Coconut Orange Cake (Orange Rough)
A simple, fragrant tea cake with a moist and tender crumb, perfect with a cup of tea. This delightful cake will keep well, stored airtight, for a few days, and is divine slightly warmed up too. Sometimes it’s referred to as an Orange Rough cake (presumably for the coconut’s texture?), but no matter what you choose to call it, I’m sure this will become a go-to tea cake for you!
Makes one 20cm diameter round cake. For a smaller 15cm round cake (like in my video on Instagram), scale this recipe to 75%.
Ingredients
175g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, softened
zest & juice from 1 orange (set aside juice to mix with milk)
enough full cream milk to mix with orange juice for a total of 120g (at room temp) - see Method
4 large eggs, room temp
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine sea salt
150g desiccated coconut
Extra desiccated or shredded coconut for decorating (optional)
Method
Preheat oven to 160C fan. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and desiccated coconut. Set aside.
In a stand mixer bowl, place the sugar and orange zest. Rub together using your fingertips until the sugar turns orange and fragrant. Add the butter, then cream using a stand mixer (or hand held mixer) until pale, fluffy and smooth, scraping down regularly. This will take about 10 minutes.
Juice the orange into a measuring jug, and top up with enough full cream milk to make it up to 120g. (Depending on your orange’s juiciness, you may need lots or just a touch of milk. The milk will curdle - that is normal. You’ve just made an orange-y buttermilk!) Set aside.
Add one egg to butter mixture at a time, beating well until completely incorporated. Scrape down after each egg to ensure it is well emulsified.
Fold in the flour in 3 additions, alternating with milk/orange juice, folding until only just combined.
Place batter into prepared tin, sprinkle on extra desiccated/shredded coconut if using, then bake for 45-50 mins until golden brown and skewer comes out with a few crumbs attached to it.
Allow to cool in tin for 5-10 mins before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar to serve.
