Eggless Orange Tea Cake

By Harini
My love for baking seems to increase day by day.Looks like I am getting addicted to baking :)The lovely aroma of freshly baked bread/cake wafting around the house from kitchen is some thing beyond description.I am very keen on collecting as much recipes as possible to my cakes repository and perfect them.I like to bake simple/plain tea cakes suited best for evening snacks and we love to eat them just out of the oven.Though allowing the cake to cool completely helps in perfect cutting,nothing can beat the taste of warm cake. So when I made this orange cake I did not want to wait until it cools or do some decoration as we wanted to enjoy it warm with our coffee:)
Initially when I was relatively new to baking cakes I was one of those believers that egg is an indispensable ingredient for baking cakes,but now I have learnt that it is indeed possible to bake yummy cakes without eggs.This orange cake was one such eggless cake I recently baked and we enjoyed to the core.I got this recipe from one old issue of Femina.We liked it plain without any adornment.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour/Maida
2 table spoon butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup thick curd
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt
Method:
1.Preheat oven at 180C.Grease and dust a cake tin and keep ready.
2.Sift all purpose flour with baking powder and salt.In a large mixing bowl cream sugar,butter,curd and orange juice very will until soft.
3.Now slowly add the flour to the wet mixture,whisking with one hand.Add the orange zest and start whisking very well using a egg beater.Beat until the batter reaches ribbon consistency,pour the batter to the cake tin.Tap to make sure the batter is well spread.
4.Bake in the pre-heated oven for20-25 minutes.Enjoy with your cuppa :)
Time:30 minutes
Yield:8 large wedges

Notes:
1.If the batter is thick,add a little more of orange juice.
2.After baking for about 20 minutes,do tooth pick test and bake for just 2-3 minutes and recheck again.Baking for a long times leaves crack on the cake top.
3.A simple glazing with honey and orange juice can be done if needed.
4.Add a handful of chopped nuts,any dried fruits of choice and bake in a loaf tin to make a healthy breakfast for kids.
5.This cake is quite crumbly and soft.