I have been so caught up 'gramming all the foods that I forgot to actually share the recipes which totally undermines my entire food ethos. Food is for sharing, not just bragging about on social media. What is the point of making delightful things if they aren't shared with those around you? (near or far in your case). I type this with a piece of my Mum's delicious hokey pokey peanut chocolate slice in my mouth which she gave me a box of. See? sharing is caring haha. You know that awkward moment when you can't tell if small brown specks on your duvet cover are chocolate or bits of debris from the grass outside and then you put one in your mouth and find out it wasn't chocolate? No? Just me then? Hmm...
So I made this cake originally for Shine's Orange Friday appeal where we raffled it off and made $167.50 to help support the victims of domestic abuse in New Zealand. See, sharing is caring! I found myself making it again for when the boyfriend's parents came over to meet my parents for the first time. Its a good one for sure when you don't feel like making a complicated cake or faffing around with icing one.
You can make this gluten free by just using gluten free flour or apparently rice flour. I got this recipe from Mum who got it from my brother' ex-girlfriend's Mum. You follow?
This cake is easy, delicious and moist (hehe) so give it a hoon next time you find yourself with four oranges on your hands.
And in case you were wondering, the parental luncheon went splendidly.
Orange Almond Syrup Cake
Makes a 20cm cake
185g butter,
1 1/2 cups white sugar
Zest of two oranges
4 large eggs
1/2 cup plain yoghurt
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup plain flour (use rice flour to make it gluten free)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 whole orange, sliced into 7 slices
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees on bake and line and grease a 20cm cake tin.
Cream together the butter, sugar and zest until light and pale. Beat in the eggs one at a time until the mixture becomes voluminous.
In a small jug, mix together the 1/4 cup orange juice and the 1/2 cup of yoghurt. Add this to the mixer half at a time alternating with the flour and baking soda, gently mix together. Fold through the almonds then transfer into the prepared cake tin.
Bake for 1 hour. It will begin to brown quite quickly so place some tin foil over the top of the cake about 20 minutes in. Remove the cake from the oven then put the remaining cup of lemon juice and half cup of sugar into a small saucepan and bring to the boil for a couple of minutes before adding the orange slices to the pot as well. Boil away for another couple of minutes until the juice and sugar becomes syrupy. Carefully remove the slices of semi candied orange and arrange on the top of the cake then pour over the syrup. Leave to cool for half an hour before transferring to a cake plate and serving. The orange slices are totally optional by the way.
Enjoy x