Meet my Gooseberry and Orange Loaf Cake. I so love using seasonal ingredients in cooking and baking. At this time of year I always seem to crave comfort food. And what’s more comforting than a slice of deliciously moist loaf cake soaked in syrup. With winter in full swing, the shelves are lined with beautiful citrus fruit and Cape Gooseberries. I couldn’t choose between these super juicy oranges and the plump little gooseberries so I decided to combine them. What an absolutely lovely pairing.
Sweet freshly squeezed oranges and slightly tart gooseberries, with a super zesty punch. This one is definitely a winner and I’m sure I’ll be using this combo in other recipes too.
If you like this kind of recipe, you should definitely give my Lime & Coconut Loaf Cake or my Clementine Drizzle Cake a try.
Gooseberry and Orange Loaf Cake
Ingredients
Zest & Juices
- 1 – 2 Large Oranges
- 250 grams Fresh Cape Gooseberries
Cake
- 113 Grams Unsalted Butter Softened to room temperature
- ¾ Cup Sugar
- 3 Eggs
- ½ Cup Plain Yoghurt
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tbsp Orange Zest
- ½ Cup Freshly squeezed orange juice
- ½ Cup Gooseberry juice
- 2 Cups All-Purpose/Cake Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
Syrup
- ¼ Cup Freshly squeezed orange juice
- ¼ Cup Gooseberry juice
- 1 Cup Powdered / Icing sugar
- Orange Zest or gooseberries to decorate/garnish Optional
Instructions
Juice Preparation
- Zest your oranges, then squeeze the juice. You will need ¾ Cup (180ml) of juice. Place the gooseberries in a food processor and pulse until pulp/thick liquid. You can use it as is or strain it through a sieve to remove the seeds as I did. You will need ¾ Cup (180ml) of juice. Set the juices aside
Cake
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a standard size loaf tin with non-stick cooking spray
- In a large bowl, using a stand mixer or hand mixer, whisk the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Whisk in the eggs, then add the yoghurt and vanilla extract and mix through. Finally, add the orange zest and juices and mix through
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt, then fold the dry ingredients into the wet until incorporated
- Pour the batter into the loaf tin and bake for around 50 minutes or until a skewer or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean (make the syrup while the cake is baking)
Syrup
- Add the juices and sugar in a small bowl and whisk until combined and the sugar has dissolved. Set aside until the cake is baked
- Once you've removed the cake from the oven, use a thin skewer to prick lots of little holes into the cake, then gently and evenly pour half the syrup over the top. Allow it to soak in and let the cake cool for around 15 minutes in the tin
- Remove the cake from the tin, place on a wire cooling rack to cool further, and drizzle with remaining syrup over the top (do this in intervals to ensure the syrup soaks in and doesn't just run off the top)
- Once the cake is completely cool. Slice and serve
This is absolutely delicious
Thank you so much! Have you made it?