Orange Syrup Cake and Homemade Marmalade

Every time when I saw the juicy orange and mandarin hanging from the tree at the piano teacher's yard, I told myself that I had to plant some in my garden.  This has been going on for six years ( now my daughter is in her 7th grade in piano) and I still haven't done it yet!  This year, the piano teacher gives me some of her precious fruit.  My first thought is to make them into marmalade as the fruit is so natural without wax on the skin.  I have been making jam using the breadmaker as I don't like hot jam spatting at me.  In my first attempt, I follow the recipe to chop every bits of the orange, it comes out too chunky and too tangy.  I blend it to smooth up a little bit but it is still too tangy to spread for toast.  In my second attempt, I grate the zest and cut up the flesh but it comes out too runny.  So I add two tablespoons of the first marmalade into the second one and let it boils for a bit to thicken.  Wow, that's is the best marmalade I've ever tasted!  I make three bottles, one to keep for myself, one for my Mum and one for the piano teacher.  Next time I'll blend one whole orange and zest two oranges to see if that work!

I don't like to waste food so I use the left over from the first marmalade to bake an orange syrup cake.  The recipe calls for blending the whole orange so I just cut down the sugar to balance the flavour.  I also give some of the cake to the teacher's husband as he is just so nice and sweet to give me more oranges.  And yes, I really need to go the nursery to get some fruit trees so I can keep making marmalade!  Have a good weekend!

Orange & mandarin on the left are from the market and the ones in the basket are homegrown 

I took this photo the other day when the sky is so clear without cloud.   The blue sky is so pretty!

Orange Syrup Cake


Ingredients:
1 Navel orange
125g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 cup buttermilk

Orange Butter Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
60g butter

Method:

1. Squeeze the juice from the orange, reserve 1/4 for the syrup.  Blend remaining skin and pulp finely.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and then flour, bicarb of soda, buttermilk and orange pulp until well combined.
3. Pour mixture into a grease lined 20cm round pan and bake it for 30 minute in a moderate oven.
4. For the syrup: Combine sugar, orange juice and butter in a small saucepan, stir constantly over heat until sugar dissolved and bring it to the boil.  Pour syrup over hot cake. 

Source: Australian Women's Weekly - Home Library "Cakes & Slices" Cookbook