Greece
Sunshine Orange & Honey Mini Cakes
Inspired by Greek portokalopita, these little cakes drink up a bright orange-honey syrup while they are still warm. We zest, squeeze and bake sunshine right into the season.
What your child practised
- Zesting citrus
- Rubbing zest into sugar by hand
- Whisking a batter
- Folding dry into wet
- Portioning into muffin liners
Ingredients makes 8–14 portions
- 1 1/2–2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2–2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4–1 cups granulated sugar
- 3–5 navel oranges
- 1/2–3/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1/3–1/2 cup cooking oil
- 2–3 eggs
- 1/3–1/2 cup honey
- 12–16 muffin liners
- 1/2 tsp salt
How it is made
- Zest the oranges, then rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips until it smells strongly of orange. This is a real pastry chef trick.
- Whisk in the yogurt, oil, eggs and orange juice.
- Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt just until combined — a few lumps are perfect. Lumpy batter makes tender cake.
- Fill the muffin liners two-thirds full. An adult bakes at 350°F for 16–18 minutes.
- An adult warms the honey with orange juice for the syrup and spoons it over the cakes while they are still warm — watch it disappear right into them.