Orange Buttermilk Cake

 I have already shared a recipe of orange loaf cake which I follow blindly every time I make. But if occasionally I have buttermilk this is the recipe I follow. The outcome is a soft and intensely deep flavourful cake and the raspberries create this beautiful jammy pockets shedding any need of frosting. The glaze keeps the cake tangy and moist and the oranges give it an intense smell. So if you are like me, who prefers orange pound cake more than the regular vanilla pound cake, you will seriously like this orange buttermilk cake too. 

Orange Buttermilk Cake

Ingredients:

2 and 2/3 cups of all purpose flour

200gm of unsalted room-temperature butter

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups of granulated white sugar

3 large eggs

zest of 2 oranges

1 cup buttermilk

100gm of raspberries

For the glaze:

1/2 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice

1/3 cup of granulated white sugar

Method:

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter with sugar until light fluffy. Scrap the sides and mix them every 2 minutes so that no lumps of butter remain left in the batter.

When the butter is visibly fluffy and pale add the eggs  one by one, giving some time between the addition of each egg, so that they can be mixed properly.

Sift the flour with salt and baking soda in a separate bowl.

Add the buttermilk and flour mix in alternate batches in small quantities. 

Add the orange zest and mix in the end.

Pour the batter in a 8*9 in baking pan, buttered and lined with baking paper.

Sprinkle the raspberries on top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 1 hour 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean and dry. The cake should be deeply brown and should begin to pull from the sides of the pan.

Make the glaze while the cake is baking. 

Just mix the sugar with the juice and let it stand while the cake bakes.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it stand for about 5 minutes.

Stir and pour the syrup all over the cake nicely and let it sit for another 15-20 minutes.

Take the cake out of the pan after 15 minutes and let it cool down completely.