Easy one bowl orange cake with Cointreau

I love baking, I love citrus cakes and I love boozy cakes so imagine my satisfaction when I created this delicious one bowl orange cake with Cointreau.

Cointreau is an orange-based liqueur that adds such a lovely taste to baked goods. It is more concentrated than orange juice but when it is cooked off, as is in this cake, there is just subtle flavour. It can be pricey so if you are buy some just fr this recipe opt for the generic triple sec – it is also an orange liqueur that will give the same result in baking.

An easy way to elevate a basic cake – such as this one bowl orange cake with Cointreau – is to divide the batter between two tins then sandwich the finished product together with whipped cream. I also topped the cake with whipped cream and scattered over extra fresh orange zest. Cream is a great work around for those times when icing / frosting / ganache isn’t an option.

Quick tip: an easy to way to line the base of 20cm round tins to trace around a side plate onto baking paper. Cut around and place in bottom of tin. Voila!

GATHER:

150 grams unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature

grated rind of one large orange

½ cup caster sugar

3 eggs

1 1 /2 cups self-raising flour

¼ cup milk

4 tablespoons Cointreau

whipped cream, to serve

2 tablespoons finely grated orange peel, extra

LET’S GET TO IT:

Preheat oven to 180C and grease two 20cm round cake tins with cooking spray and line the bases with non-stick baking paper.

Place all ingredients – except whipped cream and extra zest – into bowl of electric mixer with paddle attachment and beat on low speed until everything is combined. Scrape down bowl with a spatula then increase speed to medium and beat for three minutes or until batter is combined.

Scrape into tins and bake for 18-22 minutes.

Test for doneness with a skewer – there should not be any wet batter on skewer- then remove from oven and stand for ten minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

When cold, beat cream in electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Place one cake on serving paltter, top with two thirds of the cream and gently place second cake on top. Spread remaining cream on top of cake then scatter with zest and serve.

Tags: baking, cake, citrus cake, easy baking recipe, one bowl cake recipe, orange cake