Orange and almond cake, the replay

My first attempt at an orange and almond cake was quite terrible. However, the replay was a triumph! Moist, juicy, light, non-collapsing. Very good. And easy to make: only four ingredients. Flourless, AND butterless! Guilt-reducing!! Lots of exclamation marks!!! A really great cake!!!!

The recipe uses a 23cm cake tin. I used a 20cm one, and used the excess mixture to make a second, smaller cake. Use a springform tin to reduce cake anguish.

Spanish orange and almond cake

• 2 big oranges (the ones with the thin skin, navel oranges)


• 5 eggs, separated


• 220g almond meal
  
• 200g caster sugar


• flaked almonds and icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Wash and roughly chop the oranges, discarding seeds, stickers and the little hard stem circles.

Place the chopped oranges in a small saucepan. Add 1 tablespoon water, then cover the pan and simmer gently for 30 minutes or until the oranges are soft and all the excess liquid has evaporated. Leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line the bottom and sides of a 23 cm springform cake tin with baking paper. Finely chop the oranges in a food processor or blender, or with a sharp knife.
Place the egg whites in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until they form stiff peaks. Gradually add half the caster sugar, then beat for 1 minute. (I beat mine up till they were VERY thick and glossy, almost solid, like a pavlova mixture.)
Place the egg yolks and the remaining caster sugar in another bowl and, using the same beaters, beat for 2–3 minutes or until pale and quite thick. Add the oranges and beat to combine well. Carefully fold in the ground almonds with a large metal spoon.
Stir in 3 spoonfuls of the egg whites to loosen the mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whites. Transfer the mixture to the tin and level the surface. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
Bake for 50–55 minutes or until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Check the cake after 20 minutes and again at 30 minutes, and cover lightly with aluminium foil if it is browning too quickly.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin, then turn it out, peel away the lining paper and transfer to a serving plate. Dust with icing sugar before serving. The cake can be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 days.