A slice of 'Sharmaine': The Orange Butter Cake
MANILA, Philippines – I’m sure that, by now, everyone knows Sharmaine. Sharmaine is the new viral nickname given to an orange.
It was inspired by the comedy skit made by Filipino content creator BAETT on TikTok that showed an orange complaining that her name was too plain because it was just based on color. Asked by what name she wanted to be called, she confidently said “Sharmaine.”
And so Filipinos, being a good-humored people, picked up the joke and started calling oranges Sharmaine. Customers began asking for Sharmaine in markets and supermarkets. Always in the loop, fruit vendors labeled their oranges Sharmaine, and sales or oranges, compared to other fruits, skyrocketed.
Even serious news programs like "Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho" featured “Sharmaine,” and now, even celebrity chef Jackie Ang Po developed an orange butter cake and specifically called it Sharmaine Butter Cake.
Simple, not so sweet, creamy, and melt-in-your-mouth, this orange Bundt cake is a must-try. Even slices of orange have been candied not just for garnish but for additional depth of flavor.
Sharmaine Butter Cake
Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 1/4 cups Arla Butter
400 grams sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pc orange rind
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup Nestlé All Purpose Cream
For the orange butter sauce:
1/2 cup Arla Butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
For garnishing:
1 pc orange, sliced thinly
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in orange rind and vanilla extract.
3. Combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt for your dry ingredients.
4. Alternately add dry ingredients and wet ingredient (all-purpose cream) to your egg-and-orange mixture. Until well incorporated.
5. Pour into a Masflex Bundt pan and bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Make the butter sauce. Mix together butter and sugar, and heat in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Add orange juice. Brush on top of the cake when cake comes out of the oven.
7. Make candied oranges. Make a syrup by combining sugar and water, and cook until syrupy in consistency. Add the orange slices and cook until transparent. Use for garnish.
