Flourless Almond and Orange Cake
2 hours 30 minutes · One 9-inch cake, 12 slices
- 2 large oranges, whole
- 2 1/2 cups ground almonds
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup coconut sugar or caster sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder (gluten free)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 01 Put the whole oranges in a pan, cover with water, and simmer 1 1/2 hours until a knife goes through with no resistance. Drain and cool.
- 02 Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9-inch springform tin.
- 03 Cut the cooled oranges open, remove the pips, and blitz the whole fruit — skin, pith and all — to a smooth purée.
- 04 Beat the eggs and sugar until pale and thick, then fold in the orange purée, ground almonds, baking powder, and salt.
- 05 Bake 50–60 minutes until set and deep gold. Cover with foil if it darkens early.
- 06 Cool completely in the tin before releasing.
There is no flour in this at all — it was never a gluten-free adaptation of anything, which is why it does not taste like one. Claudia Roden’s cake, more or less, and still the best thing in this category.
The long boil is unattended, so start it while you do something else. It is the step that takes the bitterness out of the pith.