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Orange and Almond Cake

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time2 hours 15 minutes
Total Time2 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 12 slices
Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Ingredients

  • 400 g whole blanched almonds
  • 100 g fine polenta

  • 4 to 5 whole navel oranges depending on size … see notes
  • small amount of butter on base of tin or use light olive oil for dairy free
  • sprinkling light brown muscovado sugar or brown sugar, on base of tin

  • 7 x 60g eggs
  • 400 g golden caster sugar
  • 3 tsp baking powder level spoons

  • ½ cup apricot jam or marmalade to coat top of cake
  • 1 tbls filtered water

Instructions

  • Place 200g almonds into TM bowl and mill 10 seconds / speed 7 … put aside
  • Place second lot of 200g almonds into TM bowl and mill 10 seconds / speed 7 … add to other almonds
  • Place polenta into TM bowl and mill 10 seconds / speed 9 … add to almonds … cover almonds and polenta and put aside until making the cake later … do not clean ™ bowl
  • Place 1 litre of water into TM bowl and lock lid in position
  • Place base of Varoma on top of TM bowl, press scale, and put two oranges into base … ensure you have at least 400g of orange, if not add another orange
  • Place Veroma lid in position and steam oranges 45 minutes / Veroma / speed 2
  • Remove Veroma and put aside for an hour to allow oranges to cool a little
  • Whilst oranges are cooling grease and line 24cm (base measurement) round cake tin and place onto a baking sheet
  • Lightly spread a small amount of butter on base of tin, or brush over light olive oil for dairy free
  • Sprinkle over a small amount of light muscovado sugar
  • Very thinly slice the extra oranges (remove top and bottom of oranges first … you may not need it all as it depends on how large your oranges are but you want to cover the whole base in overlapping slices … use leftovers in a salad that night)
  • Place orange slices in overlapping circles on the base of the tin … start with 3 or 4 slices in the middle, then surround them with overlapping slices leaving a 1-1/2cm border from the tin so that the orange slices are not right up against the edge
  • When you are ready to make the cake preheat oven to 160 degrees fan forced and place rack into middle of oven
  • Trim top and bottom off the cooked oranges, but leave the rest of the skin on, and cut into quarters
  • Place oranges in TM bowl and blend 10 seconds / speed 6 … the mix will look a little lumpy but that is what you want
  • Remove orange to a separate bowl, then return 400g to TM bowl (save the rest for another use … see notes)
  • Add eggs, almonds, polenta, sugar and baking powder and mix 10 seconds / speed 6
  • Scrape around bowl and blend again for a further 10 seconds / speed 6
  • Pour mix carefully over oranges in cake tin and smooth top
  • Bake 60 minutes, turn tin around in oven and continue baking for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and skewer inserted into centre comes out clean (it takes exactly 90 minutes in my oven)
  • Allow cake to rest in tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a serving plate
  • Whilst cake is still warm mix apricot jam or marmalade with the filtered water, heat lightly in a pan to melt the jam and combine with the water, then pass through a sieve to remove any lumps to give a clear finish … spread generously over top of cake taking it right to the edge (you may have some leftover if your jam does not have a lot of peel but it is best to have more than you need as you don’t want to have too little)
  • Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving
  • Keeps well for a few days at room temperature in a sealed container

Notes

This cake is gluten free and dairy free and very easy to make … although you do need to start a few hours ahead to allow for the oranges to steam and cool before using them. It also takes 1-1/2 hours to bake which is quite a long time for a cake, but I bake it at a slightly lower temperature to ensure it cooks right to the middle.
You will need 4 to 5 oranges based on their sizes, as you need 400g cooked orange for the cake (it is best to steam more than you need rather than less and use the leftover for another purpose ... see note at end), and you need at least 1 to 2 oranges for the topping of the cake to ensure you get a good coverage of orange circles.
I store all my nuts in the freezer and always mill them straight from there, giving me a lovely fine texture which is important for this recipe. This recipe uses 400g so I mill 200g at a time … if you mill 400g all at once you will get a coarse grind which will affect the lightness of the cake. Finer is definitely better. You also need to use blanched almonds for this recipe.
Although I use fine polenta I also mill it for 10 seconds to break it down even further to get a texture to match the almond meal … I include the polenta to help soak up some of the moisture from the oranges so that the cake is not too “wet”.
This cake is perfect as a dessert cake with thick mascarpone or creamed yoghurt on the side, and keeps well for a few days at room temperature which is an added bonus (but I am sure it won't last too long!).
Use for extra pureed orange: Leftover pulp will keep in the fridge for a few days, and is delicious cold mixed in with some thick yoghurt and served as a snack sprinkled with nuts, as a side with the cake, or as a topping on your brekkie (porridge, soaked oats, or granola). Alternatively spread some pulp on buttered sourdough toast, but be aware that it has no sugar in it so will be quite tart which I like, so if you need to mix in a little honey or maple syrup. I think it is delicious!