Grating ordinary orange peel for recipe

[YeOldeTrout]

Need to make some cakes for school events; I'll be honest, I want to use the cheapest acceptable ingredients.

Is it really okay if I wash an ordinary orange peel very well & grate the peel to use as orange zest? This is for carrot cake. Whole oranges work out cheaper than using orange extract (I will eat rest of the orange), but don't want to give someone unreasonable dose of fungicide.

What do you do?

What else would you do?
I give them a good wash with hot water and scrub with a veggie brush - same as I do for lemons. No-one's died yet

Use unwaxed organic oranges.

Thanks, I don't mind scrubbing at all. My previous experience making cake things was that maybe no one bought them, anyway, but I'm new to carrot cake & ones I made so far don't seem like disaster.

I still can't make frosting, though. Have tried to do icing many times over yrs, it's always pants.
Will no frosting mean still no-one buys it? Am I wasting time making carrot cake with no frosting? Argh.

This is why I usually always just buy & donate supermarket fairy cakes. Which are cheaper than me making anything. Is still an option... Would like more practice at carrot cake, though.

Carrot cake needs cream cheese icing.

Do you make something else you feel more confident about?

Unwaxed oranges are easier to grate. Have you got a zester? Much better than grating,plus no bitter pith.

Unwaxed oranges work well.

Best part of a carrot cake is The creme cheese frosting. Take a packet of creme cheese, approx 125grams (4oz). Beat it (hand mixer, very hard work with a wooden spoon) with an equal quantity 125grams (4 oz) soft salted butter. Stir in as much sieved icing sugar as it will take, about twice as much, so about 250grams (8 oz). Brilliant taste and looks great. Enjoy.

Sorry I know this isn't about oranges but this

www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk/2012/02/chocolate-frosted-traybake.html

Is a great school bake and cheap!

Go and buy creame cheese and add a small amount of icing sugar and mix, then dolop on top with a teaspoon

I don't bother putting oranges in, I just grate carrot and courgette. The courgette keeps it really moist for ages.

Use a fine grater on a washed orange. I think the zest is really nice in a carrot cake. I think orange extract is a bit overpowering and fake.

Maybe you are over beating the cream cheese icing - I think that makes it too runny.

A quick way to zest citrus is to use a potato peeler to remove the skin ( don't peel off the white part) then put the peeled zest and the sugar you are going to use for the recipe in the blender or food processor and whizz them up together. Then use the orange sugar in your cake.

Wow Zachary, brilliant, shall use that trick.