Orange Buttermilk Cake

Orange Buttermilk Cake - made April 17, 2010, original recipe

I invented this recipe – sort of. If you look closely, it’s a variation of the Kahlua Cake recipe but I just changed some components to get a different flavor. But the texture and moistness are approximately the same. I changed it up because I wanted to use up some buttermilk and oranges I had. Past experience has taught me the basic elements of this cake (cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, eggs, oil and liquid flavoring) are pretty forgiving and bake up into a nice cake even if you do get creative with the add-ins.

1 18.25-oz package of yellow cake mix
1 4-oz package vanilla pudding mix
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Zest of 1 orange
Juice from 1 orange squeezed into a 1 cup measure, then top off the measuring cup with oil for a total of 1 cup orange juice & oil

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease Bundt pan.
2. Sift the cake mix to get rid of any lumps. Combine remaining ingredients in the mixing bowl of a freestanding electric mixer and mix with the paddle attachment until smooth, 2-3 minutes.
3. Pour batter into greased Bundt pan and slide into preheated oven.
4. Bake until top is firm and toothpick inserted in center of Bundt ring comes out almost clean or with a few moist crumbs. Make sure you do the toothpick test in the most moist-looking part of the cake.
5. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes then invert onto serving plate and let cool almost completely before glazing.

Glaze
I made up this glaze recipe – the thing with glaze is it’s really a matter of personal preference. Some people like runny glazes and others want their glaze to have the firmer consistency of frosting. For this one, I combined 5 tablespoons of softened butter, some powdered sugar, the zest from 1 orange and the freshly squeezed juice of 1 orange. How much orange juice and how much powdered sugar is up to you. Add more juice if you want a runny glaze and more powdered sugar for a thicker glaze. Use an electric mixer to combine the ingredients as that’ll show you the consistency you have fairly easily and you can add juice or powdered sugar to your taste.

For this particular glaze, I waited until the cake was still a bit lukewarm or just barely cool and I spread half the glaze over the cake. It melted slightly into the cake. Let the cake cool completely then cover with the rest of the glaze. That first layer of glaze will harden slightly as the cake cools and the sugar crystallizes and the second layer will remain softer like a frosting. I like to have both textures against the soft crumb of the cake.