Claudia Roden Orange cake

Last Saturday a dear friend of mine came over to do some baking together and one of the cakes we made was this Claudia Roden classic. There really isn't an easier cake to make and yet it has such a special taste and wonderful texture, you would think it required extraordinary baking skills. The combination of the slight bitterness of the oranges and the sweetness of the almonds is just perfect! The only thing to keep in mind when making this mouthwatering cake is that it takes a while before you can take it out of the oven, because the oranges that go in the batter first have to be cooked for 1,5 hour and the baking time of the cake itself is 1 hour. I would have loved to eat the whole cake all by myself, but it was supposed to go to my father's pizzeria, where every weekend we have a special dessert on the menu. I can proudly announce that every single piece of the cake was sold that same evening! Ingredients - 2 organic oranges - 6 organic eggs - 250g of ground almonds - 210g of sugar - 1 teaspoon of baking powder or cream of tartar - powdered sugar, optional Cook the whole oranges for 1,5 hour over low heat. When they are nice and soft remove them from the pan and let them cool. Cut them open, remove the pips and transfer them to a food processor to turn them into a puree. Preheat the oven at 190 degrees Celsius (I know, it is pretty hot, but that's how it's supposed to be done for this cake). Grease a cake tin of 23cm with some oil and dust it with flour or line it with parchment paper. In a bowl, beat the eggs until light and frothy. I used a mixer, medium power. Add sugar and orange puree, mix well. Finally add the ground almonds and baking powder and mix gently with a spatula until your batter is smooth. Transfer to the cake tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Probably the top of your cake will start to brown a bit too quick, so be sure to cover the cake with aluminium foil when it should happen. Once the cake has cooled off, you could decorate the top with some powdered sugar. I also gave it a touch of colour by adding some of the first spring flowers from my garden. Enjoy!