This cake is bursting with a delightful orange flavour. It’s really quick and easy to put together and lovely with a cup of tea or great for a light dessert. You can add your favourite toppings like orange slices, berries or leave it plain with just the citrusy glaze.
NOTE For a little variety try using this basic recipe to create a lemon or lime cake by using lemon or lime juice and lemon or lime oil in place of the orange juice and orange oil and try adding 1 – 2 drops of Citrus Fresh for a more citrusy twist. If you are nut sensitive you can omit the ¼ cup of almond meal and just use ¼ cup more of the flour (2 cups total).
Chia Eggs: In a small bowl mix together 2 tbsp of chia seeds with 2 tbsp of water and set aside to thicken for at least 10 minutes before adding to this recipe if you are using them in place of the eggs.
TIP To make this a Valentines Day recipe you can use a heart shaped tin or heart shaped ramekins or just use a cake tin or bread tin for this recipe, if you prefer. Individual ramekins are great for dinner parties or to have a little sweet treat on hand.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs (or chia eggs, see NOTE)
- ¾ cup sugar (preferably organic)
- 1/3 cup melted butter or melted coconut oil
- 8 – 10 drops orange essential oil (to taste)
- 2 tsp vanilla (to taste)
- ½ cup orange juice
- ½ tsp sea salt (to taste)
- ¼ cup almond meal (finely ground almonds)
- 1¾ cups self-rising flour or self-rising gluten-free flour mix
- Citrus Glaze Ingredients:
- ¼ cup orange juice
- sugar or maple syrup (approx. 2 tbsp, to taste)
- 6 – 8 drops orange essential oil (to taste)
- 4 drops lemon essential oil (to taste)
- 1 tsp vanilla (to taste)
- Optional Toppings:
- orange slices or segments
- chopped pistachio nuts and/or almonds
- berries or other fruit slices
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 180C and prepare a cake tin (heart shaped or regular) by lining with baking paper. You can also use ramekins.
- 2. Place the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and whisk together until creamy and pale yellow. You can also use an electric mixer.
- 3. In a medium-large bowl mix the orange oil into the melted butter. Then add in the vanilla, orange juice and stir well. Then add the egg and sugar mixture in and mix until well combined.
- 4. Add the salt and almond meal to the flour and then add in the flour mixture a little at a time to the wet mixture and mix with an electric mixer until well combined. You can also mix by hand.
- 5. Pour the batter into the prepared tin or ramekins.
- 6. Bake for 35 – 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. If using individual ramekins, the baking time will be shorter 20 – 25 minutes and check and bake a little longer if needed.
- 7. While the cake is baking make the glaze by heating the orange juice and sugar in a small sauce pan on low heat (do not boil) and stir until just dissolved and remove from heat and add in the orange oil, lemon oil and vanilla and stir through.
- 8. When the cake is done remove from the oven and immediately and pour over the glaze. I like to use a skewer and poke a few holes in the cake so the glaze gets into the cake too. Let the cake cool down before slicing or serve warm with a little ice cream. You can decorate the cake with orange slices or other optional topping, if you like.
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