Orange-almond cake

 

This is a recipe modified from Martha Stewart’s cookbook The New Classics. The only alteration I made was to coat the pan with margarine instead of butter. It has a candied orange topping, which I found to be a little too bitter for my taste, despite the candy-ing. The actual cake was delicious, and infused with orange flavor. Perfect for the middle of the winter when the freshest fruits around are citrus. Enjoy!

Orange-almond cake

6 navel oranges

margarine for the pan

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cup finely ground almonds (6 ounces)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 large eggs

2 cups sugar

Place whole unpeeled oranges ina large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for about 2 hours (your house will smell heavenly!). Drain and cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 inch springform pan. Halve the cooked oranges and remove any seeds. Place 7 halves in a food processor and pulse until pureed but still chunky (yields about 3 cups). Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the ground almonds, flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs with 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the orange puree until just combined. Stir in the flour mixture, pour into prepared pan.

Bake until the cake is golden brown (about 1 hour). Cool in pan on a wire rack. After about 15 minutes, run a small paring knife around the edge to loosen; let the cake cool completely.

Now for the orange topping. Chop the remaining 5 orange halves into 1/4 inch pieces; set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining cup of sugar with 3/4 cup water. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

Add the chopped oranges to the saucepan and reduce heat to medium. Simmer gently until most of the liquid has evaporated and thickened into a syrup (about 30 minutes, although the book said 15 minutes). Cool completely.

Now time to assemble: remove the cake from the pan and onto a serving platter. Arrange the chopped oranges and any remaining syrup over the top of the cake.

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