Flourless orange cake

I'm thinking of the best way to describe this cake. 'Moist' is probably the first adjective that comes to mind, 'citrussy' is another, and perhaps 'morish'. This is a really lovely cake to add to your repertoire. It is easy to make, is gluten-free, tastes so wonderful, and is superb to take along as a contribution to morning or afternoon tea.

It is a little extra time and effort to make the syrup that accompanies this cake, but it is worth it. It gives the cake that extra dimension and turns it into something really special.

Serve warm with some mascarpone and a drizzle of the syrup and a hot cup of coffee for a wonderful treat.

With thanks to our friends the Hofmanns for providing the beautiful lake setting for afternoon tea.

What you'll need

Makes one cake, with approximately 12 pieces.

4 large oranges, washed
100g brown sugar
400 caster sugar (200g for the cake and 200g for the syrup)
6 eggs
320g ground almonds
2 level teaspoons gluten-free baking powder (or normal baking powder if gluten is not a problem for you)
Mascarpone or thickened cream to serve

What to do

For the cake
Place two oranges in a saucepan and cover with water. Place on the stove over high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer the oranges until they are very soft. You may need to replace some of the water. Do not let it boil dry or you will burn the oranges.

Once cooked, drain the liquid and set aside. Let the oranges cool slightly, then finely chop, removing any seeds. If you'd like, you could place the chopped oranges into a blender or food processor and process until smooth. I like the more rustic bits of zest and flesh in my cake, so I just chopped the oranges by hand.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease and line a 25cm spring-form cake tin.

In a large bowl, add the brown sugar and 200g of the caster sugar. Add the eggs and mix with an electric mixer until pale and well combined.

Add the chopped/processed oranges, mix well, then add the almonds and the baking powder. Use a spatula to mix until just combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for approximately 70 minutes. The outside of this cake does become dark once it is cooked. It is not burned, it is just the sugars caramelising. After about 20 minutes of cooking, I placed a piece of foil loosely over the top of the cake to stop it browning too much.

Check if the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer into the middle. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked. If not, cooked for a further 10 minutes and check it again. But be aware that this is a very moist cake. I think it would be difficult to overcook this and make it dry.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

For the syrup

While the cake is cooking, you can make the syrup to accompany it. Use the reserved liquid from the cooked oranges. Pour into a saucepan and add enough water so you have 2 cups of liquid. Add the juice of one of the oranges. Finely slice the remaining orange and add to the liquid. Pour in the remaining 200g of caster sugar. Now bring the mixture to a gentle simmer over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. 

Cook the mixture, stirring gently for about 30 minutes until the orange slices are soft and the syrup is thick and flavoursome. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

To serve

Thickly slice the cake and place on a serving plate. Drizzle over some of the cooled syrup, including some oranges slices. Dollop some of the cream to the side and enjoy this beautiful, orangey cake.