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The first cake I ever made was an orange butter cake when I was twelve. Here, instead of a shiny orange icing , I would like to use a luscious orange syrup. The topping makes it suitable to serve it as a sophisticated dessert  :)
Ingredients :
4 Large oranges
85gms of golden castor sugar
1 Big bowl of vanilla custard  ( chilled )
  
For the cake:
100gms butter
175gms golden castor sugar
2 eggs
 1 tsp vanilla essence
 142 ml soured cream ( carton )
  140gms plain flour
  1tsp baking powder

1) Finely grate zest of one orange and set aside. Squeeze out the juice from this orange and from the second orange as well. Put the juice in a measuring cup and top it up to come up to175ml with cold water. Set aside.
 2) Cut the tops and bottoms off the remaining oranges and discard. Slice the oranges horizontally into rings/ rounds. Remove the pips and put them in a frying pan and cover it with cold water. Bring it to boil and simmer it for 5 minutes. Take out the slices and drain  . ( this prevents the oranges go bitter ).
 3) Return the orange slices in a pan , pour the measured juice and water and simmer for 5 mts with sugar. Set aside and let it cool. The syrup should become slightly thick...like a thickened syrup !
 4) Arrange the orange rounds in the bottom of a greased cake tin. Pour two-thirds of the syrup evenly over the slices. 
 5) Preheat oven to 160' C , CONVENTIONAL 180'C ----Beat sugar and butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Tip in the eggs , vanilla essence, reserved orange zest and the soured cream. Beat all of it onec again. Sift flour and baking powder , then fold it into the mixture using a metal spoon..
 6) Spoon cake mixture over orange slices and syrup and spread evenly with the back of spoon. Bake for 35-40 mts until pale golden and , till a skewer comes out clean from the centre. Cool it for 10 mts. Reheat the reserved syrup just before serving so that it becomes runny...drizzle over the cake. Serve warm with cold custard .