I was awoken this morning by the sound of some appallingly obtrusive snoring from the next bedroom. I had never heard such disgusting sounds, at least not within the realms of civilised humanity. I poked my gracious head around the door and saw an elephantine lump breathing and belching flatulently, a vision that might have been redolent of a particularly nasty pyscho horror film. Fanny was on her back under the duvet, her head wrapped in her lacy bonnet, her substantial red nostrils flaring with every intake of breath dreaming no doubt about her latest Brazilian. It was a sight that few could have withstood without mental damage, but magically I survived.
I will have you know however that it was too damned early, and Ruby the cat was annoyed by the unnecessary sleep interruption. Desperate times call for desperate measures and frankly I felt like eating a large and sumptuous cake as compensation for the rude awakening. I stamped downstairs and decided on making a refreshing stimulating and quite fabulous orange and ginger sponge cake. Here is the recipe.
Zesty Orange and Ginger Cake
Preheat oven to 160°c
For the cake
• 250g butter
• 250g self-raising flour
• 1 level tsp baking powder
• 125g golden caster sugar
• 125g soft brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• finely grated zest of 2 oranges
• 2 heaped dessert spoons glace ginger
For the butter icing
• 75g butter, softened
• 75g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 dessert spoonful of glace ginger pieces
• finely grated zest of 2 oranges
For the glaze topping
• 100g icing sugar
• juice of an orange (approx 100g)
• zest of 1 orange
Method
Grease two loose bottomed cake tins and place a sheet of baking paper on the base of each. This will help later when you have to extract the cake from the tins.
Put all of the dry cake ingredients into a large mixing bowl and combine them with the butter and the zest till you have a rather lovely fragrant doughey mixture.
Add the eggs, and whisk to blend giving a soft cake mixture.
Stir in the glace ginger dispersing it well.
Split the mixture between the two loose bottomed greased cake tins
Place in the oven for 20 minutes.
Check with skewer that the cakes are cooked. If still slightly gooey in the centre give them another 4-5 minutes.
Take out and place on a rack to cool.
Sandwiched buttercream icing
Once the cake has cooled mix the softened butter and the icing sugar in a large bowl.
Add half the grated rind.
Take one of the cakes and add a layer of icing to it.
Add some of the glace ginger to the layer that will be in the middle of the cakes.
For the topping
Mix the icing sugar and juice of half an orange
Add the zest
Pour the thin liquid over the top of the cake allowing it to overflow down the sides
Leave to set for a couple of hours – giving you a slightly crispy topping!