Middle Eastern Orange Cake.

I just came back from my holiday/educational/spiritual trip to Jerusalem, Mecca and Madinah where i performed my Umrah (minor pilgrimage), and i really had a wonderful time at these sacred places!

Jerusalem is a beautiful holy city with magnificient views that will take your breath away. Places of worships - Churches, Mosques, Synagogues - are built near to each other in the city.. So why can't we just live together in harmony without any disputes already??!! And I especially love the cold weather..! A good place to escape from the hot and humid weather here in Singapore.

And i feel truly blessed to be given the opportunity to go through a round of spiritual journey in the two holy cities of Mecca and Madinah. The weather was hot (50 degrees!) and i fell sick a number of times, but nevertheless it was such a great religious and spiritual experience and i would love to step my foot there again. If God wills. Insyaallah. =)

I will post some photos of the trip at the end of this post.

I declare that i've fallen in love with the middle east!! <3

Now let's talk about the subject that we love so much.

Yep. Sweet food. Cake! 

I miss my oven while i was away. No kidding.

This Middle Eastern Orange Cake is very easy to make and totally gluten-free, as it is made of almond flour instead of the normal flour. The only downside? You have to boil the oranges for two hours. I boiled the oranges for only an hour and it's still fine.

You can conclude from here that i have the patience of a saint. Not.

The cake may look totally burnt on the outside after being baked in the oven for an hour, , but fret not!! Once you pierce a fork into the cake, you'll find how delicate and moist the crumb is. And it's all thanks to the almond flour! And the citrusy taste is not too overwhelming. Just perfect. This cake is really nice to eat, and most will enjoy it!

Rating: 7/10

Recipe

(Adapted from Not Quite Nigella, who adapted it from Claudia Roden)

2 large oranges, washed (Or 3 medium ones)

6 eggs, beaten

250 g. ground almonds/almond meal/almond flour
250 g. sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
Icing sugar to dust if desired

Method

Boil whole, unpeeled oranges, barely covered with water, in a covered saucepan for 2 hours (you can do this step a day or so ahead of time and keep the boiled oranges, once cooled, in the fridge). Discard water, allow to cool, then cut open, remove the pips (seeds and the whites) and chop roughly or pull apart into smaller pieces with fingers.

Preheat oven to 190ºC/170ºc fan forced and line the base and sides of a 24cm springform tin with baking paper.

Blend oranges and remaining ingredients thoroughly in a food processor. Pour batter into prepared tin. Bake for 1 hour. If cake is still very wet, cook a little longer. Cool in tin before gently removing. Dust with icing sugar and zest and prepare to swoon…

***

Now let me entertain you with the photos of the trip:

Luxury houses along the hills at Jerusalem.

One of the Churches in Jerusalem.

The exterior of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The magnificent Dome of Rock!

The Dome of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Wailing Wall.

I love the serenity of Jerusalem!

The street at Jerusalem.

We visited the Dead Sea too. A very beautiful sea!!

Wish i could float on the dead sea!

Back after MIA! And a Strawberry Cake.

Heyya peeps!!

Yikes, I know i've been MIA for soooo looooonggggg. Tsk tsk.

Anyway. I'M SO GLAD TO BE BAKING AGAIN!

For the past few months it was quite impossible for me to get back to baking, especially when the house looked like it was turned upside down. We hired the painters to paint the whole house, but before that we had to move all the furnitures, clean every corners of the house, get rid of all the junks in every wardrobe, cupboard and drawers and... more.

Exhausting, but it's worth it. Because i have a PINK bedroom now!

I've yet to search for a chic hot pink bedsheet and curtains.

I'm 25. I'm married. I act like a 7 year-old. God, help me.

I have a long list of baking recipes to try. And that's the problem if you haven't been baking for quite a long time. The list gets longer, and your patience gets shorter.

Initially i wanted to start off with Strawberry Cream Cake (suddenly craving for a strawberry dessert), but i stumbled upon this Strawberry Cake recipe from Martha Stewart's website instead and was so delighted to read all the rave reviews for the recipe. And it's so darn easy to make too, which is a good thing when you're feeling darn lazy and unadventurous at the moment.

And I'm so glad that i decided to try this recipe in the end because the cake turned out to taste simply good. Basically it's just a butter cake with strawberries on top (yes, pretty obvious), with their sweet and sour juices seeped into the sponge, adding a fruity kick to it. And it's really light too, not too sweet, not too "bleargh". Anyone who's not a fan of strawberries won't have a problem eating this cake. Totally a great snack for tea-time.



And the best part? Yes, the scent of baked strawberries that filled the air. Sigh~.

Note: The top wasn't very brown because i baked the cake on the lower shelf of the oven. Afraid that it might overbaked!

Rating: 8/10 

Recipe

(Adapted from Martha Stewart)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pie plate

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch pie plate. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl.

Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk, and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to buttered pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Let cool in pie plate on a wire rack. Cut into wedges. Cake can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, up to 2 days.

Raspberry & Blueberry Lime Drizzle Cake

(Hah. Again, fancy calling myself a Confectionery Queen, when i seldom update this blog.)

Nothing like a summery treat to cheer you up. Especially when your weekend is almost over, and all you can think of is how the hell you are going to clear off all the massive paperwork at your workplace without wanting to bang your head occasionally on the wall.

Yes. A nice summery treat is just what you need.

Everything about this cake is good. The recipe is straight forward, and it's really easy to make.

Except i didn't know that my juice squeezer had gone missing. So in the end i had to squeeze the hell out of 6 big Australian Tahtian Lime using only a small spoon.

And my fingers are sensitive to the acidity of the lime juice. So, imagine the stinging that i had to endure. Imagine the horrendous facial expressions i made when i was in pain. Just. Imagine.

I hate you but i love you, lime.

The hardship that i had to go through just to produce a few tablespoons of lime juice and lime zest... Tsk.

Will never wish the same fate to befall upon my enemies.

Wait. Maybe I would.

Ah, i just love how the batter looks like with the blueberries and raspberries folded in!

I added some flour to the berries so that it wouldn't sink to the bottom of the cake.

This cake turned out to be deliciously moist and fruity, and bursting with zesty/tangy flavour after the lime syrup had been poured onto the cake.

I liked it best when it's served warm.

My Rating: 7/10

Recipe

(Taken from BBC GoodFood Website)

For the cake

225g/8 oz softened butter, plus extra for greasing

225g/8 oz golden caster sugar

4 medium eggs

grated zest and juice of 2 limes

250g/9 oz self-raising flour, sifted with a pinch of salt, plus a little extra flour

25g/1 oz ground almonds

100g/4 oz each blueberries and raspberries

For the syrup

8 tbsp lime juice (about 4 limes)

Grated zest of 1 lime

140g/5 oz golden caster sugar

Method:

Line the base and sides of a 20cm/8 inch square cake tin, not loose based, with greaseproof paper and butter the paper. Pre heat oven to 180c/gas 4/fan oven 160c.

Cream the butter and the sugar together until light. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little flour towards the end to prevent curdling.

Beat in the lime zest, then fold in the flour and almonds. Fold in enough lime juice-about 3 tbsp- to give a good dropping consistency.

Fold in ¾ of the blueberries and raspberries and turn into the prepared tin. Smooth the surface, then scatter the remaining fruit on the top.

Bake for about 1 hour (cover with foil, if beginning to brown too much).

Meanwhile make the drizzle syrup: put the lime juice, zest and sugar in a small saucepan. Put over a gentle heat and stir, without allowing to bubble. The sugar should dissolve a little.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick all over with a skewer then spoon the syrup over it
To store, cool before wrapping in paper and/or foil.

Carefully remove the cake form the tin, discard the lining paper and cut into 12 portions to serve.

Serve with Chantilly cream. Whip a carton of double cream and add tbsp sifted icing sugar and tsp vanilla essence.