Orange Cake Suggested by Aylmer Macpherson

Submitted by Diana 2

"I bought an old cookbook at an auction years ago. It's published in 1889. Inside are various clippings many dated in the early 1930's. One of them is this recipe. "Aylmer MacPherson suggests....". I gather Aylmer had some kind of cooking column. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find out any further information, not even the newspaper it was clipped from. The other dated clippings however are from a Toronto Ontario paper.... This cake is very light and moist. The flavour is simply wonderful, and it's all from the orange. No extract in this recipe at all. You could probably drizzle it with an orange glaze, but I opted for a dusting of icing sugar. I have altered the recipe a bit, but have made a note below of the original ingredients incase someone would like to give it a go. I certainly may later on, but not today ;)"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 1 10
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 orange, minced
• 1⁄2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 dash salt
• 2 cups flour

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*.
2. Grease and flour a 10" springform (or similar) pan. I used recipe #78579.
3. Mince the orange in a food chopper or processor. Peel and all. No seeds please! Set aside.
4. Cream together the butter and sugar.
5. Add eggs one at a time, blending well.
6. Add orange mush.
7. Mix together the sour cream and soda.
8. Mix together salt and flour, and add to the butter/orange mixture, alternating with the sour cream.
9. Pour into prepared pan.
10. Bake for 50 minutes or until done.
11. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing the outer rim.
12. *Note:*.
13. The original recipe called for the addition of 1 cup raisins and 1 cup nuts. These are folded into the batter after the sour cream and flour.
14. As you may see from the photo, the cake sunk in the center. I don't know why. It was completely baked so I just told DH "it's suppose to be that way" :).

Reviews

[mltarango]

made as directed, came out a little dry, so I poked holes over the cake and poured a cup of orange juice over it and let the cake soak it up. I used a orange glaze over the cake and it was delicious. Next time I won't bake as long, I think 50 min was too long

 

[Baby Kato]

What a lovely recipe Diana. We enjoyed it very much. I made the batter into 6 mini bundt cakes. They turned out perfect. The crumb was excellent, the cakes were tall, tender and moist with a subtle orange flavor. I served some of the cakes with icing sugar and the others with blueberry sauce. Both versions were enjoyed very much. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful threat.

 

[waynejohn1234]

Thanks for this old recipe Diana#2. It has been around for some time in different forms. I made it often years ago and always used buttermilk. I think it holds up better and does not sink in the middle. Love the orange flavor and always add the sultanas and nuts. Good cake. Incidentally I live in Halifax , N.S. You can also halve it and bake in a square pan.