some delicious almond cakes were the victims of a series nighttime attacks on the fridge this week. I'd forgotten how good they are after the post-nineties disinterest that came with seeing "flahr-luss" la-la cakes on every café menu in Melbourne. bog-standard wedges of dry cake with obligatory icing sugar and blob of cream on the side.
such uninspired thoughts were banished by JG's almond and orange cake, an interpretation of the classic Sephardic recipe from Claudia Roden's Book of Middle Eastern Food (both editions). it's so dense and moist it's more like a pudding than a cake, and rather than boiling the oranges whole for two hours as in the original recipe (a good way to kill a saucepan), JG cooked the oranges sliced in a spiced sugar syrup which was later reduced and mixed with a little sweet balsamic vinegar to make a sweet-tart-orange-bitter sauce for serving.
the other unfortunate cake to be devoured was a beautiful almond and lemon cake with lemon curd and marscapone filling made by my gorgeous sister. this was more cake-like in texture due to a mixture of self-raising flour and ground almonds, and had a delicious brown sugar and slightly caramelised lemon flavour.
almond and orange cake
6 eggs
250g ground almonds
250g caster sugar
2 oranges
1 teaspoon baking powder
slice the oranges thickly (leaving the peel on) and simmer in just enough water to cover, plus two tablespoons of sugar and some cinnamon, allspice and cardamom. when the oranges are soft drain the slices, reserving the syrup. chop the oranges finely or pulse in a food processor. allow to cool a bit.
beat the eggs and sugar then mix in the oranges.
add the ground almonds and baking powder and beat to a smooth batter.
bake for about an hour at 200°c in a lined tin. if it seems too moist return it to the oven for 5 minutes.
turn the cake out and serve warm with icecream and orange syrup.
orange syrup
if there's not enough syrup to reduce add more water (or orange juice) and sugar then reduce over a medium heat until you have the desired thickness. stir in 3 teaspoons of sweet balsamic vinegar and allow the mixture to cool a little before using.
LB's almond and lemon cake
as LB's advice was not to measure anything, "just slop everything in until it tastes right", these quantities may be a little off.
100g self-raising flour
150g ground almonds
100g butter, softened
200g brown sugar
4 eggs
zest and juice of 1 lemon
a few drops of vanilla essence
for the filling or topping
lemon curd
marsacpone
mix the butter, sugar, lemon juice, zest and vanilla until well combined.
add the eggs and mix well.
stir in the ground almonds and mix until smooth.
sift the flour and gently fold into the mixture. check batter for sweetness and consistency, adjusting with almonds or egg as necessary.
bake one large cake for about an hour at 170°c or two smaller ones for 25-35 minutes.
this cake doesn't rise much but for a perfectly flat cake trim the top and turn over. use the lemon curd and marscapone mixture as an icing or filling.
