Full question
The Spruced-Up Vanilla cake is super, but this year I’d like to make it like an orange cake. Any ideas on what would work best as a substitute for the vanilla?
Our answer
Nigella's Spruced-Up Vanilla Cake (from NIGELLA CHRISTMAS) gets its name from the "Pine Forest" or "Holiday Tree" bundt pan that is used in the photograph, though the cake can be baked in any 2.5 litre (10-cup) bundt pan. The cake is flavoured with vanilla, but can also be flavoured with mixed spices to make a Spruced-Up Spice Cake.
It would probably be possible to make an orange-flavoured cake using finely grated zest and omitting the vanilla. We would estimate that you would need the finely grated zest of around 2-3 large oranges for this quantity of cake batter. You could also add a couple of teaspoons of orange flower water, though go carefully as the strength of different brands varies and too much orange flower water can be overwhelming. However, you can tweak these quantities to suit your own palate. The baking time for the cake will be the same. The left over zested oranges could be used to make the Chilled Caramelised Oranges, possibly to serve alongside the cake.
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