Even as I take a few minutes to relax and type here, I have a pot of the Spicy Chicken Soup simmering on the stove. I didn't have the red kidney beans called for in the recipe so am using some white navy beans I found in the cupboard. Homecooking is all about good food and saving money so it paid to use what I had rather than drive over to the store.
I also was inspired by the orange tree out back which is heavy with fruit right now. No matter how many oranges I eat, the supply seems endless . . . for now. I remembered the orange chiffon cakes my mother used to make and decided some of those fresh oranges would do well in baking a memory on a cold, rainy afternoon. I was prepared to do a lot of orange squeezing as I remembered how my mother bemoaned the fact that the cake too so many oranges to make. Perhaps, my oranges are juicier as it only took two to provide the 3/4 cup of juice and the fresh zest for the cake. Cake is cooling on the counter while I ponder a choice of icing for it. I'll probably go with a lemon/orange glaze.
Orange chiffon cakes are not difficult to make. The clue is to line up all the ingredients before you get started so the process doesn't get bogged down at a crucial point. The only 'difficult' part is folding in the stiff egg whites into the orange/oil/flour batter. You have to get out the egg white streaks but take care to not over mix it as it will reduce the volume of the cake. My cake went to the top of the big tube cake pan so I haven't lost my touch.
My mother worked at the local parish every Sunday so from an early age, around ten or twelve, I was making dinner and dessert. I remember getting to the folding in point on the orange chiffon cake and having to call my mother to run home (the church wasn't far) to fold it in for me. It seemed all too soon before I just did it myself and often wondered if my mother missed this interaction as much as I did over the years.
Anyone interested in a recipe for orange chiffon cake, let me know. I cannot promise, however, to be there to help you fold in your cake batters!
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