ORANGE CAKE WITH ORANGE ICING ~ BUON APPETITO

Beauty lies in the Eyes of the Beholder -- A very famous saying by John Keats. I truly believe it, having said that I have to admit that I feel winter to be a beautiful season....WHY ??? not very sure, may be its cause of my birthplace. Being brought up in beautiful state of Meghalaya, my love for Winter season is kind of very natural. The long winter vacations might have something to do with it as well :D . Along with winter comes the beautiful fruit -- Orange.

Mangoes mark the start of Summer and Oranges mark the onset of Winter. Shillong has abandace of Oranges, every house has at least 2 orange trees. And in the chill weather, having oranges after lunch is a different feeling all together. I still remember those days, we had a tree just near the bedroom window ; before lunch Mamoni would call us (Me and Anna) out and she would pluck the oranges and me and my sister would run to the yard with a basket, we were responsible to catch the oranges before it hit the ground...soon we would have a basket full of oranges--- plump, sweet and juicy.

The orange is one of the most common and popular fruit. Delicious and juicy orange fruit contains an impressive list of essential nutrients, vitamins, minerals for normal growth and development and overall well-being. It goes perfectly in any sweet or savory dishes and its also perfect on its own. :) .My love for the Oranges has nothing to do with the healthy benefits, anyways let me share some of the health benefits of oranges I have read ;

Regularly consuming vitamin C retards the development of hardening of the arteries and oranges is abundant source for vitamin C.
Oranges contain a compound called liminoid, has been found to help fight cancers of the mouth, skin, lung, breast, stomach and colon. The high vitamin C content also acts as a good anti-oxidant that protects cells from damages by free radicals.
The alkaloid synephrine found under the orange peel can reduce the liver's production of cholesterol. Whereas the anti-oxidant fights oxidative stress that is the main culprit in oxidizing the LDLs in our blood.
Even though the orange "tastes acidic", it actually has an alkaline effect in the digestive system and helps stimulate the digestive juices, relieving constipation.
A high intake of flavonoids and vitamin C has been known to halve the risk of heart diseases and oranges is abundant source for vitamin C.
Studies have shown that a flavonoid called hesperidin in oranges can lower high blood pressure.
Drinking orange juice daily can significantly drop the risk of formation of calcium oxalate stones in the kidney.
The anti-oxidant in orange help protect the skin from free radical damage known to cause signs of aging.
Consuming vitamin C rich foods helps to lower the incidence of peptic ulcers and in turn, reduce the risk of stomach cancer.
Oranges have abundance of polyphenols have been shown to provide protection against viral infections.

On the 26th Jan, we celebrated the 63rd Republic day. Watching the flag hosting and parade on the television, just fills me with a great zeal and pride to me an Indian. Last year on this day I enjoyed the day with Colorful Mash, and I won the first award for my cooking.....it was great. This year I wanted something sweet. It so happened that last weekend I bought loads of oranges, and was planning to turn that in a cake. 26th Jan'2012 seemed to be a great day to make the cake.....finally my Orange cake with Orange Icing was created.

FOR ORANGE CAKE
Orange, finely grated zest only	1 medium sized
Eggs	2 numbers
Flour	1 & 1/2 cup
Baking Powder	1 tablespoon
Sugar	1 cup
Nutmeg (grated)	1 teaspoons
Butter	1/4 cup
Salt	Just a pinch
Ground-Nut Oil	1/2 cup

FOR ORANGE ICING
Orange juice, freshly squeezed	1 medium sized
Icing sugar	1/2 cup

ORANGE CAKE:-

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter and flour the sides of the cake tin and set it aside.
Grind the sugar till it becomes fine and powdery.
Whisk together eggs and powdered sugar till the sugar is dissolved.
Add the orange zest to the egg mixture and whisk again till the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
Melt the butter in a saucepan , add the oil to the melting butter in the saucepan.
Add the oil + butter mixture to the egg mixture and stir well.
Sift in the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.
To the flour mixture, add the grated nutmeg and salt ; mix well.
Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and fold it all together gently.
Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes at 150C or till a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
When the cake is done,place the tin out of the oven and allow to stand for about ten minutes before removing the cake carefully from the tin. Allow the cake to cool completely.

ORANGE ICING & ASSEMBLY:-

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in just enough orange juice until it is soft; see that the icing is not runny.
Place the cake on a serving plate and spread the orange icing over the top in a zigzag pattern.
Let it stand for 15 minutes and serve.

The slice of the sweet and orangey cake given a very pleasant feeling .