Orange Cardamom Cake - Recipe #60

So apparently I have a fantasy self that bakes cakes. Several years ago, I asked on my Grandma-required Christmas list for a cake carrier. Actually, it made an appearance a few years in a row before I finally found one under the tree. ¨What? Do you constantly find yourself needing to bring cakes places?¨ my aunt teased. I believe I've used it 2-3 times in the time that I've owned it. But that may change, due to the Loose Recipe Challenge. For a person who bakes cake once or twice a year, I have a surprising number of cake recipes on file. Not surprisingly is how rarely I prepare any one of them (usually relying instead on the Betty Crocker Cookbook or the Americas Test Kitchen Cookbook).

Cake gets a bit of a bad rap. We opted to have cheesecake at our wedding, and at my brother's they served pies, both of us thinking, ¨no one really likes wedding cake anyway¨. At a recent retirement party, I skipped the cake altogether after asking a coworker, ¨is it worth it?¨, the answer being a resounding ¨no!¨ Somewhere along the road, Costco or grocery store cake became the norm and cake became my dessert of last (or near last) resort. But a homemade cake can be a thing of beauty, which (apart from a few pieces that stuck to the pan before I pressed them back into the cake as a whole), this Orange Cardamom Cake from the December 2007 issue of Cooking Light was.

Orange Cardamom Cake

• Cooking spray
• 3 c. plus 1 T all-purpose flour
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1 3/4 t. ground cardamom
• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. salt
• 3/4 c. fresh orange juice
• 2/3 c. canola oil
• 1 T. grated orange rind
• 2 t. grated lemon rind
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs

for the glaze:

• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 4 1/2 t. fresh orange juice
• 1/2 t. fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To prepare cake, coat a 10-inch tube pan or Bundt pan with cooking spray; dust with 1 T. flour. Set aside (I did not end up using the entire tablespoon of flour, but as I mentioned, my cake stuck a bit to the pan)

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture. Add 3/4 c. orange juice, canola oil, orange rind, lemon rind, vanilla and eggs to flour mixture; beat with a mixer at low speed until well combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.

Spoon batter into prepared cake pan, spreading evenly. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean (mine took at least 70 minutes, but my silicone pan often takes longer than the recipe states - so does my oven, come to think of it). Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack, remove from pan.

To prepare glaze, combine 1 c. of powdered sugar, 4 1/2 t. orange juice, and lemon juice in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over warm cake; cool cake completely on a wire rack.

We ate this cake for days afterwards, including as a pre-Bed and Breakfast breakfast for me (since I was up hours before breakfast was served) and a post-Whidbey Island hike for Trent.