Orange Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

My husband's favorite cake is a homemade orange cake, and it's really easy. Take one box of yellow cake mix and where they tell you to add water, substitute orange juice. Also, add one tablespoon of orange zest to the batter before baking.

I think that this recipe would work for any citrus, too.

For the frosting, things get only slightly more complicated:

1 pkg cream cheese (8 ounces), room temperature
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
3 tbsp orange juice
2 tsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange essence
1 tbsp Grand Marnier or other orange-flavored liqueur
5 cups confectioner's sugar

With a hand mixer, beat together all ingredients except sugar. Mix until smooth and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.

In two batches, add confectioner's sugar. Beat until creamy. Add more orange juice or more sugar to attain the consistency you like.

It's nice to decorate the frosted cake with more orange zest or sections of mandarin oranges.