Hark, now hear the angels sing, a king was born today,

And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.

Mary's boy child Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas Day.

December 25

Merry Christmas to all of you. I wish you all the peace and love in the world.

It is a different Christmas but it is still a very merry one. I had a hyperactive week going for me - a day trip to Mulshi, meeting with a gang of girl friends over lunch, going out for movie and a gourmet lunch, cooking and baking Christmas delicacies, sending gifts to a few friends whom I couldn't meet in person and binge watching Christmas themed movies. Just as you being to think how I am getting all this time - I took a two week break from office work. Wanted to detox and spend some time not doing any work. I will be writing about my trip to Mulshi in a separate blog soon.

This time I went a little overboard with trying new recipes on Christmas. This whole orange cake is one such recipe. You heard it right, this recipe has the entire orange - peel, rind, flesh and all! It is rich, nutty, damp and sticky with oodles of orange flavors. Best part which I love, the amount of whisking is next to nothing! Once in a while we all need a nice moist, dense cake as a change form the fluffy ones. This one–loaded with orange flavor and tender flecks of peel, and not too sweet–is perfect for brunch as well as dessert.

This whole orange cake recipe is adapted form the Genius Desserts cookbook. In this recipe, the whole orange is blitzed and made into a thick puree which adds a hint of marmalade-like bitterness to the cake. But because of the presence of the whole skin the cake is very fragrant of oranges. A nice and thick batter with a hint of vanilla cuts through the citrus and adds a beautiful dimension. 

I tried to incorporate the Christmassy flavors into this cake and tweaked it a a bit adding shredded carrots, dried blueberry and rum. And finally once cooled dusted it with powdered cinnamon sugar to give the final festive touch. My whole kitchen was bursting with the aroma of fresh orange and warm cinnamon undertones!

The beautiful dried blueberry is from @true.elements. I think I am falling in love with them, and I keep adding these teeny tiny dried fruits to everything I am making these days - sweet or savory. Its delicious and as good as the fresh ones. The combination of orange and blueberry was an absolute hit.

Check Out the DIY Background I made for this shoot.

Check Out the DIY Background I made for this shoot.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes  

Procedure 

1. Take water in a deep vessel and boil the orange for 10 minutes uncovered.

2. Now drain the water and repeat step 1 for 2 more times. Let the orange cool down.

3. Once the orange is cooled cut the orange into chunks and remove the seeds. Pulse the orange chunks in a food processor or high-speed blender until mostly smooth but not completely puréed

3. Sift in the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar) into a large mixing bowl and mix

4. Now whisk together the wet ingredients (yoghurt, vanilla, oil, rum and the orange pulp) until combined.

Important Note: If you do not appreciate a little bitterness in the cake then I would recommend not to use whole orange. You can substitute the orange pulp with with 3/4 cup of orange juice and 1 tsp orange zest.

5. Add the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and fold in. Use cut and fold method, we do not need vigorous mixing in this cake. 

6. Now add the grated carrots and the blueberries and fold in the same way.

7. Preheat oven to 180 Degree Celsius. Grease a 6 inch round cake tin with butter and dust it with 1 tbsp of flour .

8. Now pour the cake batter into the tin and tap a few times to release any air bubbles tapped in the mixture

9. Bake the cake for about 40 minutes in the middle rack of an oven or in a microwave (convection mode) till the tester comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.

10. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and allow it to cool down completely before decorating it.  The cake should come to room temperature.

11. Mix castor sugar/confectioners' sugar and cinnamon powder in a bowl. Use a strainer to sift in this cinnamon sugar all over the cake.

Optional Decoration: The cake is itself yummy so its recommended you keep the decorating to a simple sugar dusting however many prefer to glaze it with an orange glaze or royal icing. You can also put some pieces of fresh oranges on top while serving. This cake can also be enjoyed with a little yoghurt dip on the side. 

Check Out the DIY Background I made for this shoot.