On the days when my husband leaves home in a ridiculously early hour of the morning to come back post dark, I like to spoil him with some of his favourite dishes.
One such a delight is an orange sponge cake. He absolutely loves it. Be honest, who doesn’t? This lovely, moist, fluffy cake is great both as an after-dinner dessert or as a side treat with a cup of tea.
And to make things interesting, I have few versions of this delicious, soft cake. In this version I replaced the Orange with grapefruit and added some Martini for a little kick.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetables oil
1/4 cup white dry Martini
1/3 cup fresh red grapefruit juice
1 tbsp red grapefruit zest
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 200 °C (180° fan) \ Gas 6 \ 400 °F
Whisk the eggs and sugar on high speed until fluffy and light coloured.
Turn the mixture to low speed and slowly add the oil , martini and grapefruit juice.
Combine all dry ingredients together, sift into the mixture, mix on low just to combine.
Add the grapefruit zest. Mix.
Pour the mixture into a loaf pan, lined with baking paper.
Bake 25-28 minutes, until lightly golden and springy to touch.
Tips:
Lemon and gin instead of grapefruit and martini works nicely too.
When removed for the oven, set to cool under a dry towel for 5 min, that will help the cake keep its moisture.
Just before cooling completely, pour a mixture of ¼ cup hot water & 2 tbsp orange jam for extra moist.
