Flourless Orange and Almond Cake

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Winter is orange season in South Australia. And one of my favourite recipes using oranges is this flourless orange and almond cake from Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion. Stephanie herself adapted the recipe from Claudia Roden's middle eastern orange cake.

Incidentally, I like it when chefs and authors acknowledge their influences and the sources of their recipes, rather than pretending that they created them themselves out of thin air.

There is a lot to like about this cake; it is moist, dense and utterly irresistible. As an added bonus, it is dairy and gluten free, so is a great dessert if your guests or family have allergies.

Although the recipe calls for ground almonds, I cut costs by purchasing whole almonds and blanching them myself. I then grind them in the food processor before adding the remaining ingredients. The almonds will be coarser than ground almonds but I think that adds to the texture of the cake.

Flourless Orange and Almond Cake

2 large oranges, washed

6 eggs, beaten

250 g ground almonds

250 g sugar

1 tsp baking powder

Boil oranges in a little water in a covered saucepan for two hours. Allow to cool, then cut open, remove pips, and chop roughly.

Preheat oven to moderate and grease and flour a springform tin. Blend oranges and remaining ingredients thoroughly in a food processor. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 1 hour. If cake is still very wet, cook a little longer (my cake took 15 minutes longer). Cool in tin before gently turning out.