Valencia Orange Cake

 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

* 2 organic Valencia oranges
* 4 eggs
* 3/4 cup of honey
* 2 cups of blanched almond flour
* 1 teaspoon of baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon of salt

How To Cook:
1.Place two whole organic Valencia oranges in a pot with enough water to cover them. Add a tightly sealed lid. The oranges will float, but they should be mostly covered. Simmer them in the pot for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. When you can easily glide a toothpick or fork through them, they are ready. You can add water to them while they are cooking, if necessary. Cool the oranges for a few minutes, slice them into wedges and remove any pits or inedible parts (like the nub where the stem was).

2.Process the oranges until you have a smooth, orange paste without lumps. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. (I bake using a convection oven setting, so I place the temperature at 300 degrees F). To get a slightly lighter cake, separate the egg yolks and egg whites, and then whip the egg whites separately until stiff peaks form.

3.In a bowl, beat eggs (or egg yolks if separated) until well blended, and then beat in the honey and dry ingredients (baking soda, salt, and almond flour).

4.Fold in the almond flour and orange paste into the egg and honey mixture and blend well. If you whipped the egg whites separately, here is where you want to fold the egg whites into the rest of the batter. Use a spring form pan or a well buttered baking pan. Butter or oil the bottom of the spring form pan. No need to butter the sides of the spring form pan.

 5.Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Make sure to bake it thoroughly, especially in the center, or it may settle when it cools. Even if it settles, it still tastes wonderful.