Zesty Orange Cake

Thursday evening has arrived, which means when I wake in the morning I will be filled with the Friday feeling! I'm heading back to the mother-ship in county Clare tomorrow, so thought I best make something tasty to bring along for my Mom and Dad. I had a very busy evening so settled for a pretty simple recipe from 'The Primrose Bakery Book'. I've only ever made this cake once before, but my Dad is a fan of orange, so I know it will go down well at home. This book is absolutely bursting with unique and innovative ideas and is a go to book on my cookbook shelf at the moment. This cake is really light and I love the zesty flavour of orange throughout. The glaze on top works really well with the creamy icing inside the cake. No doubt a slice of this zesty number will be a great way to start the weekend!

Zesty Orange Cake

Ingredients
For the Sponge
225g butter
22g sugar
Zest of 1 orange
4 eggs
225g self-raising flour

For buttercream
125g butter (room temperature)
20ml orange juice (freshly squeezed)
150g icing sugar
Zest of 1/2 an orange

For the glaze
200g icing sugar
2-3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease two 20cm sandwich tins with butter, lining the base of 
    each tin with baking paper.
2. For the sponge, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Next add the eggs one at a 
    time, mixing (preferably with an electric hand mixer) after each addition. Finally add the flour 
    and beat into the mixture until well combined. Place the mixture evenly between the two tins 
    and bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean when 
    inserted into the middle of the cake). Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
3. For the buttercream, mix together the butter, orange juice, zest and icing sugar until smooth. 
4. For the glaze, mix together the icing sugar and orange juice until you get a runny, liquid 
    consistency.

The Assembly
Spread the buttercream on the top of one of the sponge cakes and then sandwich the two cakes together. Pour the glaze over the top and allow to run down the sides. Decorate with orange zest or decorations of your choice!

E-D's Notes
- This cake can just as easily be made with lemon zest and juice for all the lemon lovers out 
   there!
- I didn't have too much time for decoration tonight, but this cake could easily be decorated with 
  orange segments, orange zest on top, or even orange chocolate shavings!