Romanian Orange Cake - Tort Diplomat Violet's way

A refreshing and unique cake

                                                                        

For the cake:  

4 eggs at room temperature                                                         
1 cup or 250 ml flour
1 cup or 250 ml sugar ( I found it too sweet for me)
125 ml vegetable oil
1 tsp baking powder
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1/2 orange
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Oil and flour for the pan or cake release

For the cream:
5 egg yolks
200 grams sugar
500 ml milk
500 ml heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp of flour
20 grams gelatin powder/granules
1/2 cup hot water
1 tsp vanilla or lemon extract

For topping:
6-8 larger oranges.

Preparation of the Cake:

Coat an 8 or 9 inch pan with oil and dust with flour or use cake release. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees.

Mix eggs and sugar in the mixer till it doubles in volume.

Add the oil and mix it on medium high, then add the flour, orange zest, and the baking powder mixed with the lemon juice. Mix or beat for 2-3 more minutes.

Poor batter in prepared pan and drop the pan gently on the table to release the big bubbles. Bake on middle rack for 45-55 min and tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Let it cool in the pan for about 10 min and invert it to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Special note: Do not open the door of the oven in the first 30 min.

Preparation of the Cream:

Prepare custard first. Mix together with a spoon the hot water and the gelatin in a small bowl till the gelatin dissolves.

Whisk egg yolks, milk, sugar,flour, and vanilla in a pan till is combined and no lumps are present. Place on low heat and cook till it thickens. Let it get to a couple of boils.
  

Remove from the heat and let it cool for about 10 min stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming on top of the custard.

Meanwhile, peal and slice the oranges. Use a larger pan then the one the cake baked in and line with saran wrap. Arrange the orange slices on the bottom and sides of the pan to preference. See image 1.

Cut up the remainder oranges in smaller pieces, these will be used between layers.

After 10 min mix the gelatin mixture into the custard till it totally dissolves. Let it cool completely to room temperature. Once cold, add one third of the custard to the whipped up cream, mix it well and add the remainder custard in two parts. Bring the mixer to med high and mix well.

Put a layer of the custard mixture on top of the orange slices and the side of the pan, place a cake layer that has orange juice poured on with a spoon, place another layer of custard mix, cut up oranges and lastly the second layer of cake that has orange juice on it.  (See image 2-4 above and images 5-7 below)  

                                             

If you have 3 layers of cake you can use them all.

Make sure you do not cover the last layer of cake with the custard mix. That will be the bottom of the cake.

Cover the whole pan and cake with saran wrap (see image 8)  and refrigerate at least 4-6 hrs. ( I usually chill it over night) 

When it is time to serve, remove the wrap and invert the cake to a platter or cake board. Finish removing the other wrap that is now on top of the cake.

Use a serrated knife to cut through the orange slices while holding the oranges gently...so you won't end up with a mess.

Enjoy.

P.S. Post a picture of your creation and let me know how you liked it.