May 26, 2011

Tasty Thursday- Sicilian Orange Cake

This Sicilian Orange Cake is the famous orange cake from the once popular Café Agostini (this cafe has closed on 22 July, 2005) owned by Margie Agostini, in the heart of Sydney ’s suburb for the rich and famous, Woollahra. Customers have often been heard to say that “Margie’s orange cake is to die for”.

I found this recipe on Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escape Cookbook a while ago but was surprised to find out how this recipe was linked to Australia:

Rick Stein: "To be accurate, I suppose this cake should be known as Margie Agostini'sorange cake. It was her signature dish at her greatly missed Caffe Agostini in Woollahra in Sydney. It seemed to me to be just made for Sicilian oranges. The recipe came from an article in the Times by Jill Dupleix, although I had eaten the cake at the cafe a few years earlier and I thought it was amazing. As Jill says, it has to be the richest, moistest, butteriest and yet lightest orange cake in the world."
~Ellie,  Almost Bourdain, Aug 16 2009

Hello there. It’s been a little while since my last post, and certainly longer than planned. Well, you do know that I'm a part-time blogger and a full time house-mom-wife right...


Right now, after gone for almost 10 days [it feels like 10 years tho], I'm back with the renowned Sicilian Orange Cake. This is a perfect orange cake. Ask around if you don't believe me. It became a blogosphere phenomenon since 2009, and everyone who tried it, loved it! 

I believe no one will say no to this buttery, moist and full with mild aroma of orange citrus cake. It's a simple cake, yet so pleasing.. I had to agree with Ellie excerpt above, it is the richest, moistest, butteriest and yet lightest orange cake in the world..
I came to know this cake from Ellie of Almost Bourdain. Early this week,  Ellie decided to leave the blogging world, and I had to admit that I'm quite shock to hear the news. Personally, I'm a big fan of Ellie's blog. Her appetizing photos and inventing recipes were so inspiring. Most of my baking/cooking goodies came from her site, whether it get published here or not. There's more recipes waiting to be tried and her blog would be my online "recipe-book" for years coming. :)

And to be honest, I baked this cake for her. My so-called farewell tribute for her leaving. To Ellie, you'll be missed.. Wish you the best of luck with your life and I hope we get to see you again...soon :)


Sicilian Orange Cake Recipe

(Adapted from Almost Bourdain)
Makes 1 x 22-cm cake, to serve about 8 


Ingredients
250g lightly salted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
250 g caster sugar ( I cut down to 230g)
4 medium eggs
1 1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest
250 g self raising flour (make sure you get self raising flour!)
85 ml freshly squeezed orange juice

For the icing (optional):
125 g icing sugar
5 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice



Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease and line a 22-cm clip-sided round cake with non-stick baking paper.
  2. Using an electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar together for 4-5 minutes until very pale. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating very well between each one, if necessary adding a spoonful of flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from curdling. Beat in the orange zest. Add the flour all at once and mix in well, then slowly mix in the orange juice.
  3. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean. If it starts to brown too quickly, cover loosely with a sheet of lightly buttered foil.
  4. Leave the cake, in its tin, to cool on a wire rack, then carefully remove the sides and base of the tin and peel off the paper. Put it onto a serving plate.
For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in the orange juice until you have a spreadable consistency. Spread it over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides, and leave to set. Serve cut into slices, and store any leftovers in an airtight container.



22 comments:

  1. ada tak oren zest siap jual punya? cukup malas nak memarut, hehe

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi RC!This is my first time here..how are you la?
    Nampak aje glaze yang meleleh leleh tu dah cukup buat I terliur depan PC ni..anyway could u give some recommendations on Singapore hotel?
    Preferably somewhere in Geylang?
    Harap u tak keberatan.
    Again,semua gambar dekat sini cantik belaka!

    ReplyDelete
  3. RC,
    10 hari okay lagi tuh.... MM kalau dapat tulis post sebulan sekali pun kira terror sungguh lor.. hehehe..
    Lagipun when u 'arrived' gambar sure tangkap leleh jer... :)
    I wish that i can bake one day.. Tunggu org belikan oven.Boleh? Hehehe... Berkurun dah tunggu nak oven nieh...Teruskan usaha baking membaking yer.. nanti hubby MM sampai seru beli oven, boleh MM amik kat sini resepi2nya..

    have a great day RC!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your Sicilian orange cake is beautiful! Thanks for the farewell gift. Feeling really touched by it. Stay in touch :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. RC!! U're missed!! I was wondering, mana la u pegi, lama tak nampak. Semalam I singgah sini, and still no new updates from you.

    Finally, today, you decided to surface and with my all time fav recipe pulak tu. Welcome back! As always, ur photos are to die for :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi babe! I'm with Shidah's comment. I'm the one who should be doing the 'disappearing' job...hehe..but it turned out you did!

    Yes, that cake is to die for. I had bake it too. ;)

    Hope to 'see' you a lot here. <3

    ReplyDelete
  7. RC
    You pun MIA ek? I think bila kita ambik cuti kejap dari berblogging, it literally helps the soul (to have a rest). Whateva that means, hehe.

    Itu kek memang dasyat! I cuba nak buat versi yg guna kulit n flesh oren aje; namun lum terlaksana lagi.

    ReplyDelete
  8. aku nak cuba, sebab senang gila the method and the ingredients pun sikit giler, wajib coba!

    ReplyDelete
  9. sedapnyaaa...tangkap leleh tu... hehe, senang la ble try:)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I think I have seen this being attempted by several bloggers. Yours look so well executed!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Mira..

    I'm okay here..thanks for the shout here..

    I'll try to leave the recommendations on your blog today.. InsyaAllah..

    sorry for the late reply.. hopefully, u still tak pegi SG lagi he he

    ReplyDelete
  12. MM,

    mmg saje letak icing lebih, diri sendri tgk pun terliur.. I yg abiskan kek ni..this cake is addictive!!!

    Nway, pasal oven tu.. i nak bukak rahsia nih.. he he all my baking goodies were baked with my RM100 oven.. selagi tak pindah umah baru, selagi tu I maintain pakai oven ni.. byk jasa ni..u boleh je gi Giant/tesco, carik oven murah2 and start baking!! ;p best tau baking-membaking nih..so jom join the club!!! ;p

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ellie..!! thanks for dropping by.. :D you made my day by leaving your comment here!!

    So long and until we meet again.. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. sizuka,

    Sorry..he he I singgah blog u, tapi tak sempat leave comment.. adam klu ade kat sebelah, mmg tak sempat nak berblogwalking bagai.. dia asik nak tgk utube je.. which I tak bagi sangat.. so, trus tak bukak laptop depan dia.. and malam tertido awal, tak jadik lah nak update-bagai..he he okay tak reason i? he he

    ReplyDelete
  15. K Lili,

    ditto he he

    I miss u too..tapi tak sempat nak singgah..I wish I could stay up at night, and do some BW.. tp bila tidur kan Adam, for sure I tido sama he he

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh CS,

    ade version gitu eh.. sila tepek resepi if terlaksana nanti.. I terigin nak try ur recipe plak he he

    a break from bloggin is definitely a must when someone stuck in getting fresh ideas on what to blog.. u hari2 berkarya sbb banyak ideas.. ;p

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lurpak,

    mmg wajib cuba!! sama je kek ni cam kek oren time hari raya time kecik2 dulu..buat aku rendu arwah nenek aku je bila makan kek ni sob sob

    ReplyDelete
  18. Mamma Olyn,

    tp ur orange blended cake tu lagi senang..tah bila I nak buat tu... he he

    ReplyDelete
  19. Shirley,

    I've crossed SOC from my list.. you should try it too.. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. dulu kecik kecik i tak suka oren cake now i suka gila!

    ReplyDelete
  21.  

    Useful information ..I am very happy to read this article..thanks for giving
    us this useful information. Fantastic walk-through. I appreciate this post.


    cheap hotels in
    Singapore

    ReplyDelete