Orange Vanilla Bean Cake

While my old job was less than ideal, there were some positives... I learned SO MUCH from the people working there.. and those girls are some of my best friends. It stinks that I don't see them every day, but we do still all get together for a survivor's support group every once in awhile.

For Lindsey's birthday last week, John and I had her and her husband over on the weekend to celebrate. I let her pick any cake combination that she wanted and gave her a few sites to look at for ideas. She came up with the orange and vanilla bean combination. Since I don't know what a dessert is without a little chocolate, I dipped the candied orange slices in a little melted chocolate.

I used a cupcake recipe from Annie's Eats that I adapted for a cake.

Orange Vanilla Bean Cake
Adapted from Annie's Eats

For the cake:
1 cup (16 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
2 tbsp. finely grated orange zest
4 large eggs
1½ cups heavy cream (or milk)
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (mine took two oranges)
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
 
For the candied oranges:
1½ cups sugar
1½ cups water
One small orange, sliced thinly

For the frosting:
1½ cups plus 2 tbsp. (3 sticks plus 2 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. milk
One orange, to zest

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line two 8" round cake pans with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pods and add to the bowl.  (Save pods for another use, or discard.)  Add in the orange zest.  Beat the mixture on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

In a liquid measuring cup, combine the cream, orange juice, and vanilla.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In three additions, add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl, alternating with the cream mixture.  Mix each addition on low speed just until incorporated, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Divide the mixture between the prepared cake pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes and then remove from the pan to cooling racks.

To make the candied orange slices, combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves.  Add the orange slices to the mixture so that they are in a single layer (none overlapping), reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer about 20 minutes, turning the slices at least once so both sides are candied.  Remove from the heat (to wax paper if you are garnishing right away, or dipping in chocolate). Store in a container with the syrup until ready to use.  (You can repeat using the same syrup for additional batches if pan does not accommodate all the slices in a single layer.)

If you want to dip the orange slices in chocolate, melt some chocolate chips (about 1.5 cups) in a double boiler over low heat. When the chocolate is melted, stir in a tablespoon of shortening if the chocolate is thick.  Stir well to make sure that the shortening is fully combined. Dip the orange slices into the chocolate until they are covered as much as you would like and then set on wax paper to cool.

To make the frosting, add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whip on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.  Add the confectioners’ sugar to the bowl and mix on medium-low speed just until incorporated.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pod into the bowl and add in the salt.  Continue to beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.  Mix in the vanilla extract and heavy cream on low speed just until incorporated.  Increase the mixer speed and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed, about 4 minutes.

To frost the cake, place one cake layer on your serving piece and place a dollop of frosting on top. Spread the frosting out to the edges. Zest the last orange over the top of the frosting in the middle. Place the top cake layer on the frosting. Spread the frosting over the rest of the cake and garnish with orange slices!