• Home
• Recipes
• Entertain
• Spiced brandy butter and candied orange cake

Spiced brandy butter and candied orange cake

• Edd Kimber

Published: December 3, 2021 at 2:26 PM

Save recipe

Serves 15

A little effort

Total time: 2 hrs

+ cooling + chilling

0 reviews

loading...

Get 5 months for £5 when you subscribe today

This spectacular cake, full of spice and winter flavours of orange and brandy is a great alternative for those who don’t like a traditional Christmas cake

Print

Ad

Skip to ingredients

Alternatives

Complete the dish

Loading...

Ingredients

Nutrition

• 225g Kerrygold Pure Irish Salted Butter

  plus extra for the tin

• 325g plain flour

• 25g cornflour

• 4 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 4 tsp mixed spice

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

• 350g caster sugar

• 1 orange

  zested

• 3 eggs

• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

• 250ml natural yogurt

BRANDY BUTTERCREAM

• 3 egg whites

• 240g caster sugar

• 360g Kerrygold Pure Irish Salted Butter

• 2 tbsp brandy

  plus 1 tbsp for the syrup

• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

CANDIED ORANGE PEEL

• 2 large navel oranges

• 300g caster sugar

  plus 2 tbsp

Nutrition: per serving

• kcal587
• fat34.2g
• saturates21.1g
• carbs62.1g
• sugars43.2g
• fibre1.2g
• protein5.9g
• salt1.2g

Ad

Method

• step 1

  If making your own candied orange peel, pare the zest from the fruits in long strips. Finely slice lengthways to make long, thin strips of peel. Put into a small pan and pour over enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Drain off the water and repeat the process with fresh water two more times. Pour 300ml of water into the pan and add the sugar. Put over medium heat and bring to a simmer, cooking for 30 minutes until the peel becomes translucent. Set aside the pan and allow the peel to cool for 1 hour. Lift the peel from the syrup and set onto a wire rack. Put in the oven on its lowest setting to dry out for 30 minutes. Toss the peel in the remaining sugar and then spread out on a baking tray and leave to dry fully at room temperature. Add 1 tbsp of brandy to the syrup and use it to soak the cake layers.

• step 2

  Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Lightly butter three 20cm round cake tins and line the bases with baking paper.

• step 3

  In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cornflour, baking powder and spices. Set aside. Beat together the butter, sugar and orange zest in a large bowl for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until fully combined before adding the next. Add the vanilla and mix briefly to combine.

• step 4

  Add in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the yogurt, starting and finishing with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared tins, spreading into an even layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cakes spring back to a light touch and come away from the sides of the tin. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

• step 5

  For the buttercream, put the egg whites and sugar into a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water and whisk gently until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture feels hot to the touch. Remove the bowl from the heat and using an electric mixer whisk on high for 7-10 minutes or until holding stiff glossy peaks and is at room temperature. While continuing to whisk, add the butter a little at a time. Once all the butter has been added the mixture should form a buttercream-like texture. Add the brandy and vanilla, and mix to combine.

• step 6

  To assemble the cake, put one of the cake layers onto a plate or cake stand and brush with the orange syrup. Top with a layer of buttercream, spreading into an even layer. Repeat with the second cake layer. Finish by adding the final layer of cake and spreading the remaining buttercream across the top and sides of the cake, spreading thinly so the cake peeks through.

• step 7

  Decorate with the candied orange. Kept covered, the cake will keep for two to three days.

Recipe tip: Decorated with candied orange, the recipe makes more than you need but the extra candied orange can be a great edible gift or a little sweet treat served when friends visit. Alternatively, skip step 1 and buy whole glacé clementines and whole orange peel (available from buywholefoodsonline.co.uk), dust the whole clementines in caster sugar and cut the candied orange into strips to get our signature cover look

Find our best ever Christmas baking recipes here

Authors

Edd KimberBaking columnist

Ad

Comments, questions and tips

Rate this recipe

What is your star rating out of 5?1 star out of 52 stars out of 53 stars out of 54 stars out of 55 stars out of 5

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

CommentQuestionTip

Overall rating

0 reviews

Ad

Ad

Loading...

Ad

Loading...

Want to see this content?

This page contains olivemagazine content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.

Accept and continue