May 23, 2008

Petite Orange Cakes with orange-cream cheese frosting


I usually stick to plain vanilla flavored cakes whenever I make cakes from scratch. But the event Sugar High Friday - Citrus made me experiment with another flavor and use my creativity too. I took the recipe for a plain sponge cake from a cookbook, used orange juice for the citrus flavor of the cake. Then I made a cream cheese frosting following my own idea and mixed in orange juice and zest to flavor it. Garnished with mandarin orange slices and drizzled with a little bit of melted chocolate I think these petite orange cakes qualify for two events, SHF # 43 -Citrus hosted by Tartlette and created by Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess and The Spring Tea Party hosted by The Skinny Gourmet.



Sponge cake:

I made a basic vanilla sponge cake. To add some orange flavor, I added a tablespoon of orange juice along with vanilla essence. I usually bake the cake in my 8" by 3" round cake pan, so that I can pour the batter for two individual rounds into the same pan. Once the cake was baked and cooled, I cut it into two equal layers.

[While I am writing this post, I realized that I actually halved the number of eggs needed in the recipe, but forgot to halve the quantity of cake flour and other ingredients. I should say it came out really well for such a screw-up!!!! The cake was soft, airy and fluffy. Until now I was thinking what could be the reason that it was not as moist as the cake mix cakes. Now I know!! :-) But this gives another tip too. You actually dont need 6 eggs to make 2 layers of sponge cake, if you beat the yolks and the whites really well. How's that for cutting the calories!! :-)]

For the flavored cream cheese:

Cream cheese - 4 oz
Orange juice - 5 tsp
Orange zest - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Butter - 1 tbsp, melted
Whole milk - 1 1/2 - 2 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Beat all of the above ingredients together until smooth and fluffy.

I did not want a very sweet frosting, so unlike the traditional cream cheese frostings, I just added sugar for its sake. A little bit of sweetness will also come from the orange juice. I should say that the frosting was very tasty with a subtle but distinct flavor of oranges from the orange juice and the orange zest.




Assembling the petite cakes:

Tint half of the cream cheese frosting a light orange color. This step is optional as it does not impart any additional flavor. It is entirely for a feast for your eyes.

Place the upper cut layer on the cake board.

Spread the tinted cream cheese frosting over the cake.

Place the second cake layer on top so that the bottom of the baked cake (the brown part) is actually now on the top.

Using your favourite cookie cutter/s, cut out petite cakes from the two layered cake.

Top each of the petite cake with a dollop of the white cream cheese mixture.

Place a segment of mandarin orange on top of the cream cheese mixture.

Drizzle a bit of melted chocolate over the cake.

Serve and enjoy!

Tip:

  1. The picture shows the cake on a melted chocolate-milk puddle with mandarin orange slices and chocolate chips.

27 comments:

Cham said...

Just left a message in another cake and voila u r throwing another cake party! I like cirus flavor, it is really cute in small portion :)

Rachel said...

Wow thanks...I love the tartness a citrus adds to anything...that looks lovely :D

Suganya said...

Hi JZ...
That was a excellent presentation. Looks YUM! Love orange cake a lot. Cute cake.

notyet100 said...

gng to sleep,..but now feel like having these cakes,..somerecipes are real torture,,..thk keep wandering in ur mind,..unlessu eat thm,..;-)this is one of thm,..

Unknown said...

the cake looks gorgeous..

Marija said...

Oh my! Look at those beautiful treats! I am so honored you liked my blog. Means a lot when it comes from a real pro like you!

Hetal said...

The cake looks so cuteee,its mouth watering!!

Felcy said...

Beautiful Presentation... I don know where you get these ideas.. Amazing... You rock!!!!

@the_whisk_affair said...

Thanks Cham and Rachel, enjoy ur awards!

Thanks Sukanya, notyet100, divya vikram! Notyet100, comeon over, I have some left :-)

Thanks a lot Marija, Hetal and Felcy!!

Marija, I am not a pro :-), but thanks for your good words! Felcy, lets rock!!

ranji said...

thats delcious JZ....i really admire the way u present ur dishes...a feast for the eyes and mouth:)...

@the_whisk_affair said...

Thanks a lot Ranji!

jayasree said...

Cake is looking lovely. Excellent pics and presentation.

Naina said...

Wow...your blog sure doesn't look like its only 3 months old. Your photographs are amaaaazing. I will definitely keep stopping by.

Unknown said...

That's a lovely presentation..looks deliciouNice tip for cutting down eggs..Yummo...

@the_whisk_affair said...

Thanks Jayasree, Gromit and Maheswari!!

bha said...

thats a real treat for the eyes....and it looks so amazing....u really rock girl

Purnima said...

The black forest looks awesome, JZ n how dainty this one looks, 10/10 for ur detailing ..the attention given to decoration/presentation, b it soup, dessert or cakes!! I mmmm droooooolinnnnnnggg!! Buckets of it!! :D I truly lack presentation skills! Hope I can make up in time!

Deeba PAB said...

Absolutely wonderful JZ...my dream petit fours! This is something I've always wanted to do, but never quite got there!! Pretty presentation too..

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful little bite of heaven! Thanks for this mouth-watering contribution to the tea party.

@the_whisk_affair said...

Thanks Bhags, Punima, Deeba and Erin!

Unknown said...

Lovely through and through! I love the presentation too.
Thank you for participating!
Tartelette

@the_whisk_affair said...

Thanks a lot Helen, it means a lot coming from you! You are such a talented person, I admire you! Its an honor!

Sara said...

wow, looks amazing! really beautiful!

Mansi said...

those look great JZ! I love orange and chocolate pairing, and I made chocolate cupcakes with a similar orange cream sauce sometime back:)

nice presentation!:)

Unknown said...

wow.. a decadent dessert. i'm coming for dinner!

tigerfish said...

Love the presentation. Awesome!

@the_whisk_affair said...

Thanks Sara, Mansi, Arfi and Tigerfish! :-) I'm glad u all liked it!! :-)