This is one of my favourite cakes - so fresh, moist and with a huge hit of orange citrus flavour. It is a recipe from the brilliant cookery writer Claudia Roden- one of my food heroes. This recipe was first published in A Book of Middle Eastern Food in 1968. I have only altered the recipe here slightly by swapping 1 of the oranges in the original recipe for 4 clementines (just because that's what I had in the house).
I urge you to try this recipe and buy the book - you won't regret it. You will learn a lot about the cultural influences on food and how recipes change and evolve over time and place.
I have made this "half pudding, half cake" as Ms Roden puts it numerous times and it never fails. Delicious! I hope you love it as much as I do.
2 large oranges (I used 1 orange and 4 clementines)
6 eggs
8oz ground almonds
8 oz sugar
1 tsp baking powder
- preheat the oven to 200C and grease and line a cake tin - I used a 9 inch diameter tin.
- wash the oranges/clementines well then place in a pan with a little water and boil for about 2 hours - until the fruit is soft.
- let the oranges cool, cut them open and remove the pips and then blend or pass through a sieve if you don't have a blender.
- in a separate large bowl beat the eggs for a minute or two then add all the other ingredients and mix thoroughly
- pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes. A skewer will come out clean when it is done. This is a very moist cake but if it is too wet after the time leave it in for a few minutes longer. The surface should be set and slightly 'springy' to the touch.
- leave to cool in the tin before turning out and cutting into slices.
- good with a strong black coffee in the middle of the day as or as an after dinner dessert served with thick yogurt, cream or ice cream.
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