Birthday and Fruit cake

I get excited about baking birthday cakes..... because you can be very elaborate with them. I take my time searching, bookmarking recipes, improvising, procuring stuff from the market, finding ways to dress it up....my whipping cream decorations are a far cry from perfection.

So, when I was thinking of making a devil's food cake with layers of creamy richness for my hubby's b'day....he threw a surprise at me....'no creamy stuff, no chocolate'

WHAT!

Did I hear well? no chocolate!!?? OMG . But all my bookmarked recipes have chocolate.

A quick survey of my fav blogs led me to this Orange cake by Soma of Ecurry.
Saved the day...:)

I've used a variety which is termed as "mausmi" in India...not the orange we generally use. I was not very sure of the results, but it came out a winner...yipeee

SERVES 10–12

INGREDIENTS

For cake 

1. 3 Mausmi
2. 2⅓ cups sugar
3. Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
4. 2½ cups flour, plus more for pan
5. 2 tsp. baking powder
6. 1 tsp. baking soda
7. 1 tsp. orange extract
8. 3 eggs
9. 6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

For glaze

1. ¼ cup fresh orange juice (I used packed juice)
2. ¼ cup confectioners' sugar

For garnish

1. 2 oranges, sliced in thin strips
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 1 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS

For cake 

1. Trim about ½" from the tops and bottoms of oranges; quarter oranges lengthwise. Bring 6 cups water to a boil and add oranges. Bring water back to a boil; drain. 

2. Repeat boiling process twice more with fresh water. 

3. Put oranges, 1 cup sugar, and 4 cups water into a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until sugar dissolves and orange rind can be easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes. 

4. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature.

 5.Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9' round cake pan with butter and dust with flour; line pan bottom with parchment paper cut to fit. Set pan aside.

6. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.

7. Remove orange quarters from syrup, remove and discard any seeds, and put oranges into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until oranges form a chunky purée, 10 to 12 pulses.

8. Add sugar, reserved flour mixture, orange extract, and eggs and process until incorporated, about 2 minutes.
9. Add olive oil; process until combined. 

10. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes. 

For glaze

In a small bowl, whisk orange juice and confectioners' sugar to make a thin glaze. Remove cake from pan and transfer to a cake stand or plate. Using a pastry brush, brush orange glaze over top and sides of cake; let cool completely. 

For garnishing

Bring 3-4 cups water to a boil; add orange slices. Bring water back to a boil; drain. Repeat boiling process twice more with fresh water. Combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1 cup water in the pan and add the orange slices to the pan. Simmer at low to medium heat for about 15-20 minutes or until the the slices softens and the solution gets thick, syrupy and sticky. Remove oranges and reserve to garnish.

Garnish cake with confectioners’ sugar and orange slices.

I did not use icing sugar though. Good for me because the cake came out a little too sweet for my liking. I believe a little less sugar in the batter would make the cake taste even better....I've not tried it out though. If you do, please let me know how was it?