Whole Orange Cake – rind and all! Recipe

I really like this Orange Cake for the nutty flavour, damp and sticky texture, the attractive orange flavour, and the distinctive technique by which it’s made: blitzing entire oranges, rind and all, with almond meal, sugar, eggs and baking powder. No oil, no butter, no whisking!

Terrific simple cake for gatherings. And since it’s gluten-free and lactose free, everybody can take pleasure in it!

When you’ve spent a lifetime peeling oranges, it would sound unusual that this cake is made utilizing an entire orange.

However right here’s the factor – as with lemons and limes, many of the orange flavour is within the rind. You’re going to get manner higher orange flavour by mixing 1 tablespoon of finely grated orange zest into, say, Vanilla Frosting, moderately than 1/4 cup of orange juice. To not point out that zest doesn’t make frostings and cake batters watery.

So – we like rind for flavour. However we don’t just like the pith – the white half beneath the pores and skin – as a result of it’s bitter.

Answer: boil the oranges. This removes the bitterness in addition to softening the oranges to make them “jammy”, which makes the cake damp and sticky inside.

Simply 5 elements:

• Entire recent oranges

• Almond meal (aka floor almonds) – see observe under

• Sugar

• Eggs

• Baking powder (be certain it’s gluten free should you’re making this as a gluten free cake)

Only a observe on a few the elements:

Almond meal / floor almonds

That is actually uncooked almonds which are blitzed right into a fantastic powder. It’s simply discovered these days, bought within the dried fruit & nut part and well being meals part of grocery shops.

It’s also possible to make your personal by blitzing 250g/ 9oz uncooked, unpeeled, unsalted almonds in a robust blender (I exploit a Vitamix) till it turns into a fantastic powder.

Almond flour is completely different however can be used. That is made with blanched, peeled almonds, blitzed till it turns into powder kind. It’s lighter in color (as a result of the brown pores and skin is eliminated) and it has a finer texture so it’ll give it barely fluffier consistency. It additionally has a barely much less pronounced almond flavour.  Almond flour is just not as frequent in Australia. I’ve bought it from these well being meals locations the place you serve your self from tubs, like Scoop Wholefoods. 

Oranges

The recent oranges can’t be substituted with orange juice – the batter on this recipe depends on the thickness of the pureed oranges. Additionally, utilizing entire oranges delivers large orange flavour that OJ can by no means replicate!!

You’ll need 2 medium oranges about 8cm / 3″ in diameter (assume baseball measurement) totalling round 600g/1.2 lb. You don’t should be actual right here – in the event that they weigh extra, your cake will probably be a bit of bit extra moist. In the event that they weigh much less, that’s completely fantastic – almond meal muffins are tremendous moist already, you gained’t really feel disadvantaged.

However clearly you probably have tiny ones, use a number of!

Can lemons be used as properly?

Sadly not! Tried, and it was too bitter as a result of the ratio of pith to flesh is greater. But it surely had a stunning lemon flavour. Nonetheless engaged on it!

The strategy used for this orange cake recipe is sort of distinctive with the bonus being that it’s simple and low-effort. As talked about above, oranges are boiled to melt and take away the bitterness from the pith (white a part of rind). After this, they’re blitzed – rind and all – with the remaining elements to make the batter.

You usually can’t use a meals processor or blender for cake recipes made with flour as a result of they’re just too highly effective so they’ll overwork the gluten within the batter, leading to horridly onerous, rubbery muffins!

First – boil and chop

1. Boil oranges in water for 10 minutes;

2. Drain, then repeat twice extra. (ie 3 x 10 minutes) The aim of this step is to take away the bitterness from the white a part of the rind – should you skip this (and there are some recipes that do) then the cake will probably be bitter. Shortcut: Boil 40 minutes with out draining, however control water stage. The flavour is marginally “cleaner” should you change the water as directed, however this shortcut is completely acceptable;

3. Slice oranges and take away seeds; then

4. Roughly chop – no should be meticulous right here, it’s simply to assist it blitz quicker.

Then – blitz and bake!

1. Place in a meals processor. Blender additionally works, however I discover it extra tedious to scrape all of the batter out. A NutriBullet works brilliantly for the blitzing however is simply too small for the entire batch of batter . So simply do the oranges first, pour into bowl, blitz remaining elements, then combine all the things collectively within the bowl;

2. Blitz for 3 x 10 second bursts on excessive, scraping down the edges properly, till you not see the big lumps and it’s seems like jam. It might take longer relying on the energy of your meals processor. Principally, the much less orange rind bits, the higher – however some rind bits are okay, nice jammy texture!

3. Add the remaining elements – almond meal, baking powder, sugar and eggs, then blitz till properly mixed. If at this stage you realise there’s nonetheless too many rind chunks, you possibly can blitz for longer;

4. Pour right into a lined cake pan – 1 x 23cm/9″  (cake will probably be 4 cm / 1.7″ tall) or 2 x 20cm / 8″ (cake will probably be 3 cm / 2.2″ tall);

5. Bake for 60 minutes till the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clear; and

6. Cool within the pan – it’s too fragile to take away whereas heat. The cake will shrink some, as you possibly can see within the photograph above.

Not like some muffins, I feel an unadorned Orange Cake is gorgeous as a result of it has a stunning golden orange color. Additionally, this cake is so moist and filled with flavour, you do not want nor desire a frosting. I’ve seen some recipes that soak related muffins in orange syrup – too candy for me!

Nevertheless, if you wish to give it some fairly ending touches to impress your work colleagues or mates, listed below are just a few ideas:

• Dusting of icing sugar / powdered sugar – easy and fairly!

• Recent oranges (pictured above) – lower skinny slices of oranges with rind on, then lower a slit to the center. Then twist and place on the cake, as proven – it’ll maintain itself in place;

• Orange rind (pictured above) – use a knife or zester to chop skinny strips of orange rind. Orange half solely, not the white pith. Twist them round a wood spoon deal with or related, depart for 10 minutes or so then it’ll maintain it’s form in free curls, as pictured. For tight ringlets, depart in a single day!

• Recent flowers – just some little sprigs from a tree out of the entrance of my home are pictured right here. Not edible, only for decorations! They’re not orange blossoms both sadly….

• Candied orange peel or dried orange slices – scatter! With or with out icing sugar;

• Toasted almonds – flakes or slivers. To make them stick, you may brush the floor with warmed marmalade loosened with a contact of water;

• Pomegranate seeds – for a wow-factor pop of crimson color!

• Drippy lemon or orange glaze – use the one on this Lemon Yogurt Cake recipe.

I can 100% promise you, this cake is moist and flavourful sufficient to eat plain. However should you actually need one thing to dollop on the aspect, yogurt is great – the recent tartness performs extraordinarily properly towards the nuttiness of the almonds, and I feel it’s a greater choice than cream. Plain or Greek yogurt is finest, or a really mildly candy flavoured one.

For a richer various, creme fraiche can be pretty.

It’s additionally very, excellent served ever-so-slightly warmed with a scoop of ice cream on high. Maybe not typical – but it surely works, and that’s what issues! – Johnsat x

Whole Orange Cake – rind and all! Recipe

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Serves: 12 Prep Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 1 hour 1 hour

Nutrition facts: 268 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• 2 medium oranges, fresh whole with rind on – any type (600g/1.4 lb total weight, ~300g / 10 oz each orange, ~ 8cm/3" diametre, Note 1)
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 6 large eggs , at room temp (Note 2)
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 2 3/4 cups almond meal / ground almonds (Note 3)

Instructions

1. Boil 10 minutes: Place oranges in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over medium high heat. Boil for 10 minutes and drain.
2. Repeat x 2: Put oranges back in the pot, cover with cold water and boil again for 10 minutes. Drain, then repeat once more (ie. boil oranges 3 x 10 minutes). Shortcut: Boil 40 minutes without draining, keeping an eye on water level. (Note 4)
3. Chop: Rinse oranges, then cool slightly so you can handle them. Slice into 1cm / 1/4" slices then dice, removing any seeds. Cool completely.
4. Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F (140°C fan). Grease and line a 23cm/9" cake pan with baking/parchment paper. (Note 5)
5. Blitz oranges: Place chopped oranges in a food processor (Note 6). Blitz on high for 4 x 10 second bursts, scraping down the sides in between, until it's pureed into a marmalade consistency with only a few visible bits of rind remaining. It does not need to be completely smooth.
6. Blitz in remaining ingredients: Add almond meal, eggs, baking powder and sugar. Blitz for 5 – 10 seconds on high until combined.
7. Bake 60 minutes: Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake 60 minutes until the surface is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. Cool: Cool fully in cake pan. Unless using loose base pan, cover surface with baking paper to help you turn it out (cake is sticky so may stick to your hand and tear surface otherwise.)
9. Serve: Decorate as desired – I used slices of fresh oranges, rind strips and sprigs of flowers. A dusting of icing sugar / powdered sugar is also lovely. Cut, then serve! See Note 7 for suggestions.

Notes

General
Be sure to use gluten-free baking powder if making this for GF purposes!
Sweetness – average sweetness, definitely not overly sweet. Sugar can be cut to as little as 1/2 cup but personally, I don’t think that’s sweet enough.
1. Oranges – the cake is fine with smaller or larger oranges, but aim for around 600g/1.2lb in total. If they are much larger, then the cake will just be more moist. Obviously if yours are tiny, then use more than 2 so they total 600g/1.2lb!
Does it work with lemons? Unfortunately not! Tried, and it was too bitter because the ratio of pith to flesh is higher. But it had a gorgeous lemon flavour. Working on it! Will update when I figure it out.
2. Large eggs – industry standard, labelled as such on egg cartons. 55 – 60g / 2 oz each.
3. Almond meal / ground almonds (same thing) – this is finely blitzed raw, whole almonds in powder form, used in place of flour to add a beautifully nutty flavour to cakes, makes them ultra moist and also gluten-free. Find it in the dried fruit and nut section or health food section of grocery stores. Making your own: 250g/9 oz whole, raw unsalted almonds, blitzed until powdered.
Almond flour is slightly different but can be used. Cake texture will be slightly lighter (almond flour is made with blanched peeled almonds). 
4. Changing water makes the cake flavour a bit cleaner because you’re discarding the bitter flavour in the water. But it’s only marginal – I’ve often done a 40 minute straight boil.
5. Cake pans – also great in 2 x 20cm/8″ pans, 50 minutes in oven. I like using 1 x 23cm / 9″ pan because it’s slightly taller.
6. Food processor is best for ease of use. You can also use a blender (it’s just more annoying to scrape out all batter) or a NutriBullet (too small for full batter, so blitz oranges first, transfer to bowl, blitz everything else and then mix).
I’ve also made this by hand when camping: I finely chopped boiled oranges by knife, then used a fork to mash as best I could (mortar and pestle would also work.) To cook, I used a large pot, with a cake pan elevated over simmering water using a few rocks, lid on, about 1 hour. Worked 100% perfectly – and came out even more moist from the steam!
7. Serving: Delicious plain because it’s so moist and flavourful, but a dollop of Greek or plain yogurt, or creme fraiche is also wonderful. Otherwise, slightly warmed with vanilla ice cream!
Decorations – see in post for suggestions.
8. Source – This recipe was given to me by a Sydney based professional pastry chef, a recipe she’s used at establishments she’s previously worked at.
9. Storage – keeps 5 days in an airtight container in the pantry, though if it’s hot where you are, then it’s recommended to keep in the fridge. Stays 100% perfectly moist! It can also be frozen up to 3 months.
Make ahead: Oranges can be boiled and chopped the day before, and refrigerated. Bring to room temp then use per recipe.
10. Nutrition per serving assuming 12 servings.

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Sarah Miller

Hi, I’m Sarah Millar!
I’m a food blogger who loves creating quick and easy recipes that bring big flavor without the fuss. Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated — and I’m here to share simple, fast food ideas that anyone can make at home. When I’m not in the kitchen, you’ll usually find me tasting new dishes, exploring cafés, or coming up with fresh food hacks to make everyday meals more fun.

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