Almond-Orange Cake.....

The first week of the New Year bring such an amazing sunny and beautiful days plus chilly crisp cold air that turn the water in my bird bath into rock-hard ice and my banana trees got burn overnight.  But on the Sunday morning as the ray of the morning sun came through the window while I was sipping my coffee and trying to get warm from the sunlight, I felt like I wanted to bake a cake.  But what kind of cake?   I have fresh organic oranges sitting on the counter, and then I remember I have a bag of almond flour (aka almond meal) in my pantry.  Yep! Let bake orange cake using almond flour.  Eating oranges on a first day of the New Year is believed to bring good luck.  Well, may be not exactly on the first day but the first week of the New Year or perhaps during the first month should have the same effect…..bringing me some good luck.  Right?  Right!   hehehe.... 

This cake is so easy to make. Neither flour, oil, butter nor milk is needed.  Sounds great!.  Honestly, I've never tried to bake this kind of cake before but I've always wanted to try one day.  And today is my day.  Did I mention it flourless?  ^_^

I baked the cake in my 10-inch tart pan (along with 1 4-inch paper tart pan because of a little bit of the batter left and I didn't want the cake to overflow from the tart pan) as I thought it would come out looking prettier than using a regular round cake pan.  And when it's done, I couldn't have felt happier. The cake looked amazing.  The cake itself is so moist with tangy orange flavor and not too sweet which makes it perfect with tea or coffee.  Though the cake still has a hint of the bitterness tastes from the oranges skins and pith, as many recipes have cautioned about skipping the boiling process of oranges before add in the batter, but it was not too bad at all.  I finished the little one in no time. 

Note*  if you like the cake more on the sweet side, add more a half or one cup of sugar into the cake batter, or serve the cake with orange glazed or sweet cream whipped. 

Scrumptious and incredibly moist Almond-Orange Cake  

1. For the quick orange marmalade

2 large fresh navel oranges (preferably organic and seedless)

1/2 cup sugar

2-3 tbsp. water

1.  wash dust and dirt from the oranges and cut them into small pieces, discard the seeds if any. Put the cut orange pieces in the blender or food processor and water and blended until they turn into tiny pieces (see picture).

2. pour the orange into a medium pot with sugar and bring to a boil at medium-high heat. When it comes to full boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and let it cook for about 20 minutes.

3.  Let the cooked orange cool down completely. This makes approx.  2 cups.

2. For the cake:  preheat the oven to 350'F

1 1/2 cups Almond flour/meal ( I used Bob’s Red Mill)

3/4 cup sugar (or1 cup if you like sweet)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. almond extract

A tiny pinch of salf

3 large eggs – room temperature

1/2 cup almond slides/slivered for toppings

Powdered sugar for dusting

1. grease the tart pan with butter and lay parchment paper on top. Set aside.

2. whisk the eggs, sugar, almond extract until thick and pale, add the almond flour, baking powder, salt, and fold to combine. add cooled cooked orange into the batter and mix well.  Pour into the greased tart pan and sprinkle slivered almonds on top of the cake.

3. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the top and the edges of the cake turn slightly golden brown. 

4. serve warm (I found it tastes better than cold…) with tea or coffee or as dessert after dinner.  Enjoy!