Orange Cake with Orange Butter Frosting
I wanted to make a special dessert for Mother’s Day weekend. I was looking through my recipes and spotted this little booklet – The Metropolitan Cook Book.
I don’t know where I picked up this little gem, but it was published in 1953 by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to give to policy holders as a gift. It’s full of cartoon food characters and retro recipes. I found an orange cake recipe that sounded simple and fresh so I decided to give it a try. I ended up making a few adjustments to the recipe.
Orange Cake
adapted from the Metropolitan Cook Book 1953
Cake Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350*. Grease and flour two 8″ round cake pans.
In a medium bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add beaten egg and mix thoroughly.
Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with orange juice, beating thoroughly.
Mix in vanilla and orange rind.
Divide evenly between two cake pans.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Cool for 15 minutes in pans and then remove from pans to a wire rack and cool completely.
Orange Butter Frosting
Frosting Ingredients:
6 Tablespoons of butter, softened
4 cups of confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat together butter and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar.
Add orange juice, vanilla and orange rind and mix thoroughly.
Gradually beat in remaining confectioners’ sugar.
If necessary you can adjust frosting to spreading consistency by adding sugar or orange juice.
Arrange one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread top with Orange Butter Frosting. Arrange second cake on top and frost top and sides of cake. Garnish with orange rind.
I just want to take this moments to thank you for all the sweet comments I have received. Each one means so much to me.
Whether you are a mother, have a special mom, or are missing your mom, I hope you have a wonderful and special Mother’s Day weekend.
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If that cake didn’t sound so delicious, I’d say it was too beautiful to eat!
What a delicious looking cake! I love the orange peels and your photography is amazing.
blessings,
karianne
I love the way you decorated the top! Its beautiful and I am *thinking* about making it today…but I might be too lazy 🙂 Def saving this one! Thanks!
What a beautiful looking cake! I love the cute recipe book too, found you on Overflowing with Creativity. 🙂
I have this cookbook too, it was my mothers.
We frequently ice homemade pound cake with orange icing. It’s sooo good.
This cake looks wonderful, adding orange to the cake . . . yummy! Thx for sharing.
Amazing coincidence to see this book in your post! We found a copy of the same thing at my late mother in law’s house just this spring. I love those old cookbooklets. They are such period pieces, with those little illustrations and so forth. Beautiful cake you’ve made, and you have a lovely blog.
this is so pretty…looks refreshing …on my way out to get the oranges and pop one in the oven …thank you for sharing!
This cake looks too good to eat..but of course I will. I love your blog and will return often.
Cake flour …. is that all purpose or self rising?
Cake flour has a finer texture than all-purpose flour. It is not the self-rising type. You can substitute 2 cups of all-purpose flour for the cake flour.
By any chance is there a blueberry dessert in that year cookbook by Metropitan ? it had a crushed cookie base.
Sorry, I did not see anything like you described. The only blueberry recipe in this edition was for muffins.
By any chance is there a blueberry dessert in that year cookbook by Metropitan ? it had a crushed cookie base.
I made this last week after pinning it weeks ago. So glad I did! It was wonderful with a cup of earl grey. (:
Thanks for sharing!
Tried making this tonight… followed the recipe perfectly and ended up with a super sticky dough and a lovely orange biscuit. Still tasty, but something went very very wrong.
Question… Does it make a difference in the taste if you use all purpose instead of cake flour? I have all purpose on hand. I can’t wait to make this for a friends birthday this weekend!