Monday, September 12, 2011

Uma’s Orange Cake with Raspberry and Whipped Cream Topping—Secret Recipe Club

Uma's Orange Cake--SRC 9-4-11

September Secret Recipe Club is here!  I’ve got another good one for you.  The blog I had this month was Elana, the Cooking Rookie at Cookbook of Trial and Error.  I was not familiar with the blog, but I spent some time scouring the blog posts and from the looks of the photos and all the yummy recipes, I had a hard time deciding which recipe to make.  I love that she mentions that last year she lost 55 pounds in 7 months and a lot of her recipes are tweaked with substitutions to save on calories and fat—yet the food and recipes still look delicious.  Some might not know that from Sept. 2007 to March 2008 I lost 40 pounds doing The Biggest Loser online plan.  Still could lose another 20 or so, but am proud to at least be holding on to that 40 pounds gone AND have THIS blog. ;)

After choosing to make the orange cake, I was then surprised by the instructions for the cake.  The recipe calls for one egg and two egg whites and the egg whites are beaten with the sugar until it forms peaks—almost like a meringue.  I have folded beaten egg whites into cake batter before, but not with all the sugar added to it.  I was actually a little apprehensive, but decided to follow the recipe instructions.  Even once the cake baked---

DSCF6834      I was thinking it was just going to be “meh” and have that lower-fat texture to it that I often don’t care for.  I was happy to find out that it was actually very moist with a nice crumb and super flavorful with all the orange in it!

The recipe included nonfat yogurt (I used Greek) and also had margarine—for that I used Bestlife buttery baking sticks, which are a 50% less fat than butter, no trans fat, no hydrogenated oils “butter” that I’ve really been liking lately.  I have baked a number of things with Bestlife and have not been disappointed with any of them!  The orange  cake gets a lot of its moisture from a half cup of freshly squeezed orange juice also.

I was thinking that the cake would be a little boring to just serve with its light glaze over it, so I whipped up a little raspberry filling (frozen/thawed raspberries and a little sugar, cornstarch and water, cooked on the stove until thickened).  While the cake was definitely delicious served with the raspberries on top (think strawberry shortcake, but with raspberries) and some whipped cream—oh and some chocolate shavings, of course--

DSCF6847  

It was actually really good by itself, too!

SRC--Uma's Orange Cake 9-8-11

Sometime when I make it again, I’ll use whole wheat pastry flour as well for a little extra fiber.  (I have a 50 pound bag of it!)  I also used a different recipe for the glaze than the one she posted.

Uma’s Orange Cake from www.cookingrookie.blogspot.com, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1  1/2 cups (180 grams) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda (my addition, the original recipe did not have any—Katrina)

1 large egg, room temperature

2 large egg whites, room temperature

pinch of salt

2/3 cup (132 grams) granulated sugar

1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt, room temperature

1/4 cup butter substitute (I used Bestlife buttery baking sticks), room temperature

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

zest of one large orange (about 1 tablespoon)

1 teaspoon lemon juice (I put it in, but am not really sure it’s necessary—Katrina)

Orange Glaze--

juice of 1/2 an orange (was about 1/4 cup)

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Whisk together in a small bowl until no lumps of powdered sugar remain.  Set aside. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 inch round cake pan with cooking spray.  Set aside. 

Beat the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer with a wire whisk attachment until soft peaks form.  Add the salt and beat for a minute or so, then gradually add the sugar a little at a time while beating.  After about one minute of beating once all the sugar is in is probably plenty—to firm, but not too stiff peaks.  Scrape the side of the bowl a few times in between additions.  Put the beaten egg whites with the sugar in a medium bowl so you can use the mixer bowl again.  (I didn’t wash it out.) 

Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a medium sized bowl.  Set aside.

In the bowl of the mixer, combine the butter substitute, yogurt, whole egg, orange juice, zest and lemon juice.  It will look curdled, but is okay.  Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the beaten egg whites, carefully folding them in with a spatula. 

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Let the cake cook 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack, then carefully remove the cake to cool completely on a wire rack.  When the cake has cooled, drizzle it with the glaze.  You can smooth it all around the top of the cake with a pastry brush.

Serve with raspberry filling and/or whipped cream—and a little chocolate shavings for that "Katrina” touch!

 

Elana didn’t say much about this cake when she posted it, just that it was her friend’s mom Uma’s cake with her “calorie saving” substitutions.  I was drawn in by its simplicity and its calorie saving-ness. ;)  Check out Cooking Rookie's blog Cookbook of Trial and Error—everything looks so good, I find it hard to believe she’s a rookie!

The Secret Recipe Club is a great place to be—lovin’ it!

 The Secret Recipe Club'





28 comments:

Fallon said...

The yogurt makes that so moist! I would really enjoy that just by itself, orange is such a great flavor in baked goods.

Lisa Ernst said...

This looks so pretty and refreshing! Orange and raspberry with whipped cream really sound like a great combo, and believe it or not, I do appreciate a non-chocolate dessert every once in a while.

Chelle B said...

I love yogurt in baked goods since it makes it so moist. The flavors in this cake sound so delicious. A very yummy looking cake.

Donna Elick said...

This looks phenomenal. I am starting back on The Biggest Loser plan today, so funny I should find your blog.

I will have to look up this recipe when I am ready for a treat.

Mari Nuñez said...

Love the fact that it has a butter substitute. I am sure the raspberry and orange together with this cake is delicious! Thanks for the recipe.

Cooking Rookie said...

Hi Katrina, I am glad you liked the cake :-). Love your tweaks: raspberries and chocolate definitely make everything better! and I also use a non-hydrogenated margarine – I am not completely sure how healthy it is, but I want to believe that ;-)
Also, great job on losing 40 lbs and keeping them off!!! I gained some weight this summer so I hope your achievements will inspire me too ..
And thanks so much for you kind words about my blog!

Megan's Cookin' said...

What a great cake! I'm doing a bootcamp for 2 weeks next week with a personal trainer (I'm afraid, very afraid)and I'll be trying to eat super healthy. (Keyword here: trying!)I'll be checking out that blog for inspiration. And I'm definitely looking for that Bestlife butter sticks!
Congrats on keeping the 40 pounds off. That's harder than losing it!

Anne @ Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy said...

I've been wanting to try an orange cake for a while - this one looks delicious.

Barbara Bakes said...

I've often said it would be so much easier to lose weight if I didn't have a food blog. Congrats to both of you! The cake sounds like a great way to light things up.

Lisa said...

Phenomenal SRC choice, Katrina! Love the orange paired with raspberry sounds amazing. That first photo is utterly mouth-watering!

Lana @ Never Enough Thyme said...

This cake sounds absolutely delicious! Great choice for SRC.

Lisa~~ said...

Great sounding and I love that it's a lighter cake. Congrats on YOUR weight loss and keeping it off, it's always a challenge especially when one loves to cook.


If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my SRC recipe this month: Welsh Cakes.

Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook

Peggy said...

This looks like a great cake! Wonderful choice for the SRC =)

Frugal New England Kitchen said...

What a delightful combination of flavors, and both my favorites! I'm going to try this. My charming son-in-law enjoys chocolate but not all the time!

Anonymous said...

How awesome that this is a lower fat recipe that's not blah. I need to check out her blog!

I know all too well that it's easier to lose than to keep it off, so your 40 lbs is a really big deal! Keep up the good work!

Amy said...

Oh my...what a delicious looking cake! Love orange and raspberry together. YUM

Paula said...

I want to try Bestlife after your glowing testimonial. And congratulations on losing so much weight. I didn't know. The cake is very tempting with the raspberry sauce.

Trisha said...

That is one sinful looking cake :)
Nice pick for SRC this month!

Sara said...

Yum, I love yogurt cake, especially if it's flavored with citrus. This one looks absolutely delicious! :)

Shelby said...

The cake looks awesome Katrina - and of course the raspberries and chocolate have me drooling big time.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure what I think of the orange cake (not a huge orange-lover) but I do love your addition of the Raspberry and Whipped Topping... and Chocolate Shavings. Good pick!

Katherine Martinelli said...

This cake looks so delightful! Love that it has yogurt, I'm sure it made it moist and delicious.

Heather Davis said...

Well done you for losing weight, keeping it off and creating a great baking blog!! I am impressed. This cake looks really good too. Love your take on it.

Vivian Thiele said...

Sounds very refreshing! Great job and thanks for visiting my SRC post!

Suzanne said...

This looks light, lovely and oh so tasty! I think I'm going to serve this for dinner next week when we have a friend over. YUM, just YUM!

Veronica's Cornucopia said...

I'm surprised this is reduced calorie because the texture looks great! I have to try this.

Unknown said...

I'd picked the same cake when I got her blog for SRC. The method did stump me a little bit too, but I loved the flavors on it. Your cake looks great, love the toppings :D

Colie's Kitchen said...

Hi this is Nicole from Colie’s Kitchen I just discovered your blog and wanted to drop by and say hi. I am now a new follower. I would love to have you stop by Colie’s Kitchen if you get a chance. www.colieskitchen.com