I’ve lengthy been a fan of entire orange cake, and have shared numerous recipes for it in my cookbooks and articles through the years. Just lately, nonetheless, I attempted making it with simply the orange peel as an alternative of the entire fruit – and what a revelation! Why use all the orange when you may simply make use of a byproduct as an alternative? In any case, it’s the bitter rind that provides this cake its great depth of flavour, so it makes whole sense.
This cake is a real showstopper, particularly when adorned with pomegranate seeds and pistachios, which give it a ravishing, festive color. Claudia Roden’s traditional recipe for orange polenta cake makes use of the entire fruit, however this model utilizing simply the peel tastes as pleasant, and lets you benefit from the orange’s flesh and juice individually.
I didn’t have any saved orange peel at hand once I made this, so I juiced three oranges to make contemporary orange juice earlier than baking. The recipe is ideal for any orange followers, and particularly for a restaurant that makes contemporary juice and infrequently has loads of orange rind spare. This waste-saving cake is a dessert I’ll be retaining in my recipe Rolodex for years to return.
Orange peel polenta cake
Serves 12
The peel from 3 giant oranges, or the spent shells of three juiced oranges
250ml olive oil
250g maple syrup
5 medium eggs
300g floor almonds
220g polenta
2 tsp baking powder
100g unrefined sugar, or 100g additional maple syrup
To serve (all optionally available)
Chopped pistachios
Pomegranate seeds
Plain yoghurt, or creme fraiche or double cream
Put the orange peel in a strain cooker or a saucepan for which you will have a lid. Add 500ml water, cowl, and prepare dinner till the peel is tender – if utilizing a strain cooker, prepare dinner for quarter-hour, in accordance with the producer’s directions; if utilizing an everyday saucepan, carry to a boil, then cowl and simmer for 45 minutes, or till the orange rind is gentle, including extra boiling water if obligatory.
Switch the tender peel to a blender and add 75ml of the cooking liquid, the olive oil, maple syrup and entire eggs. Blitz till easy, then add the bottom almonds, polenta, baking powder and unrefined sugar (or 100g extra maple syrup), and mix once more till effectively mixed.
Pour the combination right into a greased 20cm cake tin and bake in a 200C (180C fan)/390F/fuel 6 oven for about 60 minutes, till the cake reaches a core temperature of 94C, or when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clear.
Take away and go away to chill, then slice and function it’s, or prime with pomegranate seeds and/or pistachios, if utilizing. This can be a very moist cake that may fortunately be eaten with no additional accompaniment, however I prefer it with an enormous dollop of yoghurt, creme fraiche or double cream.
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