
Blood Orange Olive Oil & Almond Cake
A moist cake flavoured with citrus notes – a slice served with a cup of tea makes a heavenly afternoon treat.
- Yields: 1 |
- Difficulty: easy
- Prep Time : 60 mins |
- Cook Time : 60 mins
Issue 44


Ingredients
1 whole orange
4 eggs
1 C (250 ml) sugar
1 C (250 ml) flour
1 Tbsp (15 ml) baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 C (250 ml) almond flour (or ground almonds)
icing sugar, for dusting
Method
Place the orange into a small saucepan and cover with water. Simmer over a medium heat for about an hour. This softens the orange while removing the bitterness from the skin. Once the orange has been simmering for at least an hour and is soft, remove from the water, slice in half and allow to cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C and lightly grease and line a 20 cm round cake tin.
Place the orange halves, skin on, into a blender and blend to a puree. Add the olive oil and continue to blend until emulsified, then set aside.
Crack the eggs into a large glass bowl and using an electric beater whisk until creamy and pale in colour. Add the sugar and continue to beat until the eggs are thick and have reached the ribbon stage. This should take about 8 − 10 minutes.
Sieve together the flour and baking powder and add the salt and almond flour. Mix roughly to combine.
Fold the flour mixture and the orange puree mixture into the eggs.
Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and place in the oven to bake for approximately 50 − 60 minutes. When is ready it should be golden brown, and a skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly in the tin, then carefully tip out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Use a sieve to dust with icing sugar and serve.
Bakers Bite: Ribbon stage is reached when the egg and sugar mixture forms a ribbon which swirls down in a stream when lifted. Reaching this stage ensures that the sugar is properly dissolved and enough air has been incorporated.