English: Slices of Blood Oranges Deutsch: Scheiben einer Blutorange (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Greetings!
This is a an ultra-short fun personal account that I actually wrote last year. It is about a moment that I experienced at Trader Joes. I thought I would share it with you because it’s that fall time of year again and if you blink, you might just miss a moment that’s worthy of a chuckle, ponderance or warm fuzzy feeling…
Moments as such are all around us, and I simply found this to be true on a crisp, mild and breezy fall day, after having made a special trip to Trader Joes to purchase Blood Orange soda, of with which to make a Blood Orange Cake…
Happy, and with bottles in hand, I am leaving Trader Joes. It is a crisp, late Friday afternoon, just two days before Halloween, and Halloween falls on Sunday this year, but, children are already in costumes. Many are leaving from school where they had just participated in costume parties and parades. Swiftly moving with bottles now clutched to my chest, I am noticing a mother and her son are also leaving Traders Joes. She, in her designer workout clothes, leading at a steady aerobic pace while Son lags far behind in his fresh- out -the -bag skeleton costume, and bright orange pumpkin trick-or-treat pail in hand. “Hurry”, she calls back to him, hastening her steps and motioning for Son to do the same. “I am all out of energy”, Son mutters; his pail is whipping his thigh from his juvenile efforts to place one skeleton leg in front of the other.
It is simply a moment to seize, because rarely does one witness a small child on Halloween, all out of energy. True it was not yet Halloween; but, with mother full speed ahead, motioning Son to hurry, it was mother and child in reverse. It was a pure and funny scene eliciting a chuckle and a ponderance and a welcoming of the fall holiday season, It’s just a Halloween Trader Joes moment to share with you …
Now, back to Blood Orange ( soda ) Cake. Here is how it turned out!
In my opinion, this cake turned out moist and a bit dense. The flavor was mainly concentrated in the frosting, which was a plus because it masked the batter-like taste of the cake. Although the cake had a batter-taste, I was still able to taste some orange flavor from the soda, but again … this was a dense cake.
To remedy this, I suggest slicing both 9 inch round cake layers in half, horizontally, creating a total of 4 layers. My thought with this? If the cake is in thinner proportions (4 layers), it will not be as dense and will not have that cake batter taste. Plus, the frosting will better compliment the taste of the cake rather than mask it. The next time I bake this, I will be sure to make this cake a 4 layer. It really is a fun and otherwise, tasty cake for the holiday. Don’t forget to add the candy corn!
Also, for the frosting, I used almond extract instead of using vanilla, like the recipe called for. The almond extract made the orange flavor in the frosting stand out, which I thought tasted delightful; but the next time, I think I will try using vanilla. I am curious to know how well the vanilla extract compliments the orange soda flavor in the frosting. Vanilla or almond? It’s a personal call. When in doubt, test both!
Happy Baking!
… More about Blood Orange Soda and blood oranges!
I thought I would add this tidbit for those of you who are wondering about Blood Orange soda and blood oranges. Blood Orange soda is an Italian soda known for its fruity flavor, which strives to taste like the juice of blood oranges, oranges that have that crimson color red on their insides. The Blood Orange soda I used was simply made from; carbonated mineral water, blood orange juice ( from concentrate), sugar, citric acid, natural blood orange flavor, and black carrot juice (for color). There is an organic version and a non-organic version, the difference being, one has the actual blood orange juice in it, and the other (the non-organic) uses carbonated water and simple syrup.
So, there you have it! Blood Orange soda, Blood Orange cake, and a Halloween Trader Joes moment. Thanks for visiting! I have yet to make a final decision on what tasty treat to post yet; but trust me, it will be SWEET!
— Linda Ghostwriter
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