August 8: Orange Cake

I am glad that I chose a simple, straightforward cake this weekend.  Autumn and Colin start back to school on Monday and there were end-of-summer haircuts and supply-shopping trips to accomplish.  In addition, I had production meetings about the play for which I am designing costumes, Calendar Girls at Georgia Ensemble Theatre.  The show opens on September 10th and this weekend I made my costume presentations for approval of my renderings.  Now, I can hit the ground running on my designs.  It is set at the turn of the millennium, so I will be able to shop-and-alter rather than build most of the costumes.

This recipe is from my folder of magazine clippings; it was published in the January 2004 issue of Gourmet in a feature about sour cream, Culture Club.  The cake is a single-layer, square cake without frosting.  It is flavored with fresh-squeezed orange juice and orange zest.

The texture is absolutely perfect, due to the sour cream, no doubt.  It is moist and not "crumby."  It's a delicious cake, but its delicate orange flavor almost cries out for a glaze or frosting.  The family was unanimous is wishing it was, to quote Colin, "oranigier."  I am not sure if it was the fact that oranges are off-season and had come from South America or if the cake is supposed to have a very subtle taste.  I will try the recipe again, adding more orange zest and maybe I'll cheat a little by adding a spoonful of concentrated orange juice to the fresh juice.

Next Saturday:  Seven Layer Cake