Orange Cake

First day of March tomorrow? Not sure the weather would agree. What better way to spend a snowy day inside than to bake a cake to try and hurry up Spring. Turns out life can get pretty busy pretty quickly and I ran out of time to keep baking cakes and keep this blog updated, but, my resolution for Spring (if it ever comes) is to start it up again - can't let three years work go to waste.

This cake is a classic and fits into the rustic category - so easy to make and perfect with a cup of tea. Made, baked, cooled and iced all within an hour.

Ingredients;

For the cake

• 8oz Self raising flour 
• 8oz Caster sugar
• 8oz Stork/margarine
• 4 Medium eggs 
• 1tsp Baking powder 
• Zest of one orange 

For the icing

• 150g Unsalted butter (softened)
• 300g Icing sugar 
• Zest & juice of one orange 

Method; 

1. Preheat the oven to 180degreesC
2. Begin by beating the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
3. Add in the eggs one at a time and beat slowly until well incorporated 
4. Next, add in the self raising flour and the baking powder and mix again
5. Now stir in the zest of the orange
6. Divide the mixture between two 8 inch cake tins (greased and lined) and bake for between 20 - 25 minutes. They should be golden brown and a skewer should come out clean
7. Leave to cool in tins for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely
8. Whilst waiting, beat the butter until soft and then add in the icing sugar a little at a time. 
9. Once all the icing sugar is added, mix in the juice and zest of the orange and beat for around 5 minutes until fluffy. 
10. Spread half the icing on one of the cakes, place the other cake on top and cover with the remaining icing. 
11. Decorate with a little orange zest and enjoy. 

Turns out the snow makes a good cake backdrop, so maybe it can stick around for a little longer.