Titi's Cake de Naranja

So my friend Robin has been very supportive of me blogging. She shared with me a few recipes from a Cuban Book of Recipes that she got for Christmas. Because of Robin's suggestion I made Titi's Cake de Naranja.

For those who don't know that means it's Titi's Orange Cake. According to the recipe, Titi is the aunt of the author. "(Cake) flavored with fresh orange juice and grated orange peel, it is frosted with a light, fluffy, lime-and-orange butter cream."

Recipe: Titi's Cake de Naranja

Ingredients:

Cake:
  3 large eggs
  12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, at room Temperature
  1 1/2 cups sugar
  1 tsp grated orange peel
  3 cups flour
  2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
  1/2 tsp salt
  1/4 tsp baking soda
  1 cup fresh orange juice

Frosting:
  1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
  1 Tbsp grated orange peel
  3 cups confectioners' sugar
  1 large egg yolk (optional)
  1/4 cup fresh orange juice (modified from original recipe calling for 1/2 cup)
  1 tsp fresh lime juice
  1 can mandarin orange sections (drained), for decorating the cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. For Cake: Beat eggs in a medium bowl on high speed for 5 minutes. (I do not have an electric mixer, so i just whipped the hell out of the eggs for 4 minutes. That's as long as I could stand it. :) Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter, then gradually add sugar and orange peel. Add the eggs, beat/mix for 2 minutes to combine well, and add dry ingredients, alternating with the orange juice, until smooth and well blended.
4. Pour the batter into a greased Bundt "Boondt" pan. (original recipe called for two round cake pans, I didn't have those) Bake on middle rack for 45-50 minutes until cakes tester inserted comes out clean (original recipes says  minutes for round pans). Allow to cool at room temperature in pan, then remove from pan. For the Bundt cake, find a plate/sheet place over top of bunk pan and then flip the pan and sheet together.

5. For Frosting: Cream butter, then add grated orange peel, a small amount of sugar, and the egg yolk, and continue beating. Add the remaining sugar, alternating with the orange and lime juices, until the frosting is a spreading consistency.

6. When cake is cool, spread frosting on top (if using round pans, spread approx. 1/3 of the frosting between the cake layers.)

7. Use the mandarin oranges to decorate your cake.

8. Devour.

Here is who I played with while waiting for the cake to bake. Isn't he cute?!