Orange Creamsicle Cake

Recipe From: Laura Watson

Generously serve up a warm slice of this luscious orange creamsicle cake then top it off with a heaping scoop of vanilla icecream....you can't help but go for a second..... or maybe even a third piece.     The secret to such a moist cake as this.....?  Orange Crush soda, of course!  Cake was served at Kirk's birthday party. 

Cake

3 sticks butter, softened

3 cups flour

½ tsp. salt

3 cups sugar

5 large eggs

**1 cup Orange Crush soda** (NO diet- also, see note below)

2 drops orange food coloring (optional)

1 Tbsp orange zest

1 tsp. orange extract (opt.)

Glaze

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

1/8 c. orange soda

½ Tablespoon. orange juice

½ teaspoon orange zest

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In large bowl, mix together butter and sugar .

Add eggs, one at a time, mixing slowly with each addition.

Add in flour, salt, orange soda, orange zest & orange food coloring.

To get the DEEP orange color that dips into the center, I used a separate bowl (once all batter was ready to be poured into the bundtpan) removed about one cup of the batter, placed in to the bowl and added an extra drop of orange food coloring and lil pinch more orange zest, then poured this FIRST into my bundt pan before I added the rest of the batter (this is optional)

Generously grease bundt pan. Pour batter til pan is filled. Bake 1 hr.  or til toothpick comes out clean. Once baked, remove and allow to cool for 45 min.  Then with a knife, loosen the cake from sides of pan very carefully.  Place a cutting board on top of the bundt pan and while holding cutting board firmly against the pan, turn upside down .

Glaze

Mix all glaze ingredients in small bowl and whisk til glaze is thick, adding more or less liquid or powdered sugar to get right consistency.  Drizzle all over cake.

**Original recipe called for 1 cup orange soda.  My cake did not set up in the middle when it was done baking.  I would cut the soda to HALF  a cup instead of one cup.

Also, orig. recipe didn’t call for orange extract so that could be optional.  Certainly adds more flavor.**