Orange Blossom Cake with Mascarpone Cheese Frosting
Orange Blossom Cake with homemade Mascarpone Cheese Frosting
I was relishing the tender juicy kibbeh kebab and delicious hummus at Zizo, possibly the best Lebanese eatery in town. Chef Danny and I were engaged in a rather enriching food talk, when he proudly mentioned about the quality of the restaurant’s in-house pickles, molasses, blossom water and spices. These ingredients are central to Lebanese cooking and he prepares them at his central kitchen with the finest produce.
He dearly spoke about the right consistency of Pomegranate Molasses and how it adds freshness to the Fattoush Salad. As I gazed in admiration at his range of products, he suddenly offered me bottles of Mulberry Molasses and Orange Blossom Water.
The mild aroma of orange in the Orange Blossom Water instantly put a smile on my face.
In Delhi most bakeries do not seem to make good use of oranges in their desserts. At most, they use them to garnish parfait, fruits custard or in the form of candy to garnish the cake. Some bakeries even put cheap orange essence and orange food colour, to make an orange flavoured sponge, which frankly, is plain repulsive.
I have mentioned in the past that I love fruit based desserts. So, now with the Orange Blossom Water in my arsenal, I wanted to make a beautiful dessert that would justice to it.
Though I do always recommend using seasonal produce and oranges are not in season. However, the finest quality of oranges was not readily available, hence I sourced it from INA and used just the zest from the fruit. I decided to make a light orange sponge and frost it with homemade mascarpone cheese frosting.
I found the recipe off the Internet and decided to make the sponge using the lovely Orange Blossom Water, which Chef Danny had gifted to me.
Sharing the recipe with you, but do remember to use only the finest quality of Oranges that you can find in the market. I got mine from INA market, from a vendor who I regularly shop from. And don’t sweat over your orange blossom water. You can use any other brand available in the market.
| Butter | 120 grams |
| Flour | 140 grams |
| Golden Caster Sugar | 120 grams |
| Baking Powder | ½ Teaspoon (TSP) |
| Eggs | 2 |
| Yoghurt | 75 ML |
| Orange Zest | 1 |
| Orange Blossom Water | 3 Tablespoons (TBSP) |
Method:
- Preheat the oven at 160 Degree Celsius.
- Sift the flour and keep it aside.
- Cream butter and sugar in a bowl and add one egg at a time.
- Once the wet ingredients are mixed together add dry ingredients (flour + baking powder) into it.
- Add yoghurt, orange blossom water, zest and fold the ingredients gently. Make sure there’s no lump.
- Grease the pan and pour the batter into the mold. Bake the cake at for 30-35 minutes.
For the Mascarpone Frosting:
| Mascarpone Cheese | 250 grams |
| Vanilla Extract | 2-3 TSP |
| Icing Sugar | 2 TBSP |
Method:
- Mix all the ingredients and whip them together. Make sure there’s no lump and the cheese is mixed well enough with the sugar.
- Add Orange blossom water in your sugar syrup and apply it on the sponge. I also spread orange marmalade on top of the cake before frosting it.
How to make Mascarpone Cheese at home?
| Heavy Cream | 2 Cups |
| Lemon Juice | 1 TBSP |
Method:
- In a sauce pan, on a slow heat bring the heavy cream to simmer. The cream should simmer for minimum 3 minutes before you add lemon juice in it. Once the juice is added let it simmer for another 3 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and keep the cream aside to cool down.
- Strain the mix in a muslin cloth and keep it in the refrigerator to rest overnight.
