What's For Dessert: Whole-Orange Bundt Cake

As soon as I saw this recipe for whole orange cake in the March issue of Sunset magazine, I knew I would have to give it a try. The question was, when? Truth be told, D and I can't (nor shouldn't, really) eat a whole cake between the two of us. I typically send leftovers with him to share with his work colleagues, but I sort of felt like this cake deserved a special occasion. Enter the Fourth of July holiday and my parents' visit, and suddenly I had a good excuse to bake this cake.

What intrigued me most about this recipe was that, as the name clearly implies, it uses whole oranges. Including the peel-and-all (minus the seeds) gives this dense cake a marmalade-like flavor. Though I served this cake as dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, I think it would work just as well as a breakfast or brunch treat with a cup of coffee. An orange-enhanced icing gives this cake a sweet boost, but sifting a bit of powdered sugar over top would work just as nicely. 

Whole-Orange Bundt Cake (printer-friendly version)

makes 10-12 servings

2 navel oranges, ends cut off, then cut into large chunks and seeded (do not remove the peel)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups raw granulated sugar 

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 10-inch bundt cake pan with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Add the chopped oranges to the bowl of a food processor with the steel blade attached. Pulse a few times, until the oranges are pureed (it should still be slightly chunky, not smooth). 

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attached, cream together the butter and raw sugar until light yellow and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the pureed oranges. 

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the dry mixture to the electric mixer, and mix until evenly combined.

5. Spoon the batter into the prepped bundt pan. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Then carefully flip the pan over, removing the cake from the pan, and let cool completely.

6. Once the cake has cooled, prepare the icing by whisking together the powdered sugar and orange juice. Drizzle the icing over the cake with a spoon. Serve with vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream, if desired. 

(adapted from this Sunset magazine recipe)