Orange and Almond Cake

I'm back! But just because all is quiet on the blog front doesn't mean I haven't been cooking! I have tried a few different things out, but I have always wanted to make Orange and Almond cake. I first had this cake 8 years ago, when I worked in a small bakery. I had recently found out that I am intolerant to wheat, so I was super excited to find a delicious, moist, gluten free cake. Well, I finally made it myself and it turned out pretty well. I used this site as a basis for my recipe. Continue reading to see the baking journey (not too many photos, sorry!) or just skip straight to the recipe!

Orange and Almond cake has no wheat flour and uses the whole orange. Before trying this recipe I had no idea how expensive almond meal is! Sorry Mum! But it is definitely worth it for this cake as almond meal lends a nutty taste to the tart citrus of the oranges. The oranges I used were juicing oranges--they were super sour! (Despite my future father-in-law insisting that they are sweet). I am very lucky to have access to organic oranges, picked straight from the tree. But really any orange will do (though preferably unblemished).

You start by boiling the life out of the oranges. Remove the green stem bit and wash to your satisfaction. I used a pressure cooker and it took 20 minutes once it reached full pressure. Recipes otherwise suggest about 2 hours on the stove top. When cooked, the oranges should become soft and squishy. I didn't want to wait for them to cool, so I used tongs to remove them from the pot and hold them as I cut the oranges into quarters. Remove any seeds, then you blend the life out of them! Yup, the peel, pith and flesh all get blended together. Smoother is better, but you may still see small "chunks" of peel (5mm by 5mm and very thin). Don't worry, these kinda disappear once baked.

Beat the heck out of the eggs--they turn lighter in colour and will thicken but nowhere near as much as if they were just egg whites. Mix everything together (I used 2/3 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup of icing sugar...I kinda ran out...oops), pop it into a lined pan and cook. It doesn't rise, so I could have made both these cakes into one. It ended up being kinda sour, but seemed to sweeten after a few days. It's been over a week and my cake is still in the fridge and lookin' fine, so there's no need to rush eating it!

Bake on,

Beth x