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.

Frozen Fruit Rules

I know you're probably all getting your panties in a knot already at the thought of frozen fruit at the height of summer. BUT. When you have a toddler whose palate preferences change as frequently as the wind, it's so much more convenient to have fruit you can store for more than two or three days than have to worry it will sit in the fridge and rot if it isn't eaten immediately.

We made pancakes this morning with frozen blueberries, and they were great. My husband made a quick compote of blueberries and strawberries simply by heating and slightly mashing them, and adding the barest sprinkling of sugar. The other day, I took a small handful of frozen strawberries and put them in a Ziploc bag in the baby's lunch sac. By the time she wanted them, they were thawed and soft. She gobbled them down without a second thought. Perfect!

Plus, if you feel like a super-quick dessert, you can thaw one 12 or 16 ounce package of berries in the microwave (or in the fridge overnight), throw them in an oven-proof pan and top with a basic crumble mixture:

1/3 cup softened butter
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup crushed nuts (pecans, macadamias, walnuts, almonds, etc)

Mix all these ingredients with a fork, and sprinkle evenly over the berries. Bake in a 350 oven for about 25-30 minutes. Easy-peasy.