Orange Cake

This classic orange poppy seed cake is deliciously soft, fresh in flavour, and surprisingly crunchy thanks to the poppy seeds. A simple baking recipe that always pleases.

Serves: 1 cake (approx. 10 slices)
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 200 g flour
• 150 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 125 g unsalted butter
• 2 oranges
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp poppy seeds
• 100 g icing sugar
• 1–2 tbsp orange juice (for glaze)
• Optional: 1 tsp poppy seeds (for garnish)

Preparation

• Sift the flour.
• Allow the butter to come to room temperature.
• Grate the zest of 1 orange (only the orange part).
• Juice both oranges and measure out about 100 ml of juice for the batter.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C (top and bottom heat). Grease a cake tin and line with baking paper.
2. Whisk the eggs with the sugar for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
3. Add the softened butter and mix into a smooth batter.
4. Stir in the orange zest and 100 ml of juice.
5. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds.
6. Fold this dry mixture into the wet batter in two additions. Do not overmix.
7. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 40–45 minutes. Test with a skewer.
8. Let the cake cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Mix icing sugar with 1–2 tbsp orange juice to make a glaze. Drizzle or spread over the cake.
10. Optionally, sprinkle with extra poppy seeds.