RecipesBaking And Sweets

Axel’s Orange and Earl Grey Cake Recipe

A cake combining the citrus notes of orange and bergamot, delicious.

Vegetarian
Axel’s Orange and Earl Grey Cake Recipe
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Ingredients

For the recipe:
  • 175g organic self-raising flour
  • 1tsp Baking powder
  • Pinch sea salt, ground to a powder
  • 175g/6oz Unsalted butter at room temperature
  • Finely grated zest of 1 orange
  • 2-3tsp Steenbergs organic orange extract
  • 50ml Steenbergs organic Earl Grey tea (see below as does for cake and icing)
  • 175g/6oz Golden caster sugar
  • 3 medium free range eggs
For the cream cheese filling:
  • 75g/2½oz / ½ cup Full fat cream cheese
  • 20g / ¾ oz / 1½ tbsp Unsalted butter softened
  • 150g/ 5oz /1¼ cups Icing sugar, sieved
  • 1tsp Steenbergs organic Orange blossom water
For the icing:
  • 4-5tbsp Steenbergs organic Earl Grey tea
  • 250g/ 9oz / 2¼ cups Icing sugar
For the Earl Grey tea:
  • 2tsp level Steenbergs Organic Earl Grey tea
  • 100ml Boiling water

This is a cake that Axel has been toying with for some time and originally we used orange juice for flavouring, but found that this just does not give enough citrus kick to the cake. Axel now uses our organic orange extract, and this cake is truly delicious.

Method

01
Preheat the oven to 180C /355F. Make the Earl Grey tea by infusing a mug with the teaspoon or teabag of Earl Grey tea. Prepare two 20cm (8 inch) sandwich tins, by lightly greasing and lining the base with baking parchment.
02
Sieve the flour, the baking powder and salt together and then set aside for use a bit later.
03
Next, beat together the butter, orange zest and sugar to a cream, beating until the cake mixture is light and fluffy. Next beat in the eggs one at a time, putting in 1 tablespoon of the flour mix in after each egg. Finally, stir in the Earl Grey tea and orange extract.
04
Finally, fold in the remainder of the flour mix. Divide the mixture into two, spooning into each of the cake tins. Smooth into the tins.
05
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cakes are springy. Leave the cakes in the tin for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and leaving to cool – this takes about 20 minutes.
06
To make the filling, simply put all the filling ingredients into a bowl and mix together and beat with a wooden spoon. Scoop onto one of the cakes, smooth evenly over the cake, then sandwich the two together.
07
To make the icing, sieve the icing sugar into a bowl. Add 3 – 4 tablespoons of the Earl Grey tea into the icing sugar and mix in with a spoon, then spread evenly over the top of the cake.
08
Decorate with orange jellies or perhaps walnuts.
09
To make dairy free exchange the cream cheese and butter for dairy free alternatives.