Blueberry Orange Sponge Cake with Blueberry "Pie" Filling

Living on Sponge Cake...

As you all may recall, I made a peppermint chocolate chip sponge cake for my sister's birthday a few weeks ago. Everyone loved it, including me, so I decided to make another one for my Mom's birthday. I had adapted a recipe I got from Ciao Italia's Mary Ann Esposito.

This time I went with her original flavoring of orange, but added blueberries (my Mom's favorite). I also made a blueberry "pie" filling for the center. The reason I call it blueberry "pie" filling is because it is basically all the ingredients I use for my blueberry pies. The frosting couldn't be easier~ low-fat cool whip!

Blueberry Orange Sponge Cake

Cake recipe adapted from Mary Ann Esposito

5 large eggs at room temperature, separated
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pint of fresh blueberries

Blueberry "Pie" Filling
by Mixed Salad Annie

1 pint of fresh blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon tapioka pudding

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan and mix well and let stand for 15 minutes. Place saucepan over medium heat. Break up blueberries with a fork and stir until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool; transfer mixture to a small bowl and refrigerate until cold and thickened.

Preheat the oven to 350F
Use a stand or hand mixer to beat the egg whites until foamy; beat in half of the sugar, two tablespoons at a time, until soft glossy peaks form. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon colored, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually beat in remaining sugar, orange peel, orange juice, vanilla extract, and salt.

Sift the flour over the whites. Add the yolk mixture and gently fold in with a spatula without deflating the batter. Fold in half of the blueberries. Scoop 1/2 the batter into a (un-greased)
9 x 3 inch tube pan. Sprinkle half of the remaining blueberries evenly over the batter and top with the remaining batter. Sprinkle the rest of the blueberries on the batter and smooth with a spatula. Tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles and settle the batter so it is even.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until a cake skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Invert cake pan over the neck of a bottle or, if the pan has prongs, invert it on a cooling rack. Cool completely.

Loosen cake all around the inside of the pan and around the tube with a butter knife. Gently shake cake out. If the cake is stuck on the bottom, gently insert a flexible spatula along the sides of the pan and slide under all sides of the cake to loosen. Remove from pan and set aside.

Cut the cake into two layers.

Place one layer on a cake stand and spread all of the blueberry "pie" filling over the layer. Place the other layer on top and spread a layer of cool whip on top. Spread more cool whip all over the sides and smooth.

Garnish the top with fresh blueberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Use a serrated knife to cut the cake into wedges.

Orange Almond Butter Bars

Got Orange Peel?

Lately I've been obsessed with orange peel. It seems I can't eat an orange without first zesting or peeling it. I actually feel like I'd be throwing away some kind of valuable commodity if I threw away the peel. I know it's weird.

I just really love the fresh smell of the oranges essential oils when zesting them. I used to just zest the peel over some waxed paper and save it in the freezer until I needed it for a recipe. But I realized that I wasn't getting all of the essential oils from the orange. So I started to make orange butter instead. By zesting the orange into room temperature butter, all of the oil is incorporated right into the butter. I mix it and wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze for future use. It also makes it easy the next time I need orange zest in a recipe, since the work is already done!

In this recipe I made two different versions of bars. One with chocolate and the other is just topped with sliced almonds. They are both sure to please!

Orange Almond Butter Bars
by Mixed Salad Annie

Ingredients
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup natural almond butter
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup natural brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon pure almond extract
Grated orange rind from 1 1/2 oranges
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped or bittersweet morsels
2 tablespoons sliced almondsDirections
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
3. Beat together almond butter, butter and sugar in medium-size bowl until creamy. Beat in egg, yolk, rind and almond extract.
4. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture in 2 additions to form dough. If too soft, refrigerate to firm.
5. Place 1/2 of dough on a parchment lined baking sheet.
6. Stir chocolate pieces into remaining dough. Place on the same baking sheet.
7. Shape into two 10 x 3-inch logs.
8. Top the first log with sliced almonds pushing gently into dough.
9. Bake in 375 degree F oven for 10 to 13 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove logs to cutting board. Let stand until cool enough to handle, about 10-15 minutes.
10. Using serrated knife, cut logs crosswise on a slight angle into 1/2-inch-thick slices. With spatula, transfer bars to wire rack to cool.
Makes about 20 bars.