Orange and carrot cake

I was asked to make this cake by someone I know. It was her boyfriend's birthday, and she wanted to surprise him with a cake. He doesn't like chocolate or cakes with creamy fillings, which limits the field somewhat. I was told that he likes cakes with fruit such as apples or carrots. So, here is the cake that I created. It is a light and zesty-flavoured cake, thanks to the two whole oranges, but the carrot and almond meal keeps it moist. I made the icing with orange juice and zest to give it a real orange flavour punch. 

The feedback was that it was 'excellent'. Just what I like to hear.

What you'll need

For the cake

2 medium-sized whole oranges (about 350g)

350g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated

150g butter, melted, plus a little extra to grease

160g caster sugar

2 eggs

230g plain flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

110g almond meal

For the icing

2 cups icing sugar mixture

Juice and zest of 1 orange

What to do

First, cook the oranges. It will take about two hours. Place the whole oranges in a medium-sized pot and fill with water until the oranges are covered/floating. Bring to the boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and cover with a lid. Cook the oranges for 2 hours. Keep checking the water level occasionally to make sure the oranges are still covered with water and not sticking to the bottom of the pot. If not, add a little more water. Don't let it boil dry, as you'll have burnt oranges.

Once the oranges are cooked, remove from the pot, place in a bowl and roughly chop them with a knife. Be careful, as the fruit will be hot. Remove any seeds. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Then place the oranges into a food processor and blend until smooth, or you can leave a little chunky if you prefer. Using the oranges in this way will give you a really intense orange flavour.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a 24cm spring-form pan with a little butter and line with baking paper.

To the oranges in the food processor, add the melted butter, sugar and eggs. Process until combined. Then add the carrot, flour, almond meal and baking powder. Process in short bursts until just combined. 

Pour the mixture into your prepared baking tin. Smooth the top of the mixture with a knife.

Bake in the oven for about 25 - 30 minutes. Test the middle of the cake with a wooden skewer. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake it ready. If not, cook for 5 minutes longer and test it again.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and rest in the tin for about 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to completely cool.

Once cool, make the icing. In a bowl, pour the icing sugar and half the orange juice. Mix with a spoon. Slowly add a little bit more orange juice, mixing after each addition, until the mixture is just combined. Make sure there are no lumps of icing sugar and don't make too runny, as it will run off the cake! The mixture should stick to your spoon  and not run off quickly. If you made it too wet, add more icing sugar to 'thicken' it.

Once you have the right consistency to the icing, spoon it onto the cake, then smooth it out with the back of a butter or pallet knife. Then sprinkle on the orange zest. Serve immediately in slices with some cream or icecream.

This cake will keep in an airtight container for three days too.