Sicilian Orange Cake

I love baking cakes with fruits. I have posted my favourite recipes for Blueberry-Lemon Cake and Apple-Cinnamon Cake. Now on to this Sicilian Orange Cake which is the best orange cake I have tasted so far. This verdict is further confirmed by all my friends who have tasted it.

This Sicilian Orange Cake is the famous orange cake from the once popular Café Agostini owned by Margie Agostini, in the heart of Sydney ’s suburb for the rich and famous, Woollahra. Customers have often been heard to say that “Margie’s orange cake is to die for”.

I found this recipe on Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escape Cookbook a while ago but was surprised to find out how this recipe was linked to Australia:

Rick Stein: "To be accurate, I suppose this cake should be known as Margie Agostini's orange cake. It was her signature dish at her greatly missed Caffe Agostini in Woollahra in Sydney. It seemed to me to be just made for Sicilian oranges. The recipe came from an article in the Times by Jill Dupleix, although I had eaten the cake at the cafe a few years earlier and I thought it was amazing. As Jill says, it has to be the richest, moistest, butteriest and yet lightest orange cake in the world."

Sicilian Orange Cake Recipe

Makes 1 x 22-cm cake, to serve about 8. (Adapted from Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escape)

Ingredients

• 250 g lightly salted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
• 250 g caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest
• 250 g self raising flour
• 85 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
• For the icing:
• 125 g icing sugar
• 5 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease and line a 22-cm clip-sided round cake with non-stick baking paper.
2. Using an electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar together for 4-5 minutes until very pale. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating very well between each one, if necessary adding a spoonful of flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from curdling. Beat in the orange zest. Add the flour all at once and mix in well, then slowly mix in the orange juice.
3. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean. If it starts to brown too quickly, cover loosely with a sheet of lightly buttered foil.
4. Leave the cake, in its tin, to cool on a wire rack, then carefully remove the sides and base of the tin and peel off the paper. Put it onto a serving plate.
5. For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in the orange juice until you have a spreadable consistency. Spread it over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides, and leave to set. Serve cut into slices, and store any leftovers in an airtight container.

Tip: Why not turn this Sicilian Orange Cake into these cute little Orange Cupcakes for the little people?