Orange Loaf Cake

I am just not ready for the holidays to be over.

It feels like they came and went in a blink of an eye and I don't want to leave home, go back to work and start the humdrum again. It seems to go by faster each and every year. Time has a funny way of speeding up when you don't want it to.

But then we all know little tricks to slow it down, just for moments at a time. To catch your breath, realign. Those times for me is coffee and a slice of something nice. I do love a little loaf. There's something very comforting about a slice of loaf cake. It's not too much, overkill or heavy. Just a morsel of mmm... helping me get on my way.

Orange Loaf Cake

125g softened salted butter
225g caster sugar
275g self raising flour
2 large eggs

zest and juice of 2 oranges
125ml buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 180C, 350F or Gas mark 4. Grease a one pound loaf tin with butter and dust with flour. Tap out the excess. 

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and pale.
Add in an egg, one at a time until the yolks have been disappeared.
Dry whisk or sieve your flour and baking powder together.
Add the vanilla to the egg/sugar/butter combination.
Add half your dry ingredients to the butter combo and then half the buttermilk. Mix until combined and repeat. Be careful not to over mix the batter here as you want the loaf to stay light and fluffy. The buttermilk helps with that too. Just make sure all the ingredients have been mixed together.

Fold in the zest and juice.

Transfer the batter into a prepared tin and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. You'll know it's done as the top will be golden, have a slight spring in them when you gently push down on the top or a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clear!

The citrus in this loaf is not over powering and the crumb is soft and fluffy. The recipe is simple, basic at best, but a great one for a cup of coffee or tea mid morning.

Enjoy a moment to yourself.