Rosemary and Orange Cake
This is a cake from the wonderful Yotam Ottolenghi. It’s different from a traditional orange cake, and has a zing from the rosemary in the cake as well as the crystallised herb as a decoration.
Although there are few steps to the recipe, it’s actually quite easy. You could leave out crystallising the rosemary sprigs to save time, but the sprigs are a nice aromatic touch plus they look great on the cake.
You could bake the cake in an ordinary tin, but if you have a bundt tin, make it in that, so the icing can drip down the centre of the cake.
For the crystalised rosemary
10 small rosemary sprigs
2 teaspoons caster sugar
For the cake
240g plain flour + extra for flouring the tin
160 mls extra virgin olive oil
120g caster sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest (from about 1 1/2 oranges)
1 ½ tablespoons/7 gms packed finely chopped rosemary leaves
2 large free-range eggs
130g sour cream
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
For the icing
1 ½ tablespoons orange juice
2 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
150g icing sugar
To make the crystallised rosemary, brush the osemary on all sides with a little of the egg white and then dip it in the sugar, so the needles are lightly coated on all sides. Set aside on a wire rack to dry. Repeat with remaining rosemary. The rosemary needs a few hours to dry, o make in advance,
To make the cake, heat oven to 160 degree C fan. Grease a 23 cm Bundt tin or 21 cm spring form pan and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Grease again, generously, and then sprinkle with a little flour, tapping away the excess flour.
Put olive oil, caster sugar, orange zest and chopped rosemary leaves in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed until combined, then add eggs, one at a time. Whisk for another minute, until thick, then add sour cream and mix until combined on low speed.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the olive oil mixture and mix until combined. Increase speed to high and whisk for 1 minute.
Scrape batter into the Bundt pan or spring form pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cake is cooked, and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a serving plate.
To make the icing. In a small bowl, stir together orange juice, lemon juice and icing sugar until smooth. Drizzle the icing on top, allowing it to drip down the sides of the cake, then top with the crystallized rosemary and serve.