Orange Cardamom Cake
For the 1st time I boiled my oranges before adding the soft skin & pulp into my batter and frosting. If you like the pure taste of orange, this is the way to do it because no taste is lost after baking it. The cake however has a bitter after taste, kinda like marmalade but the good news is when topped with the sweet richness of the mascarpone frosting, the result is pretty awesome, if I may say so my self..
If you like a more rich, full cream taste you will like the pairing of the Mascarpone cream cheese but feel free to substitute it with a regular cream cheese, although you´ll be left with a sharper taste but I´m pretty sure it could work too. Especially if you leave the cardamom out and opt for a more fruity/zesty taste..
I chose Mascarpone because I wanted a rich flavour to pair and match my orange and cardamom flavors..
Not only did I make a mini cake (which by the way was for a very special friend, Carmela.. Happy Birthday Mela!), I also made some cupcakes for another friend who is 27 weeks pregnant and needs some pampering 😉 So.. this recipe is perfect for both cakes and cupcakes 🙂
This is actually a mini cake made of 3 layers of 12 cm moulds ( a very tall one at that!! It looks bigger on the photos..) I was able to make 9 cupcakes with the same batter too..
RECIPE
4L eggs at room temperature
- Boil an orange with its skin until soft (1 – 2 hours).
- Pre-heat the oven at 180ºC and prepare your moulds/cupcake liners.
- I don´t use my blender for this recipe as it´s super easy to make with a regular hand whisk but you can do what´s easier for you.
- Whisk your oil and sugar, then add your eggs one by one, whisk well, add your vanilla essence, add your sifted dry ingredients and lastly add your finely chopped orange (use only a ¾ as the other ¼ will be used in the Mascarpone frosting).
- I baked my 3 x 12cm moulds for 31 minutes and then my 9 x cupcakes for 21 minutes. Leave to cool completely before decorating!
- 250g Mascarpone cream cheese
- 250g Butter without salt at room temperature
- 300g of Icing Sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon of ground Cardamom
- ¼ Orange pulp (including the skin)
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Essence
Method:
- In your blender, blend your butter, icing sugar, cardamom & salt until well blended and the mixture is light & fluffy.
- Add your mascarpone and mix just until incorporated and lastly your orange pulp and vanilla essence.
- Time to decorate! I decorated mine with mini fondant oranges & leaves I made and used melted dark chocolate for the stems.
- I also made a simple sugar syrup which I coloured orange and flavoured with orange essence (orange zest would do too) to drizzle over..
very pretty! nice combo in ingredients!
Thanks guys, glad you like it!! Xx
These look amazing! I love the icing idea 🙂
Thanks Lilli & welcome here!! Xx
Seriously, this cake is lovely!! Love the colors! 🙂
Thanks Jocelym, I´m glad you like it!! Xx
Looks delicious!
Thanks Jessica! Xx
El cardamomo es una de las especias que más me gusta en los postres y alguna vez la he probado combinado con la naranja y me parece una delicia así que ese cake y cupcakes tienen que estar mortales!
Besos
Sí a mí me gusta también por lo tanto he disfrutado experimentando con ello 🙂 Con el frosting de mascarpone salen muy ricos de verdad 🙂 Un besito x
Johlene, qué maravilla de tarta y de cupcakes, con naranja amarga, qué buena. A ver si empiezo a utilizar el cardamomo en las recetas. Gracias. Espero que ya estéis todos mejor de la gripe. Un besico y feliz viernes.
Gracias Tatiana, te ánimo a usar cardamomo porque tiene un sabor increíble y muy diferente.. Un besito x
What a lovely idea to boil the oranges to preserve the flavor. I’ll definitely be trying that!
This cake looks gorgeous, and I bet that the scent is amazing!
I hope you get over the flu soon! That bug sucks :–( xxxx
Thanks Consuelo! The boiling of the oranges is a first for me too but it really does work! Happy weekend Xx
I am so into naked cakes lately! They’re the perfect blend of rustic and fancy for my taste. 🙂 And your friends are so lucky to have someone baking for them–they must love you!
Good luck fighting the flu. I got it a few weeks ago and we’re STILL fighting off cold symptoms now. It just lingers and lingers. Fingers crossed you guys feel better soon!
Me too I love naked cakes.. specially when they decorated with fruit and flowers.. rustic and vintage.. love it!! Kids still of from school with the flu, hope we can have a better weekend than week.. Xx
Buaaaa, la presentación te ha quedado preciosa de verdad. Me encantan las tartas pequeñitas y con tanta altura.
Tienes razón, tienen su ciencia las tartas con sabores fuertes como estos, al igual que las que mezclan dulce y salado como la Red velvet, a veces es difícil encontrarles el punto.
Un besito
Gracias!! A mi me gusta tambíen las mini cakes con tanta altura.. son súper lindas 🙂 Besito x
I hope you feel better soon! These cakes look beyond amazing! So moist and rich. And the frosting and then the drizzle of syrup. I’m in love!
I still have both kids at home but I´m sure they´ll be better soon 🙂 I´m so glad you like the cake 🙂 Xx
qué bonita la decoración!!! esas minis naranjas son preciosas y la tarta tiene una pinta muy rica y esponjosa, seguro que estaba deliciosa! un beso
Cris
Gracias Cris, la verdad es la tartaes muy esponjosa 🙂 Besitos xx
ORANGE & CARDAMOM cake filled & topped with MASCARPONE cream cheese frosting??? You are definitely speaking my language! I love strong, bold flavors and I’m crazy about both of those. I love that you can make them into cupcakes too! Gorgeous! Love the colors and flavor combo. Pinned!
Me too I love strong bold flavours and these flavours do work well together 🙂 Thanks for pinning!! Xx
This is just beautiful!!
Aw thanks Ashley!! Xx
Extremely pretty cake (love the color). But let’s talk about the smell, it has to be amazing!
When I made this my kitchen smelled amazing! Glad you like it! Xx