Blood orange and almond sponge

When I saw some beautiful blood oranges for sale I bought two without really knowing what I was going to do with them.  Did I mention how beautiful they were?  Having given the matter some thought, I decided on a blood orange upside down cake but wanted something a little more than a standard sponge.  One of my first ever posts, way back in the mists of 2007, was an almond sponge.  I have taken this recipe and switched the variety of sugar (from caster to soft light brown) and added some zest. 

Orange and almond is a lovely combination – both add so much in terms of flavour and texture.  The first hit is the sharp citrus zing of the orange, then the almost creaminess of the almond takes over.  The cake keeps beautifully for days; it actually improves with age as the almond releases its oil…I think this is almond’s greatest gift to baking!

Blood oranges can be a bit of a lottery; until you cut it open you never know whether it will look disappointingly like an ordinary orange or gloriously, glowing red.  Mine had flashes of red but weren’t the vivid red I was hoping for.

This post will be my last for a while.  I’m going to take a short break from blogging.  If I’m honest, I feel like I’ve lost my baking mojo of late; I haven’t yet settled into my new kitchen and need to have a tinker with the layout to get things right so I feel happy and relaxed again during my baking.  Fear not – I am the Arnold Schwarzenegger of baking….I will be back!

Ingredients

For the blood oranges:
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
50g soft light brown sugar
2 blood oranges, peeled and cut into slices

For the sponge:
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
225g soft light brown sugar
4 eggs
Grated zest of one blood orange
1 teaspoon almond extract
225g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
50g ground almonds

Method

Preheat the oven to 160C/fan oven 140C/325F/gas mark 3.

Line a 20cm round with baking paper.  It is advisable to wrap the outside of the tin with foil in case the oranges ooze juice during baking – better to have a sticky tin, than a sticky oven!

Start by making the blood orange layer: beat together the butter and sugar until it is whippy and well combined. 

Spread, as best you can, over the bottom of the cake tin.

Lay the blood orange slices over the bottom of the cake tin – pack them in as tightly as you can so it will look pretty when you turn the cake out (the bottom during baking will become the top when the cake is turned out).

Now make the sponge: beat together the butter and sugar until the batter is light and fluffy looking.  Do not skimp on this stage.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Beat in the orange zest and almond extract.

Fold in the flour, baking powder and ground almonds.  It will be  a firm batter but this is ideal as it will absorb the orange juice and hold its shape.

Spoon the batter over the blood oranges, taking care not to disturb them.

Level the surface and then spread the batter from the centre out to the edges so it ends up with a dip in the centre i.e. the batter is higher at the edges than the centre.  This will help keep the top level during baking; the top will become the base of the cake when baked so keeping it level will save having to cut any cake away when baked.

Bake for approximately 1 ½ hours or until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out cleanly. (Start testing the cake after an hour and 10 minutes).

Let the cake cool in the tin for about 20 minutes before turning out and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.  If the top of your cake has peaked during baking, level the surface with a knife before turning out.

Leave to cool completely on the wire rack.

Serve either on its own, or with a blob of cream.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Middle Eastern blood orange cake

 

I fancied baking something completely different and outside of my comfort zone this week.  When I saw blood oranges for sale I realised I had never eaten one, let alone baked with one.  I bought the oranges and then set about finding a recipe.

This recipe is from Claudia Roden’s  'A Book of Middle Eastern Food'.  I think of Claudia Roden as the Delia Smith of Middle Eastern cookery i.e. she’s totally reliable!  I’ve made several dinners from her recipes but never a cake so what a cracking recipe to start with!

The cake lacks two of the most common cake ingredients – butter and flour.  It is packed with eggs and almonds though, so that’s the first indication it will be fragrant and moist.

Boiling the oranges was certainly one of the odder things I’ve done (in the kitchen).  The smell while they were cooking was heavenly – the room had a gorgeous light citrus-y aroma that lingered long after the cooking was over.  Here is what a boiled orange looks like:

My blood oranges weren’t particularly dark in colour.  I was hoping for blood red and actually got a faint pink tinge that looked like my oranges were a little embarrassed about something.  Still, the puree had a wonderful rich colour:

The batter was much looser than a normal cake batter...

... more like a pulpy smoothie drink.  I was worried whether it would set during baking; it does but the finished cake is juicier than a sponge and the wet texture is a surprise on the first bite! (NB. The texture does firm up on subsequent days ending up almost like that tight baked cheesecake texture.  I recommend baking it at least one day before you wish to serve it.) All the fruity juices give the cake a wonderfully sticky exterior, particularly the top:

I have been baking pretty much every weekend for over seven years now and I find it thrilling that I can still find recipes completely unlike anything I’ve ever made before.  It really is impossible to ever say you’ve ‘mastered’ baking or done it all.  How lucky I am to have such a wonderful hobby!

Ingredients

2 oranges or 3 blood oranges

6 eggs

250g ground almonds

250g caster sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

Method

Start with the oranges: Place them (whole and unpeeled) in a saucepan and cover them in water – they will float but you want enough water so that if you hold them down they are covered.

Boil for 1 ½ hours or until they are squidgy soft but holding their shape.  You might need to periodically top up the water.

I decided my oranges were ready when I could cut through the peel with the edge of a teaspoon.

Take the oranges out of the saucepan (you don’t need the water) and leave to cool.

Cut the oranges open and remove the pips then place the oranges –peel, pith et al – into a food processor and blitz until you have a thick puree.

You can prep the oranges a day in advance and keep in the fridge overnight.

Now make the cake: preheat the oven to 190ºc/ fan oven 170ºc/375ºf/gas mark 5.

Line a 20cm round springform cake tin with baking paper.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl.

Add the ground almonds, caster sugar, baking powder and pureed oranges and mix thoroughly.

Pour into the prepared cake tin.  It won’t look like a traditional cake batter – more like a very thick smoothie drink!

Bake for approximately 1 hour. If it is still very wet give it a further 10 minutes and reassess the situation then.  It should look moist and almost set but not quite.

Leave to cool in the tin before turning out.

Serve as either a dessert or tea time treat.  Clotted cream works well!

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

Eat.