I can never get enough of oranges! Orange zest is a wonder I discovered as part of my baking journey. The aroma is heady, the flavor it imparts just can't match any essence or oil. If only I grew oranges in a pot, that's one of the things I have always wanted to do. Just as well, or I would go crazy thinking about all the things I could use the zest in! Candied orange peel was another revelation. So if you are planning to soak your fruits for Christmas you absolutely must make our own candied orange peel, you will never buy it from a store again!
I recently baked these flavorful, buttery syrup cakes made with ground almonds and lots of orange zest. They turned out amazing, though I would have enjoyed them better with less butter. I halved the recipe and baked 6 of these cakes in my favorite Nordicware heritage bundt pan. I prefer to bake small cakes if I have to brush syrup as they absorb it better and more evenly.
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Orange and Almond Syrup Cakes. By Yotam Ottolenghi, from David Lebovitz's blog
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter - 200 grams, at room temperature
- Caster sugar - 300 grams plus more for the syrup.
- Fresh oranges - 4
- Ground almonds - 240 grams ( I used ready almond meal)
- Free-range eggs, beaten - 4
- Maida - 110 grams
- 1/8 tsp salt
- Chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate (optional)
For the syrup
Orange juice - 180 ml
Sugar - 80 grams
Dark chocolate, chopped, 100 grams (optional)
Method
- Mise en place.
- Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of a 9'' spring form tin with baking parchment. I have used my bundt pan, each cup holds 150ml liquid. If using a bundt pan, spray well with baking spray, ensure every nook and cranny is greased well. A silicone brush helps do a good job of this.
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Whisk together the almond meal, flour and salt, set aside.
- In a large bowl, take the butter and sugar. Zest the oranges directly on this. Reserve the juice for the syrup.
- Beat the butter, sugar and zest until well combined. Do not beat too much as you do not want to incorporate too much air into the mixture.
- Add half the ground almonds and fold it into the butter mixture
- Add in the eggs one by one, scrape the sides of the bowl as you go.
- Fold in the remaining almond mixture and the chocolate chips if using.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared tin, level it. I have filled them half in the bundt pan.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes for 9'' round tin, 15-18 minutes for the bundt pan. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out a little moist. Please note, the baking time may vary depending on your oven.
- Towards the end of the baking time, heat the orange juice and sugar in a saucepan, you need the sugar to dissolve completely.
- Once the cakes come out of the oven, place the tin on a cooling rack. Poke holes in the cake and brush the syrup generously all over.
- Let the cakes cool completely in the pan.
- Run a knife around the cake and invert it on the cooling rack. Brush any remaining syrup on the bottom of the cake.
- You can pour some ganache or melted chocolate over the cake, it tastes divine. You don't have to do this if you have already added chocolate chips in the batter.
- Serve immediately with some vanilla ice cream for an awesome dessert!
Try this cake for a special occasion, enjoy baking!
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