This zesty orange buttermilk cake with marmalade cream cheese icing is perfect for when you're craving a slice of cake. It's soft, moist and ideal for snack time as well as dessert!
I made a few rather relaxed new year resolutions this year. So far I've managed to keep them fairly well. I've been running. Once. I've eaten some fruit and vegetables. Quite a lot actually. I've limited the amount of sweet things I've eaten. Well, I have limited myself, but only after eating quite a lot first! Erm I probably haven't lost any weight but let's just forget about that resolution for now. After all, it's not easy when my cake resolution conflicts with all those earlier ones.
Make more Cakes? Yes, that's the plan
You see, I'm hoping in 2015 to make more cakes and to attempt to decorate them. Well, here's my first cake of 2015 - a soft moist orange buttermilk cake with cream cheese marmalade icing. The cake was definitely a success. I would have eaten this happily with no icing on at all and not felt anything was missing. But then, as far as eating goes, I'll always rank cake above icing.
The Marmalade Cream Cheese icing
Even so, I wanted to make the icing. It's a cream cheese icing with orange marmalade added to it I was hoping it was going to be thick enough to pipe into swirly flowers on top of the cake. Unfortunately the marmalade makes it a little too thin for piping. I added a little extra icing sugar and it still wasn't thick enough. You can get a bit of a drip though and drip cakes are always good!
The marmalade icing may not have been thick enough for my plans but I kept dipping my fingers in. I loved the flavour the marmalade gave the icing and didn't want to lose it. In the end I gave up my hopes for appearance in return for taste. After all, there's always more time to practice decorating a cake.
What kind of marmalade is best for the cream cheese icing?
Ideally it is best to use a marmalade without peel in to make the icing. I used one with thick cut peel so it was easy to remove the peel before making it. However, if you and your family are real marmalade lovers you may like to use thin peel and leave it in.
Can you adapt this orange buttermilk cake?
You could easily adapt this buttermilk cake recipe to make it lime, lemon or even grapefruit flavoured. Any citrus fruit would work really well. Just make sure you buy unwaxed citrus fruit if you are going to make it into a cake.
How long does it stay fresh?
This cake stays really moist for at least three days.
The inspiration for this buttermilk cake
The recipe was slightly adapted from this one on Daring Gourmet.
Orange Buttermilk Cake Recipe with Marmalade Cream Cheese Icing
Orange Buttermilk Cake
Ingredients
- 250 g plain flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 200 g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 230 ml buttermilk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 orange zested and juiced (juice is for the icing)
- 60 g butter melted
Ingredients for the marmalade cream cheese icing
- 40 g marmalade Ideally one without peel
- 110 g cream cheese
- 60 g butter
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 260 g icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line the bottom of an 18cm round cake tin
- Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
- Put the sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat until pale.
- Add the buttermilk, vanilla extract and orange zest and continue to whisk. Then whisk in the melted butter.
- Fold in the flour and then whisk briefly just to make sure it has combined.
- Pour the mixture into the cake tin. Bake in the oven for 45 - 55 minutes.
- Test whether it is cooked by inserting a skewer. It should come out dry. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the icing by beating together all the ingredients except the sugar. Also add one tablespoon of the squeezed orange juice. As I used coarse shred marmalade I took out the pieces of peel to make a smooth icing. When smooth, add the sugar and continue to beat. Add a little extra icing sugar to make a thicker icing if it's too thin.
- If you want, cut the cake in half horizontally and spread a third of the icing in the middle. Spread the rest of the icing onto the top of the cake.
Notes
Nutrition
Did you like this orange buttermilk cake?
Why not try one of my other cake recipes?
Olive oil lemon drizzle cake
Olive oil lemon drizzle cake
Caramel banana upside down cake
Caramel banana upside down cake
KEEP IN TOUCH
Do let me know if you make this orange buttermilk cake and the marmalade cream cheese icing. Or any of the my other recipes.
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Places I'm sharing this Orange Buttermilk Cake
Love Cake hosted by JibberjabberUK
Bake of the Week at Casa Costello
Ness (@JibberJabberUK)
I love marmalade on cakes and January always seems to be the perfect month for it. This looks so lovely and moist. Thanks for linking up.
Corina
You're welcome. I'm not actually a big fan of marmalade but I love it in cakes.
Joanne
Such a lovely cake!! The citrus flavor is a great infusion.
Corina
Thank you.
petra08
The cake looks great and I love the sound of the marmalade icing! Like you I only just got started with my new years resolution (one of them) to get fit, I would honestly rather eat a slice of your delicious looking cake! 🙂
Corina
I'm doing far more of the eating cake than keeping fit but it's so hard not to, isn't it!
petra08
I completely agree! It is never as much fun doing exercise than eating something really nice! 🙂
strongassoup
I love the sound of this. Better still, it's marmalade making time - if I get around to it.
Corina
Wow! THis would be lovely with homemade marmalade. You could slice it through the middle and spread some marmalade on too to make it even more lovely and orangey
MyKabulKitchen
I love buttermilk in baked goods, gives such a rich depth of flavor, and marmalade cream cheese icing just makes my mouth water...just think cake is a necessary carb perfectly within your healthy eating resolutions 😉
Corina
Especially if I manage to go running too maybe!
Fiver Feeds
Gosh this looks amazing! Wish I was there to taste it 🙂
Corina
I wish there was still some left!
DesignsbyJeanneR
Wow, I like the ingredients you've used here, and I'll bet the orange and cream cheese is a tasty combination!
Corina
It's lovely. I'm thinking of making some more orange flavoured things now as well.