This orange loaf cake is a soft sweet orange bread perfect for an Italian breakfast. Before you make your fresh orange juice, grate the zests and use them for this cake, and nothing gets wasted. The sweet and crunchy coconut balances the citrusy aroma of the orange. The flavor is already intense; you do not need any frosting. It is easy to make, and the plain square cake slices are practical to pack for a lunch or picnic.
Before making this cake, soak the shredded coconut and the orange zest in milk overnight or at room temperature for one hour.
½ cup shredded coconut, 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon orange zest
Sift the flour with the baking powder
1 ¾ cup flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder
With an electrical blender, whip the butter (room temperature) with the sugar until it becomes creamy.
½ cup butter at room temperature, 1 cup caster sugar
Add the two eggs, one at a time, making sure the first is combined before you add the next one
2 fresh eggs
Gradually combine the flour
Last, add the milk and the coconut
The batter will be very fluid
Coat with butter and flour a loaf baking pan
Pour in the cake batter
Bake in a hot oven at 355 F - 180 C for 1 hour
Wait 10 minutes before removing it from the pan
Serve it for breakfast or as a snack
Video
Notes
What makes this cake nicely moist and fluffy is the whipping of the butter with the sugar. Make sure it is nice and foaming before you add the eggs.
Add one egg at a time to make sure they are well combined
Once you add the flour sifted with the baking powder, you need to bake the cake right after otherwise, you risk compromising the rising of the baking powder.
Do not remove it from the pan immediately otherwise; it will break. Although, remove it from the pan to cool down completely so the steam is released and the loaf forms a nice crunchy crust.