June 27: Orange Blossom Bars

Orange Blossom Bars

Ingredients:
Base:
1 (18.25 oz) box orange cake mix
8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg

Filling:
1 (15-16 oz) can vanilla frosting
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 large egg

Topping:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons (2 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed orange juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a 9x13-inch metal pan with nonstick foil.
2. Make the base: In a mixing bowl, stir together the cake mix, melted butter, and egg. Press firmly into the prepared pan.
3. Make the filling: In a mixing bowl, stir together the frosting and softened cream cheese. Add the egg and stir, but do not beat, until smooth. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the cake mixture and spread to the edges.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the edges are slightly browned and set. The middle should still be jiggly. Don't overbake. The filling will set as it cools and after it chills. Let the pan cool to room temperature.
5. Make the topping: Beat together the cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and orange juice in a bowl. Carefully spread the topping over the cream cheese layer. Chill for about 2 hours. Grasp the edges of the foil and lift from the pan. Set on a cutting board and cut into 32 squares.

Base ingredients

Base

Filling ingredients

Addition of the egg

Before the oven...

And after

Topping ingredients

Thoughts: This was easy until I stopped following the directions. I should've let the pan cool after baking it. Because I was running out of time, I just let it cool for like 15 minutes (the pan was still hot) and tried to spread the topping on it. First, there was not enough topping to cover the pan (so I would double it in the future). Second, it was extremely difficult to spread because the filling hadn't cooled so it was still jiggly. I'm not crazy about orange flavored things so this was not my favorite.