Ingredients
| FOR THE CARAMEL | |
| 2 oranges | |
| 200g sugar | |
| 150g cream | |
| FOR THE CAKE | |
| 4 oranges | |
| 200g butter | |
| 200g sugar | |
| 2 teaspoons vanilla paste | |
| 4 eggs | |
| 200g self-raising flour |
Orange cake is wonderful, but most recipes require boiling the fruit first and letting it cool down before blending it into the batter. When I want to make cake, it is most times because I need it, and I do not want to wait. This orange cake doesn’t require the boiling and cooling step. Orange is celebrated in the cake batter itself, on the top of the cake and in a burnt-orange caramel. The pith is often seen as the worst part of the orange, but not in desserts – like a good savoury dish, a dessert needs a balance of sweetness, acidity and bitterness.
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Instructions
| 1. | CARAMEL |
| 2. | Burn the oranges by cutting them in half and placing on a very hot pan flesh-side down until burnt, about 5 minutes. |
| 3. | Remove from the heat, cool, then squeeze the juice into a small bowl and set aside. |
| 4. | To make the caramel, heat the sugar in a pan until caramelised and golden. |
| 5. | Add the cream, remove from the heat and whisk in the juice. Set aside to cool. |
| 6. | CAKE |
| 7. | Heat the oven to 180℃. |
| 8. | Grease and line a 25cm round cake tin. |
| 9. | Zest 3 oranges and set the zest aside. |
| 10. | Cut these oranges in half, scoop out the flesh and roughly dice into 1cm pieces. |
| 11. | Cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes if using a mixer. |
| 12. | Add vanilla paste and beat until combined. |
| 13. | Add 1 egg and a quarter of the flour and beat on medium speed until just combined. |
| 14. | Repeat this with the remaining eggs and flour. |
| 15. | Fold through the orange zest and flesh. |
| 16. | Slice the last orange very thinly, around 3mm thick. |
| 17. | Arrange the orange slices evenly on the bottom of the tin. |
| 18. | Pour over one-third of the caramel, until a thin layer covers the bottom of the dish. |
| 19. | Set aside the remaining caramel for serving with the cake. |
| 20. | Scrape the cake batter into the tin. |
| 21. | Bake for around 55 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. |
| 22. | Allow to cool for 5 minutes before turning out upside down on a wire rack to cool. |
| 23. | Serve with extra caramel drizzled over the top. |
Recipe Alice Taylor / Photography Tony Nyberg / Styling Fiona Lascelles