Thanksgiving Cake

Thanksgiving Cake: Autumn is festive for many reasons. The leaves are changing colours to beautiful hues of orange and yellow. The weather is bringing out our coats, scarves, boots, and gloves!! Foods are seasonal too. Fall also means time for a fresh crop of dry fruits and nuts; apples, oranges, and pears in fresh abundance everywhere; and time to think of the "Autumn Warmers"  like soups, pies, and baked puddings! 

Here is a wonderful cake to share, which gives our souls a warm glow. Have it with a cup of steaming coffee or tea, or serve it as a dessert with whipped cream, custard, or even ice cream. Caramelised apples, pears, or even oranges compliment this cake beautifully. Glazing it with maple syrup is just another option. Happy Thanksgiving, Canada.

Serves 16 people

Prepare a 10-cup bundt pan, well buttered and floured. 

Preheat the oven to 180C |350 F

Beat together until light and fluffy
225g/ 8 oz soft butter
2 cups sugar

add 2 eggs, one at a time and continue beating

Lower the speed of the beater to the lowest and alternately add (dry-wet-dry)

Dry ingredients
Sieve together

2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Zest of 2 oranges

1 1/2 cups broken walnuts

Wet ingredients
1 cup of cream with 1/2 lemon freshly squeezed. Stir it rapidly with a tsp for 1 minute to make it slightly thicker, 
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp Grand Marnier; if you prefer, you can substitute Cointreau, Drambuie or Whisky.


Pour the batter into the pan, and bake for about 50 minutes. Test the cake with a skewer to ensure it is clean before removing it from the oven. 
Let it cool for 5 minutes, then turn the cake onto your serving platter.

Tip To add the dry and wet ingredients, alternate both, always starting and ending with the dry. 

Optionally to glaze
Serve it with whipped cream or cream cheese.
If you wish to glaze it, mix 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp maple syrup, and 2 tbsp icing sugar. It should be thick enough to be a paste, yet soft enough to drizzle with a spoon. 

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Niloufer's Kitchen: Persian Fusion