Pillsbury 2nd Grand National Winner – Orange Kiss-Me Cake
You could call this Orange and Walnut Cake a whole-fruit cake because it simply does use the whole orange: juice, peel, pith, the lot. Taken from a 1950 Pillsbury Bake-off pamphlet, I have tweaked this recipe only slightly to make is super-easy to whip up in no time at all!
I love old cookbooks. I have a large collection of Pillsbury Bake-Off pamphlets, encouraging housewives (and the occasional husband) to submit their own favourite recipes long before the BBC struck gold with their own Bake-Off show. These recipes are homely, sometimes stodgy, sometimes strange, but always an interesting microcosm of how baking and home-cooking has evolved over the years.
For those of you who are only familiar with the Great British Bake-Off, Pillsbury hosted a baking competition held between 1949 and 2022. Later on, the recipes had to use specific Pillsbury products, some of which are no longer available, so these recipes are a little trickier to replicate, but I have found these little booklets, one issued for each year, to be so interesting and full of inspirational recipes. You can pick them up quite easily on Ebay for not too much money.
This flavourful, simple cake was invented by Mrs Peter Wuebel (sic) in 1950 and won her the 1st Place Winner of the Senior Contest of the 2nd Pillsbury Grand National Baking Contest. The prize was $25,000 which is equivalent to over $300,000 today, a life-changing amount of money to win.
Some recipes just seem plain unappetising but there are others that register an “A-ha!” moment in the brain. This simple orange and walnut cake, with its unusual food processed element is one such recipe; simple, full of flavour and lasts for ages in the cake tin. What more could you ask for?
I have amended the recipe slightly to remove the egg element (Tim is allergic), and replaced the shortening with olive oil but in essence, it is still the same recipe.
Easy Blend Cake
This is an easy to whip-up cake, blending up the wet ingredients, then stirring them into the dry, before baking, producing a no-fuss square cake, perfect for family get-togethers.
Debbie from the Culinary Cellar also baked this cake, but she used the original method, which has shortening and eggs in it, and uses a grinder instead of a processor to prepare some of the ingredients. Her cake definitely looks more similar to the 1950 version, with dots of raisins seen throughout the cake; however this seems a much more laborious method by today’s standards.
Blended Orange?
At the heart of this recipe lies the harmonious flavour of the whole orange. This is an unusual method of preparing cake, but it works. The orange is juiced and used in two ways:
- The peel is used in the cake, blended up with raisins, walnuts, olive oil and yogurt. This imparts a strong orange flavour to the cake, and keeps it moist and long-lasting.
- The juice is used to create a delicious fruity drizzle for the top of the baked cake.
Crunchy Drizzle Topping
For an extra layer of indulgence, you warm up the reserved orange juice with some sugar and cinnamon and drizzle this on the freshly baked cake. Top with some more chopped walnuts. Note: I completely misread the instructions and actually, if you prefer, you can just drizzle the reserved orange over the top of the cake, and then sprinkle with sugar mixed with cinnamon for an even crunchier topping!
Make it Vegan!
Simply use your favourite dairy-free milk and yogurt to make this cake completely vegan!
Customisations
You can omit the walnuts completely for nut intolerances, or you could use pecans or ground almonds instead if you don’t have walnuts.
Need More Inspiration?
Try Nigel Slater’s Easy Croissant, Caramel Apples and Ice Cream dessert
Orange Walnut Kiss-Me Cake
INGREDIENTS
- 1 Orange large
- 150 g Raisins or sultanas
- 70 g Walnuts chopped
- 260 g White flour
- 200 g Granulated sugar
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 120 ml Extra virgin olive oil or unflavoured vegetable oil
- 1 cup Milk
- ½ cup Yogurt
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
Orange Drizzle
- 45 g Sugar
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 50 g Walnuts chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 180c.
- Line a 12×8″ baking pan (we use a pyrex casserole dish) with greaseproof paper.
- Juice the orange, putting the juice to one side. Do not throw away the rest of the orange.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
- In a food processor or blender, process the sultanas, rind of the orange (skin, pith, the lot), walnuts, milk, oil, yogurt, vanilla and sugar until you have a thick, amalgamated mixture.
- Add to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly but gently.
- Pour into your prepared baking dish and bake for 40-50 minutes until golden brown and springs back when you press gently.
Make the orange syrup
- Whilst the cake bakes, prepare your orange drizzle. Place the orange juice, 45g of sugar and cinnamon in a small saucepan and bring up to a boil.
- Simmer for a couple of minutes until you have a thick sticky sauce that is no longer powdery from the cinnamon.
- Pour this over the baked cake straight from the oven.
- Leave to cool before cutting into squares and serving.
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