Serves: 8

It keeps for a week in an airtight container at room temperature and frozen up to three months.

Recipe adapted from The New Complete International Cookbook by Evelyn Rose with Judi Rose, Pavilion Books

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cream the butter until it is like mayonnaise and beat in the caster sugar and the orange zest, then the eggs.
Finally fold in the flour and add the water.
Bake in an oiled 20cm diameter sandwich tin, 5 cm deep for 45 minutes, or until golden brown.
To make the orange glace icing, put the icing sugar into a small saucepan.
Add 2 tbsp of the orange juice and beat well with a wooden spoon while warming over very gentle heat. When ready, the icing should thickly coat the spoon before running off. If very thick add the extra juice but it's better to have the icing too thick than too thin, as a thick icing can always be eased over the cake with a hot palette knife, whereas thin icing will run straight down the sides.
When quite cold, ice with orange glacé Icing: to ice: stand the cake on a plate. Pour the icing over the cake, allowing it to run down the side and helping it to spread, if necessary, by tilting or smoothing with a palette knife.
Decorate with candied orange and lemon peel, or finely shredded fresh orange zest and leave to set.

Ingredients

Name: Mother’s orange cake
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 125g butter 150 g caster sugar 2 tsp finely grated orange zest 2 large eggs, beaten to blend 6 oz self-raising flour, or 175g plain flour mixed with 1 ½ tsp baking powder 3 scant tbsp hot water For the orange glacé icing 225 g sifted icing sugar 2 –2 ½ tbsp smooth orange juice Candied orange peel or zest of an orange to decorate

125g butter

150 g caster sugar

2 tsp finely grated orange zest

2 large eggs, beaten to blend

6 oz self-raising flour, or 175g plain flour mixed with 1 ½ tsp baking powder

3 scant tbsp hot water

For the orange glacé icing

225 g sifted icing sugar

2 –2 ½ tbsp smooth orange juice

Candied orange peel or zest of an orange to decorate