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The ingredients I followed are:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white sugar
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

Cooking time 35 minutes at 180 C.

I didn't put zest.
I couldn't feel the strong orange flavor in the cake. The cake was rather dry.

If next time I put 2 cups orange juice, what other thing do I have to increase to maintain the balance?

Can I put half cup brown sugar to maintain the moisture?

Can I put the Orange "pulp" in the cake? Will that make any positive difference? If yes, then what's the way to use it properly?

Aquarius_Girl
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2 Answers2

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Citrus zest is where most citrus flavour in a sauce or baked good actually comes from because it remains in solid form, like herbs and spices. The juice adds some flavour but it turns into solution and gets spread out over a very large surface area/volume.

I don't know why you decided not to use the zest - are you using commercial orange juice? If so, that may be part of the problem too - processed juices are not going to be as flavourful as homemade, in part because of the mechanical separation of pulp (even if it is subsequently re-incorporated to make a juice "with pulp").

Orange juice is effectively your water in this recipe so doubling it means you need to double everything else. In other words you'll have exactly the same ratios and therefore exactly the same taste.

If it came out too dry then that means you either (a) baked too long, (b) overworked the batter, (c) didn't use enough oil or (d) didn't use enough sugar. Nothing to do with the OJ content.

If you really want to add more orange flavour beyond what the original recipe would give you, use orange extract, it's a highly concentrated orange flavour and is usually derived from (surprise!) the zest, or made to taste like one. But I would suggest to try following the recipe correctly before doing this.

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Aaronut
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  • "*I don't know why you decided not to use the zest*" The recipe asked just for 1 tablespoon zest. Does 1 table spoon make a huge difference? Anyway, I 'll be editin the question. – Aquarius_Girl Mar 12 '12 at 15:52
  • I have added the question about pulp, see edit. – Aquarius_Girl Mar 12 '12 at 15:54
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    @AnishaKaul: Yes, it makes a difference, and pulp is not the same as zest. – Aaronut Mar 12 '12 at 15:56
  • What kind of difference? Positive or negative? how to add that? Can you "elaborate"? I threw away the pulp this time. – Aquarius_Girl Mar 12 '12 at 15:58
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    @AnishaKaul "Pulp" is usually bits of orange flesh that are caught in the juicing process. "Zest" is bits of peel that have been carefully grated off and contain most of the orange flavor and smell in a concentrated form (think essential oils); "Pith" is the white bit just under the peel that you don't want to get in your zest because it tastes bitter. – Yamikuronue Mar 12 '12 at 16:09
  • @Yamikuronue Thanks, I knew the meanings, I asked whether pulp can be used in the cakes or not. – Aquarius_Girl Mar 12 '12 at 16:32
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    @AnishaKaul, why don't you try following the recipe before worrying about substitutions? I don't mean to offend but it seems like many of the problems you've experienced so far have been a result of assuming that some change would be fine without a clear understanding of the process. Most people learn to cook by first following the recipes and then improvising once they have more experience. Baking, especially, can be quite finicky in terms of measurements/modifications/substitutions and it usually takes a lot of solid practical and theoretical experience to create or modify recipes. – Aaronut Mar 12 '12 at 16:44
  • Anyway, the answer is no, pulp is not a substitute for zest and nobody is suggesting that you use it. We're suggesting that you use zest, like the recipe says to use. – Aaronut Mar 12 '12 at 16:45
  • Actually peeling off the zest is a energy consuming process. I haven't seen readymade zest here. I threw away the pulp so thought I could have used it somehow. – Aquarius_Girl Mar 12 '12 at 16:46
  • I didn't say that pulp is a substitute for zest. I didn't want to throw it away therefore asked if I could use it somehow. – Aquarius_Girl Mar 12 '12 at 16:47
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    @AnishaKaul: I'm not sure what you mean by "energy" but if you mean "effort" then of course it does; most good recipes require some degree of care and prep time. If you really want your cake to taste like orange juice pulp then go ahead and use the pulp, but I've never heard of that being done. – Aaronut Mar 12 '12 at 16:51
  • yes, energy meant effort. :) – Aquarius_Girl Mar 12 '12 at 16:54
  • @AnishaKaul it really shouldn't be THAT much effort if you have something like this: http://www.cookingtoys.com/media/Kitchen-Gadget/microplane-zester-grater-40020.jpg or even just a standard cheese grater. – Jay Mar 12 '12 at 17:08
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    Yeah, I use a Microplane, it's maybe 2 minutes of scratching to zest a whole orange/lemon/whatever. If you're truly broke, a regular zester is fine, it'll still take less than 5 minutes and only be slightly bitterer from the extra pith. – Aaronut Mar 12 '12 at 18:54
  • Microplanes are great. I'm sorry I waited so long to actually get one. They come in many shapes and sizes and varying degrees of courseness in the shavings that they produce. – Fauxcuss Mar 12 '12 at 23:53
  • I've also succesfully removed zest with a very, very sharp knife... but I can't imagine it's lest overall effort than a microplane or grater of some sort... – talon8 Mar 13 '12 at 14:09
  • Actually, it is not about being broke, the problem is that I haven't seen anything like a zester in the malls here. all I have seen is a potato peeler. How should I make the shopkeeper understand that I want a zester. – Aquarius_Girl Mar 15 '12 at 07:25
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    Zesters may not be everywhere but microplanes are pretty common items [microplane](http://www.amazon.com/Microplane-40020-Classic-Zester-Grater/dp/B00004S7V8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1385811124&sr=8-2&keywords=microplane). If you can't find one, you can use a vegetable peeler, just keep your pieces small and use a paring knife to cut away any white pith. Don't skip the zest, there is A LOT of flavor in a tablespoon of zest. – Jolenealaska Nov 30 '13 at 11:35
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    Zest can be easily sliced off a citrus fruit with a sharp knife and minced. Don't get any pith with it. Don't use a carbon steel knife on a lime (they are so sour they turn black from even a well patina'd knife). – rackandboneman Jul 11 '16 at 10:01
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I often bake cakes for my nieces and nephews when they visit from Japan. They both love oranges but I don’t so I tried baking a cake and just zesting it with orange after it was cooked so that i could have my own slice without any orange flavouring. It came out beautifully and the kids said it was the perfect amount of orange. They loved it!!

So, try the zest baked in and/or sprinkled on the baked cake for more orange flavor.

Jolenealaska
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Cakelady
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  • This answer was flagged for not *directly* answering the question. I took the liberty of adding a line to nudge it towards a more direct answer. Feel free to edit it again. – Jolenealaska May 01 '19 at 06:12
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