orange cake - a summer delight :)

Summer is in full swing now (at least as much as it can in Britain) so it's the perfect time to sit outside with a good tea/coffee and a slice of cake. Today I made an orange cake based on a victoria sponge, and it looks delicious :)

As with any victoria sandwich, the basic recipe is along 4/2 or 6/3 or even 8/4 (the first number representing ounces of the dry ingredients, the latter being the number of eggs.) For my cake I used a 6/3. [if you don't know what an ounce is in metric, it's more or less 25g, but you should have Oz on your scales anyway]

So for my recipe I used

6Oz Castor Sugar

6Oz Butter/soft spread (softened)

6Oz Self raising flour

1 large orange, zested and juiced

3 Eggs

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Lightly grease a deep sandwich tin (or two shallow ones) and line the bottom with baking parchment

Start off by zesting the orange onto a plate and reserving for later, and juice the orange into a sepreate bowl/ramekin.

Grab a bowl and a spoon, and cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, then add the three eggs. mix together until all incorporated.

sift in the flour and baking powder, mix together thoroughly. Add in 1/3 of the orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice as well (be careful not to make the mix too wet, if it is add in a touch more flour)

bake at around 190c for c25 minutes - the cake should be golden brown, and spring back when pressed. leave to cool slightly in the tin, then run a palette or thin knife around the edge to free the cake, and turn out onto a rack to cool.

once cooled, slice in half (or not if you've made 2 small ones).

get a couple of Oz of butter, possibly more, and sift in icing sugar until you have a nice fluffy buttercream. add another 1/3 of the zest and a teaspoon or two of the orange juice, and spread over the bottom half of the cake, then put the top back on.

sift icing sugar into a bowl, about 100g or something (i don't know, I do these things by eye, doesn't matter if you have too much of this icing, it's delicious, and a great reward after making the cake) add the orange juice a teaspoon at a time and blend until you get a really nice thick icing, add most of the rest of the zest to the icing, and ice the top. sprinkle with the last of the zest as decoration, and there you have it. cake :)

new recipe: Cajun Chicken goujons

Hello again anyone who reads this :)

Just threw this together tonight, and it's a perfect recipe for a good tasty tea, as well as a good alternative to those horrid reformed nuggets if you have kids knocking about. These can also be frozen down after cooking and put in the oven to reheat at a later date :)

First, get a nice skinless chicken breast, and slice into goujons, (strips, the size isn't vital, just not too thick or the crumb will be burnt before the chicken is cooked.)

2 breasts will make enough for 3 good size portions.

get a blender or food processor, and put in some stale bread (crusts removed) - I used 4 slices for the 2 breasts. blend it up into a fine crumb, and season with salt, pepper and a good helping of blackened cajun seasoning - the crumb should be flecked, and you will be able to smell a hint of the seasoning - don't go overboard though as some may not like it too spicy.

then grab some plain flour, season (i like to use S&P and smoked paprika) and beat a large egg into a bowl, then coat the goujons in flour, egg and breadcrumbs.

get a non-stick frying pan, heat up a good amount of oil in there, at least 5mm deep, more if you like. get it reasonably hot to prevent the crumb soaking it up. cook the goujons in batches until golden and keep warm on kitchen towel as you do the others. (you can deep fry too if you have a fryer)

serve with either your choice of potatoes (chips are a good match, as are wedges spiced with a bit more cajun spice)

you could, if you're feeling healthier, put some of the goujons in a tortilla with crisp lettuce and a bit of salsa.

Grab some ramekins of mayo and mix one with cajun seasoning for those who like it hotter, and one with a bit of lemon mixed in to cool everything down (set soured cream works too)

Hopefully they will looks as good as, if not better than the ones in the photo, and they should taste just as good. (and yeah, i did burn the kitchen towel on that plate.)

and there you are. easy peasy tea, and tasty as too :D