This summer has been all about catching up with friends and family. If you read my previous two posts, you’ll know that I was staying with my godmother for a few days. From hers I drove up to Sheffield for a Zoo Crew Reunion.

Having done Zoology at University, my fellow zoologists and I named ourselves the Zoo Crew (we had hoodies made and everything). Every year we try to catch up at least once, and although we can’t all be there at the same times, over the years we’ve managed some great weekends together.

So, while hanging out with my fellow ZC members, it felt only right to bake a cake for us to enjoy. Funnily enough, we didn’t really eat much of it as we had such a big dinner prior to the cake being ready for consumption. But we did try some of it, and the rest was carted off to the homes and offices of the crew.

This recipe is extremely easy to make, but be warned, it does require 2 hours of boiling oranges. It’s very hands off, but just make sure you plan for that or you’ll be scrambling.

As with most of my recipes these days, this was created by researching several other orange almond cakes, and working out the best combination and amount of ingredients that worked for what I needed.

You can half the recipe if you only want to make 1 cake, but I highly recommend making two as it’ll be an extremely popular treat.

Some people may feel a bit funny about using a simple syrup on their cakes, but please trust me. Not only does it create an incredible shine, it also brings out the flavours of the cake while keeping it moist. Trust me on this one.

I don’t make a lot of my recipes multiple times once I have them perfected, because I always like trying new things. But this is a cake that I will make again for sure. It’s like, moist and delicious. Plus, the pistachios on top are just killer!

I have a lot of recipes piling up that I need to write up and publish on here for you – the beauty of having large kitchens to cook for friends in. I stay at their houses, I cook for them. It’s a great trade.

Ingredients

2 oranges
150 g ground almonds
3 eggs
100 g plain flour
250 g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp caster sugar
50 grams pistachios, roughly chopped

1. In a saucepan filled with water, boil the oranges over a medium heat for 2 hours.. Turn the oranges over after 1 hour. Once done, remove from the water and allow to cool.
2. When cool enough, peel the oranges and place the flesh inside a food processor. Blitz until smooth and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 190°C and line two round cake tins.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together. Add the baking powder.
5. Stir in the pureed oranges, and then gently fold in the ground almonds and plain flour.
6. Evenly pour the mixture into the two cake tins and place in the oven.
7. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool for 15 – 20 minutes.
8. While the cakes are cooling, gently simmer the 1/2 cup water in a saucepan over a medium heat, and add the sugar. Stir until it’s fully dissolved, and then continue to heat through for a further 5 minutes.
9. Pour the simple syrup over the cakes while they’re still in the tins.
10. Allow to cool in the tins. When completely cool, sprinkle with the pistachios.