Whole Orange Almond Cake
A moist, close-textured almond cake made with whole boiled oranges, including their fragrant peel. Thin fresh orange half-moons decorate each slice; no wheat flour is used. Batch yield: One 22 cm round cake, cut into 12 decorated slices. One serving: 1 slice with 1 orange half-moon, approximately 103 g after baking and cooling. Prep means all non-oven elapsed time: approximately 30 minutes hands-on preparation and finishing, 130 minutes bringing the oranges to the boil and simmering them, 30 minutes cooling the oranges, and 120 minutes cooling the cake. The single oven bake takes about 60 minutes, giving approximately 6 hours 10 minutes overall. Preheating overlaps orange cooling and is not counted twice. No chilling or frosting is required. Hob heating, orange tenderness and final baking time can vary; any extra time extends the total. Appliances: Hob; Oven; Food processor. Equipment: Deep saucepan with lid; Kitchen scales; Measuring jug; 22 cm round springform cake tin, at least 6 cm deep; Baking paper; Knife; Chopping board; Plate; Silicone spatula; Skewer; Wire cooling rack. Allergens: Contains eggs and almonds. Check the baking powder and ground almond packaging for additional allergens and cross-contact warnings. Nutrition is estimated per decorated slice, with calories calculated from the listed protein, carbohydrate and fat. Storage: Keep decorated slices airtight in the fridge for up to 3 days and limit time at room temperature to 2 hours. Undecorated cake keeps airtight in a cool room, ideally 20°C or below, for up to 2 days, or refrigerated for up to 5 days. Freeze undecorated slices, individually wrapped and sealed in a freezer container, for up to 3 months. Thaw covered in the fridge overnight. Add the measured fresh orange decoration shortly before serving.
310 min
Prep
60 min
Cook
12
Serves
284
Calories
Macros · per serving
8g protein
31g carbs
14g fat
Ingredients
For 12 servings
- 400 g Whole oranges, approximately 2 medium, washed and stem buttons removed
- 3000 ml Water, for boiling the oranges
- 6 eggs Large eggs
- 250 g Caster sugar
- 275 g Ground almonds
- 5 g Baking powder
- 120 g Fresh orange for decoration, washed, peel on
Instructions
- 1
Allow about 5 minutes to prepare the oranges and saucepan. Put the 400 g whole oranges in a deep saucepan and add enough of the measured water to cover them, reserving the remainder for topping up. Bring to the boil, allowing about 10 minutes, then cover partially and simmer gently for 120 minutes. Turn occasionally and top up from the reserved water as needed. The oranges should be very soft, with peel that a skewer penetrates easily.
- 2
Drain and discard the cooking water. Cut the oranges into quarters on a plate, retaining any juice, and remove all seeds. Leave for about 30 minutes, until at room temperature. Keep all the peel and flesh. Take the eggs out of the fridge during this cooling period.
- 3
During the final 15 minutes of orange cooling, preheat the oven to 160°C conventional / 320°F, or 140°C fan. Line the base and sides of a 22 cm round springform tin, at least 6 cm deep, with baking paper. Trap the base paper in the springform rim and fit a paper strip around the sides; no greasing is needed.
- 4
Allow about 20 minutes for lining, puréeing and mixing. Put the cooled orange quarters and their collected juice in a food processor. Process until finely puréed, scraping down the bowl so there are no large pieces of peel.
- 5
Add the eggs and caster sugar to the orange purée. Process for about 30 seconds until evenly blended. Add the ground almonds and baking powder, then pulse just until combined, scraping down once. The batter should be thick but pourable, with fine flecks of orange peel.
- 6
Scrape all the batter, approximately 1.2 kg, into the prepared tin and level the surface. Bake on the middle shelf for about 60 minutes. The cake should be golden, the centre should feel set and spring back gently, and a skewer inserted into the centre should emerge with moist crumbs but no wet batter. If necessary, bake a little longer until these cues are met.
- 7
Cool in the tin on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Release the springform ring, carefully remove the side paper, then slide the cake off the base and remove the bottom paper. Leave on the rack for a further 100 minutes, or until completely cool. This delicate, moist cake firms as it cools; do not decorate or slice it while warm.
- 8
Allow about 5 minutes to finish. Cut the measured decoration orange into 12 thin half-moons, approximately 10 g each. Divide the cooled cake into 12 equal wedges and place one orange half-moon on each slice. For longer storage, leave the cake undecorated and add the measured orange pieces just before serving.
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