The Tangy Orange Yogurt Cake That Just Made the Cut

This freshly squeezed orange cake was on its way to being all you'd want an orange cake to be. Moist, springy and zesty with just the right amount of sweetness. It even warranted a dance of cake joy around the kitchen when I took it out the oven and sneaked a taste.

Then I decided to put icing on it.

Icing is something I very rarely play with, I'm more of a simple muffin or sponge traybake kind of cake girl. Plus I personally find it too sweet so I can never manage to eat stuff like icing and frosting. So whenever I do decide to jazz it up with some icing, I try to keep it minimal.

Naturally, what this means is that I sort of forget how to make it properly.

The ingredients and method I remember – fresh orange or lemon juice, zest, icing sugar, and whisk.

But the quantities? Hm, fuzzy on those details, but it didn't occur to me to just look up an older recipe I've done with icing sugar. I figured that it would be pretty straightforward to judge there and then.

So I whisked together what turned into fairly runny icing. Ah, that's fine, it'll set, I thought. As I started to carefully drizzle it on, I realised that I'd made quite a lot, so decided to just just pour it all on. (Yes, the icing was pourable – why this did not ring alarm bells in my head, I do not know.)

As it started to run down the sides of the cake, I realised that I'd made a BIG mistake.

Of course, by this point, it was far too late. (And it could have been worse, as I did contemplate hacking off the top layer of the cake to take off the icing.) With the knowledge that the sponge cake itself was still perfectly fine (icing absorption aside), I stuck it in the fridge to leave the icing to 'set' properly before slicing it up. And served it with a side of warning that it would just taste er, slightly soggier than intended.

But for you guys, don't worry, you're safe – my recipe below is minus the icing ;-)

Tangy Orange Yogurt Cake

For a 12 x 7” traybake (cuts into 30 slices):

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Sift the flour into a large bowl with the baking powder and bicarb of soda. Add in the orange zest.

2. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar, followed by the orange juice, yogurt and vanilla.

3. Tip into the flour mixture, then fold well until just mixed. Transfer to a lined traybake and level out with a knife.

4. Bake for about 30 minutes until risen and slightly springy to the touch.

More Hungry Jenny cakes here.