Orange and Cardamom Cake
This is one of my most favourite cakes. It is so moist, and the cardamom adds in a nice peppery flavour. The orange syrup is essential for a really moist cake.
Some fresh orange slices or roughly chopped pistachios make a great decoration on the top
Method
Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease the bottom and sides of a 20cm round springform pan with butter and line the base with baking paper.
Put the oranges for the cake in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 40-45 minutes until the oranges are completely soft and squidgy. Drain them and roughly chop them to remove any pips. Put the (flesh, peel, basically everything but the pips) into a food processor and blitz until completely smooth.
Crack open your cardamom pods using the back of a knife and crush the black seeds inside. You want about 1/2tsp of cardamom seeds.
In a large bowl whisk together the sugar and eggs until they are light, pale, and frothy. Gently fold in the blitzed oranges, ground almonds, cinnamon, cardamom seeds, and a pinch of salt.
Transfer the mixture to your cake pan, smooth out the surface and bake for about 1 hour until a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean.
While the cake is cooking you can make your syrup. Start by zesting and juicing the oranges and crushing your cardamom pods like before.
Place the orange juice juice, sugar and cardamom seeds in a saucepan over low heat. Stir whilst they cook for about 5 minutes. You will want the sugar to dissolve and syrup to thicken slightly.
Remove from heat and add the Cointreau and zest before setting aside to cool.
Once your cake is cooked prick it all over with a skewer (or a cocktail stick is perfect if you have one) and drizzle over the syrup. Let the cake cool completely in the tin before releasing it and transferring it to a plate.
Overlap some sliced oranges on top as a garnish, or a sprinkling of roughly chopped pistachios,
Ingredients
The cake
2 large oranges
5-6 cardamom pods
4 eggs
300g golden caster sugar
300g ground almonds
1tsp baking powder
1tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
The syrup
3 oranges
85g golden caster sugar
4 cardamom pods
1 1/2 tsp Cointreau our other orange liquor.
Decoration
1 orange
25g pistachios
Top tips
This cake is gluten free and there is no butter so it is practically a health food, Have a massive slice.
A springform cake tin is ideal for this recipe. Just run a palette knife round the sides of the cake before releasing it.
Make sure it is completely cool before turning it out. It is a moist cake and will likely fall apart if this is done when it is still warm.
It will keep in an airtight container for about 4 days or frozen for a couple of months. It’s best served at room temperature.
It’s great served with a dollop of creme fraîche, clotted cream, or even mascarpone with some vanilla extract whipped through.
If you want an alcohol free version, substitute the Cointreau with orange flower water.
