FRANCES'S DELUXE ORANGE CAKE
LAYER CAKE*
Preheat oven to 350°. Generously butter two 9 inch cake pans. Sift flour to coat the pans.
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 cup milk, room temperature
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose light baking flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
In a mixing bowl, gradually mix the sugar with the butter until thoroughly incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well. Add vanilla.
Sift the dry ingredients into another bowl. Add to the butter/flour mixture alternating with the milk and mixing thoroughly. Pour into cake pans and cook on middle level in preheated oven about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool completely on racks before icing.
*If you wish to take a shortcut, a Duncan Hines Classic White Cake Mix will do in a pinch!
ORANGE ICING
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
2 oranges, zest of
3+ tablespoons orange juice
Salt, dash of
In a mixing bowl, gradually add confectioner’s sugar, alternately with 1 tablespoon of orange juice at a time. You want the frosting be be pliable and easily spread onto the layers of the cake. At the zest at the end.
To assemble the cake, even up the cake layers by cutting with a sharp serrated knife so they will be flat. Don’t worry the cuts will not show. Otherwise you end up with big holes between layers that have to be filled with extra icing…”Oh darn!”
Place one layer on a cake plate and spread about 1/4 of the icing on top. I like to leave plenty for the top and sides. The place the second layer on top. Spread icing on top and then the sides. This can be made ahead and I thinkit is even better the next day. A winner of a recipe for any occasion—especially birthdays and holidays.
This recipe was handed down from my best friend’s mother, Frances Raines. It was the very favorite of our crowd growing up and continues to reign! At my daughter’s 50th birthday party, her friends actually inhaled the cake. It was gone in minutes. Should have made two!
