Orange Passion Fruit Cake with Passion Fruit Glaze

Think of your favourite pound cake with all your favourite bright fruits infused into the batter. Both orange and passion fruit shine in this recipe. Fragrant, moist, and tender, this cake is anything but ordinary.

Orange Passion Fruit Cake with Passion Fruit Glaze

Prep Time: 30 minutes 
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients

• For the orange passion fruit cake 
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup softened butter 
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned, leveled and sifted (if a sifter is not available, a few turns with a wire whisk works well)
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest 
  • 1/2 cup fresh passion fruit juice
  • 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 1/4 cup milk 
  • 4 large eggs 
• For the passion fruit glaze
  • 1 cup icing sugar 
  • 4 – 5 tablespoons fresh passion fruit juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease and lightly flour cake pan(s). For this recipe, you can use a bundt pan, a medium-sized round/square pan, one long or two short loaf pans.
3. Cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. This should take about 5 to 7 minutes. The mixture should be a pale yellow and sugar granules should just about melt in your mouth.
4. While the mixture is creaming, whisk dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg) together in a large bowl.
5. Combine orange zest and juices.
6. Add vanilla essence to the milk.
7. On low speed, add eggs one at a time to creamed mixture. Allow to mix for about 10 seconds between each egg. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix for about 1 minute after all the eggs have been added.
8. With mixture on low speed, add a third of the flour mixture to the mixing bowl.
9. When the flour is just about incorporated, slowly add half of the juice mixture.
10. Add half of the remaining flour, followed by the juice and milk.
11. Add the remaining flour mixture and stir until just combined
12. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Another indication of doneness is that cake has left the sides of the pan. Adjust time for smaller pans. Small loaf pans should be done around 25 to 30 minutes.
13. Remove from pan and allow cake to cool before glazing.
14. To make the glaze, sift, whisk or use a fork to remove any lumps in icing sugar.
15. Add passion fruit juice slowly until a thick but pourable consistency is achieved. The glaze should slowly drip from a spoon like a thick ribbon. If the glaze is too thin, add more icing sugar, one tablespoon at a time. If it’s too thick, add more juice one teaspoon at a time.
16. Glaze your cake and enjoy the delightful flavours.

A Few Tips

Temperature makes a big difference in texture. Ingredients at room temperature will give the best results, so remember to take your butter, eggs and liquid ingredients out of the fridge before baking. Butter should be left out of the fridge for about an hour before use. It should be soft to the touch, but not melted. 

Technique also affects end results. Creaming should be done at medium speed. The creamed mixture will be noticeably lighter in colour and have fluffy peaks. This takes just a few minutes. Mixing at a low speed allows ingredients to combine slowly, incorporating air to give cakes a light, crumbly texture. Mix until just combined. Do not overbeat.