No real time to post. We had an interesting week of birthdays, deaths, Urgent Care visits(my ankle again) and trying not to melt. I dug this cake up out of my archives(which after I post this, there is nothing left in the archives…yikes).
I was most interested in this cake because you have to boil the oranges and lemon for an hour. Not something I do on a regular basis. Also if you make this, make sure you have enough almond meal. I didn’t pay attention to how much it needed(luckily I had enough) and it wiped me out of my whole bag. What you get in return is a lovely citrus scented cake that is crispy on the outside and super moist on the inside. The recipe calls for melting apricot jam and glazing the cake when done, I didn’t do that. Just plain old whipped cream and some lemon zest did the job quite nicely.
I promise to get a real post up sometime this week. Till then, have a great week and keep cool.
Orange Almond Cakes
unsalted butter, for greasing
2 oranges
1 lemon
6 eggs
2 ¼ cups superfine sugar
5 ½ cups ground almonds
1 rounded tsp baking powder
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Butter 8 individual tins and line the bases with parchment. I made two larger loaves.
Put the oranges and lemon in a saucepan and cover with water. Place a lid on and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for about 1 hours, or until the fruit can be pierced easily.
Deseed the oranges and lemon, put them in a food processor and process to make a puree. Put in a bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are just combined-do not overbeat them as this will aerate the mixture too much.
Add the orange and lemon puree and finally fold in the ground almonds, with the baking powder.
Mix well, spoon into the prepared tins and bake about 35 minutes(mine took about 50 minutes because I made larger) or until a knife inserted in the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
Remove form the oven and cool the cakes in their tins before taking them out.
Adapted from Breakfast, Lunch, Tea Rose Bakery by Rose Carrarini
Jann says
oh,my~what a horrible week you have had…and that ankle-can you buy a new one?? so sorry….just needs lots of time to heal. The orange almond cake certainly brightened up my day-it reminds me of sunshine and white puffy clouds~it looks so moist~
Tanna says
Peabody, well, we just never think our bodies could possibly need more than a day to heal right . . . and in fact healing is not over night and really does want soooo long.
That cake really does take the almonds! wheee! but it looks fabulous moist!
I’ve been noting the Seattle highs. Dallas has been rain and now is super humid! No escape.
Veronica says
I’m sorry your ankle is bothering you again. I’ve been away from the kitchen too and had to dig from archives last week. Plus, it’s summer with trips and guests…simply too hard to blog…
Kristen says
Don’t you hate it when life gets in the way of blogging? Sounds like your week has been full, to say the least. I hope that your ankle isn’t bothering you too much, but if it required an UC visit, it sounds like it isn’t doing to well. Take it easy!
KJ says
Your cake looks delicious. I hope your ankle is feeling better.
bea at La tartine gourmande says
I hope your week looks better, and ankle problem gets resolved! Hang in there!
Janet says
It’s really scary when you run out of archived things to post…
Cheryl says
Another beautiful gem, it look so incredibly moist.
Lynn says
I’m sorry about the trauma week. Stay cool and keep you ankle iced and elevated. (Even if that doesn’t help your particular problem, it helps keep you cool and off your feet. 🙂
Deborah says
Hopefully this week will go better for you!!
This cake looks delicious – I need to find somewhere to buy almond meal that doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg….
Amy says
Hope this week is less stressful! This is the first cake I’ve come across that uses only ground almonds. It sounds really delicious!
Kelly-Jane says
Sorry about you ancle, hope it’s on the mend soon – they say cake is very good as a healer 🙂 🙂
Your cake looks lovely, it reminds me a bit on Nigella’s clementine cake and chocolate orange one too.
I’m having time issues just now as well, I have a pile of new pics and no time to write them up!
Elle says
Peabody, hope the ankle heals up quickly and my thoughts are with you for the rest. Hope you are back to blogging soon, when you can.
Tartelette says
Sorry Life is little tough on you these days. I made a similar cake last summer (gma’s recipe) and I was surprised that the whole fruit, skin and all went in it, but I liked it a lot. Nice whipped cream..:)
Patricia Scarpin says
Peabody, I hope everything gets back on track soon.
What a delicious recipe you chose to post here.
gilly says
Gorgeous cake, Pea! I love citrus flavoured cakes and using almond meal really has my interest piqued!
I hear you on the no-time issues, sometimes life just gets in the way, it’s that simple. My thoughts are with the Pea household.
kellypea says
Now that’s a trooper posting a scrumptious cake when you’re saturated with life. I get it, but often don’t post. This cake sounds wonderful.
Ari (Baking and Books) says
Hope things calm down soon, sounds like you’ve had quite a week. That was very kind of you to share a post with us despite whats been going on, the cake looks delish!
Terry B says
I can only imagine how fragrant the kitchen was when you boiled the oranges and lemon! Hope you’re feeling better. Give things time to heal properly.
Jeff says
You’ve got to stop playing hockey like the Hanson Brothers then your ankles would be ok 🙂
Heidi says
How pretty cake of orange, seems good very!
Stacie says
I love your blog and your recipes. Forgive my naivety, but do you peel the citrus before boiling it? If not, are the peels included in the puree or just the fruit?
Peabody says
No, you just zest them. Zesting is used quite often in cooking. You will need to buy a zester or microplane grater.
Lisa says
I just found your blog and this intriguing recipe but I’m confused by the last question/answer (22/23). The recipe says nothing about zesting the oranges and lemon. It says to cook until “fruit can be pierced” and to “deseed” them. If this were just zest, neither piercing nor deseeding them would make sense.
Of course, Stacie’s question came 3 years after your original post (and now it’s a year and a half later again!) so maybe you’d forgotten.
Or maybe I’m missing something. Thanks for your help.
Peabody says
Yes forgotten…this was made in 2007…it’s 2012. Yes you peel them. Then put them into the water, then deseed them. I went back and that is how it was written in the book…like I wrote it. It’s a British author so who knows.
Sue says
You say to “Put the oranges and lemon in a saucepan and cover with water. Place a lid on and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for about 1 hours, or until the fruit can be pierced easily.” Do you mean place the oranges and lemon in with the peel still on?
Thank you!
Peabody says
@Sue- yes, the peel as well.
Eliza says
Just made this as a pre-Easter dessert – I was also confused about the recipe, but I decided to boil then puree the citrus WITH the peel. I used two 8″ round cake pans, and baked at least 40 minutes, checking frequently after the first 30 minutes. For a glaze, I juiced one orange (I used manolinos from Trader Joes) and added 1/2C sugar. I spread this over the cakes while they were still warm, then dusted with powdered sugar for a nice finish once they cooled. Really delicious. I might try again, removing the peel before I puree just for the sake of comparison.
Has anyone else made this differently?
Peabody says
Yes it’s WITH the peel