Orange Confit Pound Cake
Recipe for orange confit pound cake, which is very delicious and very orangey.
Orange confit is a name for orange slices cooked in sugar syrup, which can be used in many elements in baking, such as cakes, doughs, and even make tea with them. The preparation method is written down below, and you can apply it on any citrus fruit that comes to mind.
Cooking the oranges in water helps to bring out a lot of the rind’s bitterness, which leaves them sweet with slight bitterness. In any case you will not taste any of that in the cake.
So get ready, because your kitchen is going to smell amazing of oranges with this cake.
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Orange Confit Pound Cake:
Equipment: Squared pan sized 15cm (l) x15cm (w) x7.5cm (h), lined with parchment paper, or;
Loaf pan sized 20cm (l) x 11.5cm (w) x 7cm (h), lined with parchment paper
Recipe: A single cake
For the orange confit
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| Organic Oranges | 3 Medium sized oranges, thinly sliced, about 1/2cm thick |
| Water (1) | QS, for initial boiling |
| Water (2) | 470g |
| White Granulated Sugar | 200g |
For the cake batter:
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| White Granulated Sugar | 165g |
| Vanilla Sugar | 10g |
| Vegetable Oil | 108g |
| Eggs | 150g (3 Medium Eggs) |
| Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice | 200g |
| Orange Zest | Zest from 2 Oranges |
| All Purpose Flour | 210g |
| Baking Powder | 10g |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp |
| Orange Liquor or Vanilla Extract | 1 tbsp |
| Orange Confit, finely chopped | 150g |
For the Orange Confit:
- Into a medium sized pot, add water (1) until it reaches just about half the height of the pot, and bring it to a boil. Add in the orange slices. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.
- Take out the orange slices to a separate bowl with cold water.
- Drain the water in the pot, refill with water (1), same as above, and bring to a boil. Return the orange slices back to the pot for another round of cooking for 15 minutes, over medium heat.
- Take out the orange slices to a separate bowl with cold water.
- Drain the water in the pot, and now add in the sugar and water (2). Cook them together, stirring constantly, just until the sugar is fully dissolved. Return the orange slices back to the pot, and cook on medium-low heat for 45 minutes. I recommend covering the orange slices with some parchment paper adhered directly to them, to keep the steam inside the pan.
- Turn off the heat and transfer the orange slices with the syrup to an airtight container, and keep refrigerated for a long time. You can use the oranges and the syrup for making tea, cakes, pastries, add to doughs etc.
For this cake, I keep several best-looking slices to line the bottom of the cake pan (optional step), and also chop 150g of confit to mix into the cake batter.
Cake preparation and assembly instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 175C (fan mode off), setting a baking rack at the lowest level of your oven.
- Into a bowl, add the sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, oil, eggs, orange juice, orange zest and the liquor (or vanilla extract), and beat them together with a whisk until smooth.
- Add in the flour and baking powder, and whisk until the mixture is smooth and without any lumps.
- Fold in the chopped orange confit, and transfer to the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake, comes out clean. You could loosely cover the cake with some aluminum foil after about 30 minutes of baking, to prevent overbrowning.
- Chill the cake on a cooling rack for 15 minutes before unmolding, and let it cool down completely before slicing into it.
