All different types and sizes are plentiful in the Israel markets today. Jaffa oranges (also known as shamouti) are the primary fruit seen in the Israeli markets today. Jaffa oranges were developed by farmers in the mid-19th century and were the first fruit produced in Jaffa for export. In the early years, Jaffa was the center of the citrus industry surrounded by groves.
Today, 95% of the groves are along the coastal plain but additional groves are located in the Jezreel Valley, Beit She’an Valley, the Galilee and the Golan Heights. Smaller quantities grown in the Lower Galilee, Jordan Valley, Western Galilee and the Arava.
Here are some recipes for orange cakes.
My Orange Juice Spice Cake
- ⅓ cup canola oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 t. baking powder
- 1 t. baking soda
- ½ t. cinnamon
- ½ t. nutmeg
- ½ t. cloves
- ½ t. vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup orange juice
- ¼ cup Sabra liqueur
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray vegetable spray on a cake pan or Bundt pan.
In a food processor, add oil, sugar and eggs and blend.
Add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and vanilla. Add flour and blend.
Add orange juice and Sabra liqueur. Pour into a greased cake pan. Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Ruchi’s Orange Chiffon Cake
I met Ruchi, a Canadian married to a kibbutznik, when they came on shlichut to Chicago in the 1980s. They lived in Judea/Samaria, where her husband was a tour guide and she is a simultaneous translator, and then moved to Jerusalem proper. She gave this recipe to me when we were all in Chicago.
- 2½ cups flour
- 1½ cups guar
- 4 t. baking powder
- ½ t. salt (optional)
- ½ cup oil
- 6 eggs, separated
- ¾ cup orange juice
- 2 T. grated orange peel
- 2 t. vanilla
- ½ t. cream of tartar
Icing
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 T. melted, unsalted margarine
- 1-2 T. orange juice
- 1 T. grated orange peel
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a tube pan.
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add oil, egg yolks, orange juice, orange peel and vanilla.
In another bowl, beat whites until stiff with cream of tartar. Fold into main ingredients.
Pour batter into a tube pan. Bake in preheated oven 55 minutes.
In a bowl, combine egg yolk, margarine, orange juice, orange peel and confectioners’ sugar.
When cake is warm, spread icing on top and sides.
Orange Juice Coffee Cake
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk or non-dairy creamer
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 T. orange peel
- 2 cups flour
- 3 t. baking powder
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup orange juice
Topping
- 2 T. melted butter or margarine
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup ground nuts or coconut
- 1 t. cinnamon
- 1 t. nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350 F. and grease a cake pan.
In a mixing bowl, beat the egg. Add milk or nondairy creamer, sugar and orange peel.
Add flour and baking powder and blend.
Add oil and orange juice and blend. Pour batter into greased cake pan.
In a bowl, combine butter or margarine, brown sugar, nuts or coconut, cinnamon and nutmeg and blend. Sprinkle on top of batter. Bake in preheated oven 20 to 30 minutes.
Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, author, compiler/editor of nine kosher cookbooks (working on a 10th) and food writer for North American Jewish publications, who lives in Jerusalem, where she leads walks of the Jewish food market, Machaneh Yehudah, in English.
