Winter Zest
Lydia Clopton shares her citrus cake recipe
For pastry chef LYDIA CLOPTON, the holidays taste like oranges. “It reminds me of spending Christmas in Florida, which I’ve done most of my life,” says the former owner of Love, Lydia Bakery. “We used to make a similar recipe at the bakery as a mini-Bundt cake, and I loved making it. I love that it uses the whole orange with no waste.”
For Clopton, it’s a multi-generational memory. Her grandparents used to live in Florida and grew different varieties of citrus fruits. Her mom lives in Florida now, and they stop at citrus stands while traveling there. “The tangelos – sometimes called honeybells – are usually just coming into season. While these would be the perfect fruit for this cake because of their thin skin and lack of seeds, a mandarin or thin-skinned orange variety would be a lot easier to find year-round.”
And now with two sons of her own – eighteen months and four years old – Clopton experiments with healthier substitutions in her cake recipe shared here that don’t affect the flavor as well as kid-friendly sizes, turning the cake recipe into muffins. “In this recipe, I’ve swapped out some of the sugar for honey,” she says, “and I use Einkorn flour, which is a lower gluten type of wheat and less processed.”
citrus cake
INGREDIENTS
2 oranges or 3 mandarins or tangerines, with thin skin and not much pith
2½ c Einkorn flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
2 tsp turmeric
¼ tsp sea salt
½ c orange blossom honey
7 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ c sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
½ c whole milk, room temperature
¼ c sour cream, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Boil citrus for 10 minutes three separate times. Start with fresh water each time. This will get rid of some of the bitterness. Add the oranges to a food processor or blender and purée until smooth. Measure ½ cup purée. Set aside.
Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, honey, and sugar to a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer. Beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer with a paddle on medium for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through.
Add the eggs one at a time incorporating fully before adding the next one. Add the vanilla.
Add one-third of the sifted flour. Mix on low until just combined. Combine the sour cream and milk and add one-third to the batter. Mix on low until incorporated. Repeat two more times. Add the orange purée and mix on low until incorporated.
Add your batter to a greased or lined muffin tin. Fill about two-thirds full. For extra crunch, sprinkle with raw sugar.
Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Add whipped topping and citrus and enjoy!
(makes 12 muffins)
whipped topping
INGREDIENTS
½ c heavy cream, cold
½ c plain Greek yogurt or crème fraiche, cold
2 tbsp orange blossom honey
1/8 tsp orange blossom water
DIRECTIONS
Whip the cream and yogurt until soft peaks form. Add the honey and orange blossom water and whip a little bit more until combined, but do not over-whip.
NOTE: To supreme, or cut citrus segments, as a topping garnish, Clopton likes to use a couple of different kinds for color variation. Cut the peel and all pith off any citrus and cut out the segments between the pith.
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