbly and tough cake - which we absolutely don't want that to happen.

I have baked orange cake in many occasions, including orange chiffon cake and orange muffins (I'll share my chiffon cake recipe in the next entry).
I have tried different recipes, but so far this recipe is the winner.
I absolutely love the combination of freshly squeezed orange juice with fresh milk.
It's tangy and milky up to the last bite!
It is amazingly delicious, with reduced sweetness and a delicate taste of orange, perfect for snack and tea time treat.

I use a loaf pan to bake the cake but you may also use a square cake pan , I would recommend to use 7 x 7 inch square pan, so that the cake would not be too flat.

ORANGE BUTTER CAKE

Course : Snack

Difficulty : Easy

Ingredients:

200 grams of salted butter

200 grams of granulated sugar (I reduced to 120 grams)

Orange zest from 1 orange

4 large eggs

200 grams of all purpose or wheat flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

Orange juice from 1 orange

50 grams of fresh milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180℃.  Grease a 8x4 inch loaf tin and line a baking or parchment paper at the bottom and butter the paper.
2. In a small bowl, combine orange juice with fresh milk.
3. Sift flour with baking powder twice and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy using electric stand or hand mixer.
5. Add in orange zest followed by adding egg one at a time while continue to beat between the addition of egg until creamy.
6. Fold in flour mixture by using a spatula, adding small portion at a time and mix until well incorporated.
7. Lastly pour in the milk mixture and mix well.
8. Pour in the cake batter into the prepared pan and shake the tin lightly to evenly distribute the batter.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes (do not open the oven door during the first 30 minutes to prevent cake from collapsing), or until inserted cake tester or wooden skewer comes out clean.
10. Flip the baked cake, with the top facing downward on a wire rack and let it cool for 10 minutes.
11. Serve warm.
12. Wrap the leftover in aluminium foil to preserve the cake moisture.

MALAY VERSION

RESEPI KEK OREN

Bahan-bahan:

200 gram mentega bergaram

200 gram gula pasir  (saya kurangkan ke 120 gram)

Parutan kulit dari 1 biji oren

4 biji telur Gred A

200 gram tepung gandum

2 sudu teh baking powder

Jus oren dari 1 biji oren

50 gram susu segar

Cara-cara:

1. Panaskan ketuhar pada suhu 180℃.  Lenser loyang bersaiz 8x4 inci atau 7x7 inci dan alaskan kertas minyak di bahagian bawahnya dan lenserkan mentega di atasnya.
2. Di dalam sebuah mangkuk kecil, campurkan susu segar dan jus oren.
3. Ayak tepung gandum bersama baking powder sebanyak dua kali dan ketepikan.
4. Di dalam mangkuk pengadun, pukul mentega dan gula sehingga kembang menggunakan stand atau hand mixer.
5. Masukkan parutan kulit oren, diikuti dengan telur sebiji demi sebiji sambil terus memutar sehingga adunan berkrim.
6. Masukkan tepung, sedikit demi sedikit dan kaup balik menggunakan spatula sehingga tepung bercampur sebati dengan adunan.
7. Akhir sekali, tuang campuran susu segar dan gaul rata.
8. Tuang adunan kek ke dalam loyang yang telah disediakan dan hentak ringan loyang untuk meratakan adunan kek.
9. Bakar selama 45 hingga 50 minit (jangan buka tutup pintu ketuhar pada 30 minit pertama untuk mengelakkan kek dari jatuh), menggunakan api atas bawah sehingga kek masak.
10. Setelah kek masak, terbalikkan loyang untuk mengeluarkan kek, dengan bahagian atas kek di atas redai dan sejukkan kek selama 10 minit.
11. Potong dan hidangkan.
12. Simpan lebihan kek dalam aluminium foil supaya kek sentiasa lembap.