Orange Chiffon Cake and Orange Simple Syrup

One of my favorite fruits is oranges so when I got the opportunity to try out First Street Orange Juice from Smart & Final as part of Collective Bias and the Smart & Final Smarties (#SFSmarties), I was thrilled! And what better way to showcase the versatility of orange juice than transforming it into a cake? I decided to make an Orange Chiffon Cake - a perfect summer treat that is light and absolutely delicious.

I headed to Smart & Final and picked up a few key ingredients to bake my cake. Luckily for me, this store carries everything I need for baking and more. I love the restaurant quality ingredients, bulk offerings as well as the variety of kitchen tools available that makes preparing any kind of meal, big or small, easy. You would think that with so many products, it would be an overwhelming trip to buy ingredients for just one cake, but the store layout made it so easy to find everything...a plus in my book.

After purchasing all of my ingredients, I headed home to begin mixing up the cake batter and to my surprise, First Street Orange Juice tastes like freshly squeezed orange juice! This was great since I would be adding orange zest that would pair well only if using real orange juice.

Because the cake was so light, I opted for an orange simple syrup (created with First Street Orange Juice of course) instead of an everyday frosting just to make sure that it would not become a heavy dessert. Before inverting the cake, I brushed the cake with the syrup to let the sweet flavors soak in.

After the cake cooled, I removed the pan to reveal a beautiful cake and with an additional brushing of simple syrup...

And a dusting of powdered sugar, I enjoyed the first slice. A wonderfully delicious orange flavored cake if I do say so myself. You should definitely try it out. It's so simple and easy.

Orange Chiffon Cake

Makes one 10" cake

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cardamom

7 eggs, separated

1/2 cup First Street Orange Juice

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp orange zest

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

orange simple syrup (recipe follows)

powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour a tube pan; set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cardamom.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until it is thick and lemon in color. Beat in the First Street Orange Juice, oil, water, vanilla and orange zest. Add the egg yolk mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until just combined to form the orange cake batter.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy; then add the cream of tartar and continue beating until stiff peaks are formed. Fold the egg whites into the orange cake batter. 

Pour the batter into the prepared tube pan and bake in the oven for approximately 1 hour. The cake is done when you can lightly touch the surface and the cake springs back.

Remove the cake from the oven and place on a parchment-lined cooling rack. Using a toothpick, prick multiple holes into the surface of the cake and begin brushing the cake with orange simple syrup. Allow the cake to sit for a few minutes before inverting the cake onto the parchment to cool completely. Once the cake has completely cooled, loosen the cake and remove the tube pan. Once again, use a toothpick to prick multiple holes into the surface of the cake and brush with more orange simple syrup. Allow time for the syrup to soak into the cake; then dust the cake with powdered sugar.

Slice the cake and serve with additional orange simple syrup and powdered sugar to your desire.

Orange Simple Syrup

Makes 1 1/2 cups 

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup First Street Orange Juice

1/3 cup water

Directions

Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil on the stove at medium-high heat. Once it begins to boil, remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Use as needed.

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias.