Spring Cake: Orange and Rosemary

One of my aspirations is to make a special bake for each solstice and equinox. I've experimented a few times with a Yule Log Cake for winter solstice but that's about it so far. It felt like the right time to try out a spring cake. It was a little late for the Spring Equinox because I decided to make it for an Easter family event so it

wouldn’t all go to waste. 

The project started with a mandarin orange cake recipe I saw online. I like the idea of orange because it has a brightness that evokes summer but is also reminiscent of winter flavors. So it feels like a really nice way to symbolize the transition of seasons during the spring equinox. 

One of my interests is finding unique and interesting flavor pairings. Rosemary is my second favorite herb (coming in just behind basil) and it seemed like orange and rosemary would go together really well. I know rosemary can be a quite strong flavor and have never baked with it. I really had no idea how much to add but erred on the side of less because I didn’t want to overpower the whole thing. 

At the last minute I decided to add some kind of filling, instead of just frosting, between the layers. At first I was going to do some kind of orange jam or marmalade. But I saw blackberries at the store and it gave me the idea for a blackberry curd. I thought it might be a nice balance to the orange. 

Cake 

I will say right off that I did not make the cake from scratch. I haven’t done much proper baking for quite a while and it felt overwhelming to try it from scratch right now. One thing I’m learning is to set realistic expectations for myself. If I had committed to making the cakes from scratch, I probably wouldn’t have done anything. But it felt doable to use a box mix and focus on some of the elements of the project. 

So I started with the orange cake recipe, which uses a box mix, a can of mandarin oranges, and lots of oil. In retrospect, I should have realized how much that would affect the consistency. It turned out to be quite dense and almost claggy. The orange pieces made it hard to cut the top of the cakes level, so that was a bit of a struggle. They also were quite fragile, something I did not fully appreciate as I was moving them to the cooling racks; hence one of them fell into a few pieces. 

Along with the mandarin oranges I added about 2 teaspoons of finely chopped rosemary. I was worried about having hard pieces of the rosemary stem in the cake so I was very careful to pick off just the leaves and then finely chop it, almost into a paste. If you add a few drops of water to the cutting board, it really helps to weigh down the leaves and it cuts much easier. 

After the misadventure with the broken cake I decided to just go all-out and make another couple cakes. These I just made the standard box recipe way, so they were much lighter and spongier. I didn’t want to lose my original flavors though so I made a simple syrup with rosemary and orange which I brushed over the top of the cakes while decorating. It helped to keep them moist and carry the flavors though. The syrup turned out so good, it had such a good aroma, I’ve been brainstorming about what else I can make it for. 

Filling

I’ve never made any kind of curd but found a recipe that seemed easy enough to follow. I reduced the blackberries down with lemon juice so they were soft enough to strain. I thought this would be a tedious process but once they were heated up, the straining process went very quickly. 

Going forward I think I will do a little more research about new techniques. I didn’t really understand how curds work, on a scientific level. The recipe I was following said to add in the eggs and let it cook for about 5 minutes. I thought it would thicken as it set, so I followed the time and then took it off the heat. Of course after several hours in the fridge it still hadn’t set. I was able to salvage it by reheating it and using cornstarch to thicken it. I am assuming I did not let the eggs cook long enough the first time around. I think it is more accurate to follow recipes that give temperature guidelines instead of time because there are so many variables. It was much sweeter than I was expecting, so I think next time I will try to add more lemon so it helps balance out the rest of the cake. 

So the curd took a lot more work than I expected, but it turned out delicious and was very much worth the work. And I hope next time it will go a lot smoother. I used the trick of piping a circle of frosting around the outside of the cake before spreading the curd and that really helped to keep the top layers from smushing it. 

Frosting 

I was rushing by this time and just cobbled together what I had on hand. The frosting ended up being a mix of cool whip, instant pudding mix (dry), and pre-made frosting. This was definitely my least favorite part about the cake. It just seemed so sweet that it overpowered some of the flavor from the cake. I haven’t done much with frostings and am intimidated by anything involving egg whites. So this conglomeration got the job done but could use some refinement. 

Decorations

I experimented with drying orange slices, which turned out really well. The rest was pretty simple since I had leftover berries and rosemary sprigs. I struggled with making a fancy orange twist for the top, it didn’t seem to end up how it was supposed to. But overall, I really liked the brightness and simplicity of the decorations. 

Reflections

I’ve never made a 4 layer cake like this before, so it felt really good to see it all come together. It wasn’t particularly stable, however, so that’s something to think about in the future. However, fo having a layer that was several broken pieces smashed together, it did hold up quite well. 

The flavor combo was excellent. I noticed the orange wasn’t as strong, so I think next time I will add some zest to the batter. This would require buying a zester which I keep procrastinating about. It seems like such an extravagant kitchen utensil to have, but I can’t count the number of times I’ve wished I had one. So I’ll (hopefully) break down and purchase one in the near future. The blackberry curd really pulled it all together, honestly. And the balance of flavors was quite good. The rosemary came through but it was subtle, like just an undertone. The only flavor improvement would be to bring out the orange a bit more. 

I was also pleased at how well it turned out despite several elements not going to plan. It is satisfying to get creative and find unexpected solutions along the way. I felt very accomplished to see it all work out. I think baking is interesting because it is a mix of hard knowledge and gut feel. Like, I really messed up the curd because I didn’t understand principle of it. And I find it really fascinating to learn how baking actually works on a scientific level. But at the same time, you have to listen to your intuition. I wasn’t really following a recipe, I just had a sense that all these flavors and elements would go together well. I think it is all about knowing when you need information and when you just need to listen to yourself. Which is a good metaphor for life, actually.