Flourless Orange Cake

After tasting Yusuf's version of this flourless orange cake at the Rag Factory Jumble Sale last July, I proceeded to hassle him for the recipe until he finally emailed it to me. It then sat in my inbox, cold and lonely, until about a week ago. The four pathetic oranges sitting in the kitchen were begging me to put them out of their juicy but tasteless misery, and it was then I remembered the recipe.

It may seem like quite a bit of work at first, but once you've spent an hour and a half boiling the oranges, the cake actually comes together very quickly and easily. There's also some good news for those watching their waistlines - the cake's moist, crumbly texture is achieved without the use of any butter at all. The only change I made to the original recipe was to add 50gm of crystallised ginger to it all, for a little hint of spice (and because the ginger's best-before date was rapidly approaching). 

Flourless Orange Cake (adapted from Yusuf's recipe)

Ingredients 

3 medium oranges (I used 4 small ones here)

6 eggs, separated

200gm caster sugar

50gm crystallised ginger (optional)

200gm ground almonds

1 tbsp baking powder

Directions

- Place whole, unpeeled oranges (clean them if need be) in water, bring to the boil, then simmer for 1 1/2 hours or more until soft.

- Drain oranges, cut into quarters, discard seeds and leave to cool. When cool, whiz oranges and ginger (if using) into food processor.

- Preheat oven to 180 C and lightly grease/line a 9 inch springform tin. 

- Beat egg yolks and sugar together until pale, then beat in oranges, almonds and baking powder.

- Beat egg whites until soft peaks, then fold gently into mixture. Pour batter into baking tin, and bake for an hour until firm to the touch. 

- Cool the cake in the tin, then remove it and dust icing sugar over it before serving. Enjoy!