If you are wondering how Fall Orange cake is different from Spring Orange cake…it is really very simple, it is made in the Fall instead of the Spring. Why do I get hankerings (where did that word come from, I’ve never used that before?) for cakes which I have not ever made before or necessarily even wanted to make? I don’t have an answer for that except to say that maybe as we “mature” (don’t like to say, “get older”) our tastes change and our bodies crave different flavors for what we need? I don’t know, maybe if I ever win the lotto, I will use $100 to do a study on that. But in the meantime, I will just keep baking what sounds good at the time. Today, for some reason, orange sounded good. Maybe because I have looked at an orange staring back at me from the fruit basket on the counter since last Saturday. So today, I could not go another minute without making a fresh orange cake. Randy is eating the piece that I cut for his mid morning snack, even though it is past mid morning. But he is always so eager to show his support for me baking and willing to sample whatever. He IS a jewel! Seriously, this cake is so moist and the homemade orange buttercream frosting just took it to a new level. If you add a little orange food coloring, wouldn’t it be pretty to have on your Thanksgiving dessert table next to the pumpkin pies? Do not pay attention to the blue tray it is sitting on, that is my “go to” tray when I am taking food someplace where I might not get the tray back, so I use it for times like that.
Ingredients
1 box Duncan Hines French Vanilla Cake Mix
1 small box of vanilla instant pudding
4 large eggs, room temp
1 cup fresh orange juice (we had the orange juice with heavy pulp)
1/3 cup veggie oil
2 tables orange zest
About 1-2 tables orange juice (to brush over cake layers after they bake)
Frosting
1 stick softened butter (not margarine, yuck)
3 1/2 cups (or a 1 lb box) of powdered sugar
1/2 teas orange extract
1 tables orange zest
Enough fresh orange juice to get it of spreading consistency. (I added about 1/3 cup of orange juice.
Add cake mix, pudding mix, 1 cup orange juice, eggs, oil and zest to mixing bowl. Beat for 2 minutes and well combined. Pour into desired baking pans and bake according to back of cake mix box for whatever size of pans you used. When cake tests done, remove from oven and allow to cool. Using a pastry brush, brush some of the orange juice over the top of the cake layer (s). Allow to cool completely and frost.
Frosting
Combine the softened butter, powdered sugar, extract zest and add enough orange juice to mix until spreading consistency. Frost cakes when completely cooled.
Oliver has taken over our lives. We tip toe around when he is sleeping, just like I did when I had babies (well, real human babies) as to not wake him up. We know the minute he wakes up we are expected to play “fetch” or he follows so closely behind us or beside us that both of us have tripped, trying to avoid a squashed dog. Forty-two years ago, I remember being so proud that I could actually bathe my newborn by myself, without asking anyone for help. It felt good to think of myself as a confident, competent new mom. It takes 2 of us to bathe this precious little 4 month old 3 lb dog. He wiggles and squirms and constantly tries jumping our of the bathtub, so one of us holds him (that is me since Randy is still one-armed) and the other washes him. An hour later, Oliver is clean, with freshly blow dried hair and finally asleep. So we are back to tip-toeing around. We have even resorted to always having background music when the tv isn’t on, hoping that will soothe Oliver and allow us to walk around without waking him up.
Chocolate Castles 