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Whole Orange Cake

A slightly dense, crumbly and moist Sicilian style Orange Cake made with whole oranges, and topped with a chocolate glaze.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine sicilian
Servings 10 servings

Ingredients
  

For the Cake :

  • 2 oranges ends trimmed, deseeded and cut into chunks
  • 150 gm unsalted butter soft at room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened orange juice
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup almonds coarsely ground
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder

For the Topping :

  • 1 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate
  • 1 tbsp oil or unsalted butter
  • Orange zest or candied orange bits for decoration optional

Instructions
 

To Make the Cake :

  • Start by making the orange pulp. Cut the oranges (skin and all) into pieces, discarding the seeds if any. Run in the blender a couple of times till it is mostly smooth but slightly chunky. Do not puree.
  • In a large bowl, using a hand held mixer, beat together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and orange juice. With a wooden spoon, mix in the blended whole orange.
  • Lightly whisk together the flour, coarsely ground almonds, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Mix this into the batter with the spoon till well combined and smooth.
  • Scrape the batter into a well-greased bundt pan. Bake at 165C (325F) for about 45 to 55 minutes till golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean with only a few crumbs clinging to it. Cool the pan on a rack for about 10 minutes, then carefully invert cake onto rack to unmould it. Cool completely.

To Glaze the Cake :

  • Melt the chocolate and the butter over a double boiler. Pour over the cool cake. Decorate with orange zest or candied orange bits if desired. Let the chocolate set well before slicing.