Recipe from Easy cakes and cookies. I haven’t included step by step pictures of this one but it’s really easy to make following the recipe.
225g butter, at room temperature
150g golden caster/granulated sugar
Freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 an orange
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
130g orange marmalade
4 large eggs
150g self raising flour
75g ground almonds
a loaf tin, greased and base-lined with baking parchment
Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3. The introduction of the recipe warns: “Be careful not to cook this in a very hot oven as the sugar content is high and the outside likes to brown.” I’m still quite cautious of my new oven’s heat so I didn’t preheat my oven until I was weighing out the flour and ground almonds to fold in.
Put the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric handheld whisk until the mixture is pale and light. Gradually add the orange juice, zest and the marmalade and swirl through with the whisk.
Lightly beat the eggs with a fork in a small bowl. Keep the electric whisk running in the creamed butter bowl and trickle the eggs in, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition to stop them curdling. Finally, fold in the flour and ground almonds.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin/pan and bake on a low shelf in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes, until lightly golden on top. A skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean. Mine took almost and hour, after 45 minutes I kept sticking a knife in it every five minuters until it came out clear.
Leave the loaf to cool in the tin/pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. It’s easier to slice when it’s cold – if you can resist its alluring aroma while it cools.
The recipe was really easy to follow. As expected the outside of the cake was an even brown but absolutely perfect. The ground almond makes the cake light while the orange zest and juice gives it a nice, but not overpowering, orange taste.
