September 05, 2011

Vintage baking . . .



Yesterday I bought some really cute vintage ACME baking tins from the Car Boot sale . . .
. . and, I couldn't wait to christen them.

So, today I've made some baby Orange Poppyseed Cakes glazed with marmalade adapted from this brilliant recipe by Tom Dolby


Orange Poppyseed Cakes
Recipe

2 medium oranges
350g caster sugar
150g self-raising flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
150g ground almonds
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
3 eggs
175g caster sugar
good quality marmalade to glaze



to make cakes . . .
sllice the whole oranges thinly and poach with 400mls of water and the sugar until they are tender (about 20 mins) - leave to cool

measure the dry ingredients for the cake into a bowl and mix together

puree 100g of the oranges with 75mls of the poaching water
in a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until they are very pale and fluffy - you'll know it's ready when the mixture looks a bit like the consistency of whipped cream

now, fold the orange puree very lightly into the whisked eggs and sugar

fold in the rest of the dry ingredients, but don't overmix or you will knock out all the air you've worked so hard to whisk in!

spoon mixture into bun cases and bake at Gas 4 / 180C for about 15 to 20 mins until they are golden and spring back to the touch

leave to cool for a few minutes while you melt a couple of tablespoons of marmalade gently in a saucepan. Then, glaze the baby cakes liberally with the marmalade



. . . they are lovely warm from the oven! . . . and the marmalade makes them a good choice for a sweet breakfast treat too