Well we’ve finally had our first rainy Winters day. With no plans, and our usual walk to the park out of the question it was the perfect day to spend some time baking at home. For the past few weeks our fruit bowl has been overflowing, it should really be called the ‘fruit bench’ due to the ever-growing sprawl. Spying a few Oranges that looked like they were well and truly ripe, I decided to make my Mum’s Orange Cake. 
It’s an old recipe from the local newspaper my home town in country Victoria, and was sent in by ‘Thelma’ from Eaglehawk. With simple ingredients and enough steps to keep my little helper busy, it looked perfect. 
My little helper is always asking to “mix cakes” but after being introduced to juicing oranges, I think he may just have a new favourite job! 
I made the mistake let him choose which cake tin we were going to use, and naturally he chose one of the least practical tins we own. The recipe recommended a 22cm x 10cm log tin, so when he chose a small novelty love heart tin, I knew we had waaay too much mixture for the pan. After filling the tin until it was 3/4 full, I spooned the remaining cake batter into a small loaf pan, perfect for him have fun mixing with. 
After a small howl of protest when I had to take his cake away, both cakes were put into the oven and baked for 22 minutes at 180 degrees (fan forced). Mine was just perfect, but his was a little overdone. It was still soft and moist and we ate it warm with a glass of cold milk. I iced mine with a plain orange icing and sprinkled coconut over the top – because let’s be honest, coconut makes everything taste better! 
If you decide to go with the cake tin suggested (which is probably a good idea!), you will need to bake your cake for 45 -50 minutes until it’s firm to touch on the top and a skewer comes out clean. 
Mum's Orange Cake
Ingredients
- 125 butter
- 2/3 cup castor sugar
- Grated rind of 1 large orange
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/3 cups self raising flour
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoons of milk
- Icing
- 45 g of unsalted butter - soft
- Grated rind of 1/2 an orange
- 2 tablespoons of orange juice
- 1 1/3 cups icing sugar mixture
Instructions
- For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees (160 degrees fan forced) and grease and line the base of a 22cm x 10cm log tin.
- Combine the softened butter, sugar and orange rind in a bowl and using an electric mixer, beat until it's pale and fluffy.
- Beat in eggs one at a time, making sure they are completely combined.
- Sift the flour over the top of the cake, and while on a low speed, slowly add the orange juice and milk and continue to beat until the mixture has combined.
- Pour mixture into the prepared tin and lightly smooth over the top.
- Bake in oven for approximately 45 minutes, until the cake is firm to touch on top and cooked through.
- After removing from oven, cool cake in tin for 15 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Icing:
- Add the butter, rind, and icing sugar into a bowl.
- Add the orange juice and using a metal spoon mix until combined and you have a smooth consistency.
- If the icing is a little hard to spread, just add a few extra drops of orange juice.
Enjoy xx
Linking up today with The Multitasking Mummy for Mummy Mondays
Maria @ Mummy Goes Mad says
Very cute and I bet very tasty 🙂
Lauren @ createbakemake says
Thanks Maria, it was a bit too yummy 🙂
Emily @ Have A Laugh On Me says
What is it with mums and orange cake? My mum has a great recipe too, and a lemon one!
Lauren @ createbakemake says
It totally must be a Mum thing!
Sarah @CreatingContentment says
Looks so good! And I agree coconut makes everything better!!
Lauren @ createbakemake says
Thanks Sarah, I’m glad others have the same thoughts!
Bree @ Twinkle in the Eye says
I love citrus cakes. This looks great.
Lauren @ createbakemake says
Thanks Bree, it’s a family favourite 🙂
Ai Sakura says
Orange and other citrus cakes are so great for summer. Love the refreshing tastes of them.
Ai @
Sakura Haruka
Lauren @ createbakemake says
They really are great. Oranges are my favourite citrus, I just love them in everything 🙂
Eva Lewis (The Multitasking Mu says
Looks yummy. I can just taste it…orange and butter..yummm!
Lauren @ createbakemake says
Thanks Eva, it’s one of my favourite cakes.
Dianne Childs says
How fluffy does that mixture look?! I love Orange Cake. Yum! Di from Max The Unicorn visiting via With Some Grace #FYBF 🙂
Lauren @ createbakemake says
It is such a soft airy mixture – even with a toddler ‘helping’ it still tasted very light. Thanks for visiting 🙂
The Plumbette says
I never used to like citrus flavoured anything but orange cake with a delicious frosting has me going back for more. I ate three oranges yesterday! They were so juicy and delicious. I’m definitely going to give this recipe a go.
Lauren @ createbakemake says
After reading your comment I now want to eat an orange!! I hope you enjoy this recipe, have a great weekend x
Kylie Purtell, A Study in Cont says
I don’t think I’ve ever had orange cake before, but I would definitely like to try it, especially if it looks as good as yours does! In fact, we have so many oranges at the moment (the in-laws tree is overflowing) that this might be a good way to use them