Orange-Blueberry Bundt Cake

This delicious cake is easy to make and the bright citrus flavors make it a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. The yogurt, fresh orange juice and orange zest make it a very moist, light and tangy cake-  bake it and see for yourself!

This cake is sweet without being overwhelmingly so, and would be perfect with a hot cup of tea or as an after-dinner treat.

Dry ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup yogurt (I had fat-free and that’s what I used)
• ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (save 3 Tbsp or so of this for the glaze)
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ - ¾ cup of blueberries, tossed in a bit of flour

For the glaze:

• 2-3 tsp powdered/confectioners’ sugar
• 3 Tbsp fresh orange juice

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your pan of choice. I used my bundt pan.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and beat well.

Add the orange zest, vanilla extract, yogurt and orange juice. Mix well. (At this stage, I noticed that my batter had begun to curdle but I continued mixing. I found out later that this had  not in any way affected the taste, texture or appearance of the final product.)

Mix the dry ingredients well and combine with the wet ingredients. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Pour into the greased pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (Mine was done in exactly 35 minutes and I turned off the oven and let the cake sit in there while I got the glaze ready.)

For the glaze, combine the orange juice and   sugar and mix well until smooth.

Drizzle the glaze all over the cake while it’s still warm. Slice and serve.

Orange-Oat Bars

I made these bars a while back when I was going through a phase- one that I usually go through at the beginning of every year, where I try to watch what I eat and be good. Unfortunately for me, this is a phase that does not last very long! I was looking for some healthy eats then and I came across these bars on Sunita’s blog. Her orange and date bars seemed to be just what I was looking for. I had a huge canister of oats and some prunes that had to be used up and her recipe looked perfect.

I did not make too many changes to the original recipe except that I substituted the dates in the original recipe with prunes and also added a handful of walnuts.

Ingredients:
(For about 8 bars)
2 cups + 2 Tbsp uncooked oats (I used old-fashioned oats)
1 orange (mine was the seedless kind), peeled and pureed in the blender
Zest of an orange
8-10 prunes, chopped
5 Tbsp honey
¼ c oil
7 Tbsp yogurt
½ tsp cinnamon powder
½ cup chopped walnuts
A pinch of salt
Powdered sugar for dusting the tops of the bars

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan/dish with foil and grease with oil/butter.

Mix all the ingredients (listed above) together and place in the baking dish. Spread it around as evenly as possible.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool for a bit and then cut into bars. Dust the bars with powdered sugar. I had to do this since the bars were not sweet at all in spite of the honey and the naturally sweet orange juice, and it was too late to incorporate sugar! If I make these again, I would definitely add some sugar and maybe toast the oats and nuts in the oven for a few minutes for a better flavor.

These bars do make for a great breakfast/snack on the go and are healthy and filling.