Orange and Ginger Heart Cakes



The weather has been lovely this weekend. We enjoyed a lovely laid back Sunday after all the bustling craftiness of yesterday's Vintage Encraftment Market. We had some friends coming round for a casual lunch, so after a quick house tidy, Little Miss 4 and I decided on using the fresh New Zealand oranges from this morning market to make an Alison Holst inspired 'Orange Eating Cake'. While I was scrambling in the drawer for a baking tin, my enthusiastic little kitchen helper spotted the heart shaped silicone moulds. So since it was a day for catching up with little girly mates, we thought we would give them a try.

I made the original Alison Holst recipe for this cake many years ago after being given the book: Recipes to Remember. Some orange cake recipes require that the oranges are simmered for hours then pulped and cooled before the cake is made. Those were, of course, hours that I didn't have; so I searched the book shelves to find this little beauty. Never one to stick to the original recipe, I included crystallised ginger and topped the cake with orange juice icing.

Orange and Ginger Heart Cakes

2 small New Zealand oranges
125g butter
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup water
2 cups flour
1 cup sultanas
3 tablespoons crystallised ginger

Preheat the oven to 175deg. C on bake.

Quarter the oranges and remove the seeds and centre pith. Process the oranges in a food processor until they form a smooth pulp. Add the roughly chopped ginger and process to combine.







In another bowl cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well in between each addition.







Dissolve the soda in the water and fold into the mixture, followed by the sultanas then flour, and finally the orange pulp. 

Do not over mix, the mixture should be light and fluffy.






Place tablespoon lots into the prepared moulds to about 3/4 full - they will rise a bit.

I sprayed the silicone moulds with baking spray as I didn't want our hearts to stick. We made 8 heart moulds and a loaf tin.




The hearts took about 25 minutes to bake and the loaf tin about 40 minutes.

Leave the cakes in the moulds to cool before attempting to get them out. I pulled the sides away from each cake, then inverted the moulds onto a cake rack and lifted them off the hearts.






Orange Juice Icing
Juice of 1 orange
1 tablespoon lemon juice
approximately 1 cup of icing sugar


Combine the juices and icing sugar to make an icing with a pouring consistency.
Using a dessertspoon, slowly pour the icing over the top of each heart cake. Do two layers if required. Top with a little fresh orange zest. 

Our happy little baker, in the kitchen with Mummy while not so patiently waiting for her buddy to arrive.