Orange & Cardamon Cream Cheese Cake

Its been a busy few weeks over here in, what has been pretty sunny Oxfordshire. Work is its usual busy self but I have been busy meeting fellow blogger Becky from Becky’s Biscuit Bases, going to friend’s leaving parties and meeting up with old friends. Its been brilliant but busy. Dave and I are heading to Budapest next weekend too, which I am so excited about. It has meant that time in the kitchen has been sporadic and I seem to have been baking a great deal of red velvet cake (if you follow me on social media you will have seen the photos), as much as I love red velvet cake I think I am done for a little bit.

Anyway, after discovering the joy of this brown butter pound cake (which excitingly has been featured on feedfeed brown butter feed) I have continued on my quest for the perfect cakes for packed lunches. They need to travel well and be able to cope with being wrapped in foil before being chucked in my back pack and then being thrown about as I run for my train. This would be equally as good on a picnic as we head towards some good weather.

Another added bonus is if it will last a few days keep me going through the week. This cake fits the bill perfectly. It has a robust feel to it, not in a bad way I know it sounds bad but its not, its good. It stays moist, I made this on Sunday and was treating myself with it until Thursday (I had run out by then, sad times). I usually enjoy my cake in the afternoon with a cup of tea, almost like a pat on the back ‘you have almost made it through another day, hurrah’.

So let’s move away from my work habits and back onto the cake. I decided to add cardamon to this cake, well for no reason really, I had some cardamon and just thought ‘why not’ is the truthful answer. What it does do though, I think and let’s face it I am no expert, is cut through what could be quite a sweet cake (I find orange cakes often can be quite sweet). Anyway Food 52 hailed cardamon as the new cinnamon so I can’t be on my own. I think cinnamon would work too, in fact it was going to be cinnamon but I had run out (don’t worry this has now been rectified, I love cinnamon).

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Orange, Cardamon & Cream Cheese Pound Cake

(adapted from Joy the Baker)

Ingredients:

• 225g Cream Cheese (I used full fat, reduced fat often contains a bit too much water)
• 170g Unsalted butter
• 4 Large, free range eggs, beaten
• Zest of 2 oranges
• 300g Granulated sugar
• 280g Plain flour
• 1 & 1/2 tsp Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 & 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp Orange blossom water
• 4 Cardamon pods, seeds ground

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°c fan
2. Grease and line a 900g (about 22.5cmx12.5cm) loaf tin (I just greased mine as I had run out of greaseproof paper – doh – and it was fine. Although usually I always usually line my tins if I can just in case).
3. Place the sugar and zest in a bowl and rub it together until all the oils from the zest comes out and coats the sugar (such a genius trick from JTB)

1. In a free-standing electric mixer, using the paddle attachment on a medium to high speed, beat the cream cheese and butter together, scraping down the bowl every so often to ensure it is well combined. Now add the eggs a little at a time until incorporated.
2. Add the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, orange blossom water and ground cardamon to the mix and continue to beat on a slow to medium speed for a short time until its all incorporated.
3. Pour into prepared tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 60-70 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. If you find it is browning too much cover it in foil and that should help.