Orange & Lemon Sour Cream Cake

A number of years ago I worked as a personal Chef at a Manor House situated in Kent, the garden of England. The family that owned the house and Estate were an American family.
It was a bit like a dream come true for the small town Canadian girl that I am and was. As the chef, I got to live in a little cottage at the edge of the Estate. It was a bit like living in an old movie I guess.
The cottage was lovely and the grounds were gorgeous.
Orange & Lemon Sour Cream Cake

I am sure that one of the main reasons I was hired was because I was a North American. My boss's had no interest in British fare. They typically only wanted to eat North American, and in particular Southern, Food.
My boss had an extensive recipe book collection. She was very partial to Junior League cookery books, and Chef styled cookbooks. Every year for Christmas she would gift me with a cookery book and it was always one style or the other.
In the meantime I had access to this wide and varied collection of books that she owned.
Orange & Lemon Sour Cream Cake

This recipe I am sharing with you today for a sour cream Bundt cake, flavored with orange and lemon comes from one of the books she gifted me with. Celebrate the Rain, correlated by the Junior League of Seattle.
Junior League books are actually quite good cook books. They are community cookbooks on steroids. lol All of the recipes in them are guaranteed to be winners and to work well.
Orange & Lemon Sour Cream Cake

This recipe is no exception. It is a simple recipe that is equally at home at a picnic table or at a dinner party, depending on how you dress it up.
There is an optional syrup glaze that you can make which soaks into the cake. I opted not to make it today, instead preferring to serve it simply cut into wedges, with some fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE ORANGE & LEMON SOUR CREAM CAKE
There is nothing extraordinary about this cake except for the taste. Simple ingredients put together in a most delicious way!

3 cups (420g) plain, all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups (345g) butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
1 1/2 cups (181g) sour cream
6 large free range eggs, at room temperature separated
2 TBS finely grated orange zest
2 TBS finely grated lemon zest
pinch of cream of tartar

Optional syrup:

1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
1/2 cup (120ml) Grand Marnier, or other orange liqueur
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
6 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt

You can use unsalted butter for the cake. I always just use salted butter. I can't afford to have both in my kitchen and to be honest I feel its a bit pretentious. I much prefer to cut back on the salt in the recipe.
This cake gets a lot of its volume from the beaten egg whites which are folded in at the end.
It is mildly flavored with orange and lemon zests, and moist from the use of sour cream. I always use full fat sour cream an large free range eggs.
Orange & Lemon Sour Cream Cake

I just use regular granulated sugar here in North America, but if you are in the UK you may want to use castor sugar.
The regular sugar here is much finer than granulated sugar in the UK. I would compare it quite easily to castor sugar.
The finer the sugar the easier it blends into the batter. If you have ever had a cake come out with brown freckles, that is because the sugar has not completely dissolved into the batter. That is why a finer sugar is best.
The regular granulated sugar here in Canada at least is quite adequate for purpose.
Orange & Lemon Sour Cream Cake

I did not make the soaking syrup today. For one thing I didn't have any orange liqueur to use in it. I keep telling myself I need to go to the Liquor store and buy some liqueurs for cooking, but it never gets done.
I used to pick up small sized ones in the grocery store in the UK for cooking purposes. They sold all their alcohol in the grocery stores there. I quite liked that.
It is much more difficult here in Canada. You need to go to a dedicated liquor store.

HOW TO MAKE ORANGE & LEMON SOUR CREAM CAKE
If you follow the instructions exactly there is no reason why your cake can't turn out perfect as mine did! Its simple really. I just use an electric hand whisk. Make sure you clean it scrupulously before beating up your egg whites, or they won't beat up properly.
Orange & Lemon Sour Cream Cake

Preheat the oven to 325*F/165*C/ gas mark 3. Butter and flour a 10 inch tube pan. (I used a Bundt pan.)Sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda into a bowl.

Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the sour cream, egg yolk, and fruit zests. Beat for five minutes until thoroughly blended. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Using clean dry beaters, beat the egg whites, along with the cream of tartar until stiff but not dry peaks form. Fold half of the egg whites into the batter gently to lighten it, nd then fold in the remaining egg whites.Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 1 hours, until risen, golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.For the optional syrup, combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium low heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to medium high and boil until the syrup thickens slightly, about 8 minutes. Leave to cool until just warm.Pierce the tip of the cake with a bamboo skewer or toothpick multiple times. Slowly pour the syrup over top, allowing it to soak in before adding more.This is delicious served, cut into wedges, with fresh berries and whipped cream. (with or without the optional glaze)

If you are looking for a delicious cake to serve at your weekend celebrations this weekend (Canada Day and Independence Day) look no further. This is the perfect cake!

It is moist and a tiny bit dense, perfectly willing to stand up to being transported to and fro, and very well suited to being enjoyed along with fresh fruit and cream.

Some other cakes which you might enjoy in much the same way are:

HOT MILK SPONGE CAKE - This is the cake we grew up with in our home. It is the one my mother always baked for us. Most often we had it split with jam in the middle, but it goes fabulously with fruit.

ALICE'S PLAIN CAKE - This is the cake my mom always made for me when I was young. It was considered to be perfectly suitable for a small child's digestive system. It is wonderful served with whipped cream and fresh berries.