Enjoy our recipe for a decadent Rooibos, Orange and Ginger cake smothered in citrussy cream cheese frosting.
I am an utterly dedicated tea boozer! So devoted am I to a good brew, that I haven’t even flirted with coffee in about twenty years. From an old-fashioned cup of milky breakfast tea to gorgeous green, peppermint, chai and chamomile, I’m partial to them all.
But a package of organic tea from Higher Living Australia (available for purchase at Coles and Woolworth’s) has got me expanding my tea horizons even more.
There’s a tongue-tingling cocoa and chilli tea, and delightful caffeine-free digestive, detox and immunity blends. All of which are now on high rotation here, as much for their deliciousness as their health-giving benefits.
But I have to say it is their Rooibos tea, a red caffeine-free tea that comes from South Africa, that has really tickled my taste buds. Beloved in South Africa, rooibos (also known as redbush) is made from the leaves of a shrub called Aspalathus linearis. Higher Living’s Organic Rooibos tea leaves are grown on a small organic farm in the Cederberg Mountains in South Africa and is still hand harvested and left to dry in the sun the same way it has been for centuries.
Rich in antioxidants with a delightful earthy flavour, I’ve been infusing everything with it. Even cake. Because lockdown. And cake.
More specifically, this rooibos, orange and ginger cake, inspired by a cafe stop with the kids in Cape Town, where I downed a steamy cup of rooibos with a slice of citrussy cake slathered in cream cheese frosting. It was one of those simple moments that imprinted itself in my memories and came hurtling back when I decided to whip up a cake to go with the tea. Only I decided to combine them.
Topped with a citrusy cream cheese frosting, candied blood orange and ginger, and liberally drizzled in a rooibos and citrus syrup, the kids gave this Rooibos, Orange and Ginger cake extravaganza a 10 out of 10 … when they weren’t shovelling it down their necks!
Ingredients
- Cake
- 250g butter, softened, chopped
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1 tsp orange blossom water
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cups self-raising flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Higher Living rooibos teabag
- Frosting
- 250gm softened cream cheese
- 100gm softened butter
- 3 cups sifted icing sugar
- Zest of one orange
- 1 tsp orange blossom water
- ½ tsp salt
- Candied oranges and syrup (make ahead)
- 2 blood oranges (any oranges will work) sliced into thin rounds not and seeds removed
- Large bowl of ice water
- 2 cups caster sugar
- 2 cups water
- 2 tbs fresh orange juice
- 1 tbs candied ginger
- ½ cup Higher Living rooibos tea
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil and add orange segments.
- Blanch for one minute then submerge slices into ice water.
- Add sugar and orange juice to water and return to the boil.
- Add orange segments and place orange slices in the sugar-water mixture in a single layer and reduce to simmer for around 40 minutes, turning every 10 minutes, or until the rinds become translucent and the syrup thickens.
- Lay slices (in a single layer) on baking paper over a cooling rack and allow to cool and dry (at least two hours but up to 24 hours before use).
- Add rooibos tea, ginger and an extra tablespoon of orange juice to reserved liquid and reduce by 1/3 to form syrup, and set aside to cool
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
- Grease and line three x 15cm round cake tins (alternately you could use 2 x 20 cm pans).
- Boil milk with rooibos teabag over medium heat and set aside to cool and steep. (Ensure milk still measures as one full cup once teabag is removed).
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then incorporate eggs one at a time.
- In a separate bowl add sifted flour, baking powder and salt and whisk until combined.
- Add half of the flour mixture and half of milk into butter mixture and fold through gently.
- Repeat with the rest of the flour and mix folding gentle until combined (try not to over mix).
- Pour equal amounts into pans and bake for approximately 35-minutes (or until a skewer inserted into cake comes out clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool completely before icing.
- In a large bowl beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy.
- Add icing sugar, orange blossom water, zest and salt and beat until combined.
- If you want the icing thicker, add icing sugar in ¼ cup increments.
- Spread cream cheese frosting on each layer of cake with a drizzle of syrup, then top and finish cake with cream cheese frosting and segments of candied ginger and orange.
- Serve with a refreshing cup of Higher Living rooibos tea.
An award-winning travel writer and photographer, Aleney de Winter was fresh from school when she first set off to explore the far reaches of Australia with a two-man tent and a beaten-up Kingswood for company. Three decades, and two kids later, and she's still on the go, with her itchy-footed offspring in tow. 