Orange and Almond Cake with Botrytis Syrup

My three year old loves watching Olympics games and he is very sad that London 2012 is over...

Boy: Mummy, when can I see the Olympics again?

Mum: Four years later

Boy: "???"

I don't think my son really know the duration of four years but he seems to know that he has to wait very long again to see the Olympics games.

Mum: All good thing always come to an end. You need to cherish and enjoy them before everything is over...

Funny that our Olympics conversation on my last weekend has lead me to think that the Australian navel orange season being the best at this time of the year is also ending soon. I have to seize the time and bake this delicious whole orange cake before the orange season is over.

Unlike my previous orange flourless cake, this orange and almond cake is not a gluten-free cake and I wonder if the addition of flour will improve the texture of this cake. In actual fact, I was deeply attracted to try baking this recipe mainly because the syrup of this recipe uses Botrytis-style dessert wine. Typically, a Botrytis-style dessert wine is known as a late harvest wine. Botrytis is a mold that causes grapes to lose nearly all of their water content and wines made from botrytis-affected grapes are generally very sweet. Sometimes, I do enjoy sipping a little Botrytis-style dessert wine after dinners and I was using the excuse of baking this cake so that I can buy and enjoy the excess of this wine after this bake... LOL!

This Botrytis wine that I used for this bake is one of my favourites. It is from De Bortoli Winery from Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia. Now, I'm enjoying a slice of this cake with beautiful wintery views from my kitchen before everything is over...

Enjoying my orange and almond Cake with Botrytis syrup

Cooking the oranges

Making the cake batter

The Botrytis wine that I like

Making the Botrytis syrup

Ta da! Here's the finishing cake with the yummy Botrytis syrup!

Here's the recipe from Taste.com

(with my modification in blue)

Ingredients (serves 8)
3 large (about 250g each) oranges
Melted butter, to grease
5 eggs
315g (1 1/2 cups) caster sugar (reduced to only 160g in total)
200g (2 cups) almond meal (pre-roasted at 150°C fan forced for 7 min)
75g (1/2 cup) self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
375ml (1 1/2 cups) Botrytis-style dessert wine (I used only half bottle which is less than 200ml and enjoy the rest on its own :D)
Double cream, to serve (I didn't use this to serve)

Method

Place 2 oranges in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat. Drain. Return oranges to the pan and repeat process (this will reduce the bitterness of the peel). Return oranges to the pan once again and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, adding more water when necessary to keep oranges covered, for 1 hour or until oranges are very tender. Drain. Set aside for 2 hrs or until cooled to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 160°C (or 150°C fan forced). Brush a round 20cm (base measurement) cake pan (or two 14 cm cake rings) with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base with non-stick baking paper. Cut oranges into quarters. Remove the white cores and any seeds. Place in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.

Use an electric beater to whisk the eggs and 215g (1 cup) of the sugar (I reduced mine to 150g) in a large bowl until thick and pale (I didn't use an electric beater to do this step but only process the eggs and sugar until sugar is well dissolved in the mixture). Use a metal spoon to stir in the orange mixture. Add the almond meal, flour and baking powder, and stir until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan(s) and use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface. Bake in preheated oven for 1 1/4 hrs (I baked my 14 cm cakes for 1 hr.) or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside for 5 mins to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, use a zester to remove the rind from the remaining orange. (Alternatively, use a vegetable peeler to peel rind from orange. Use a small sharp knife to remove white pith and cut into very thin strips.) Juice the orange and place in a medium saucepan along with the rind, wine (mine is only 200ml) and remaining sugar (mine is only 10g). Place over low heat and cook, stirring, for 2 min or until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Cook, without stirring, for 2-3 min or until syrup thickens slightly (I prefer a thicker form of syrup and cooked mine for 20 min). Remove from heat.

Turn cake onto a wire rack over a baking tray. Spoon the hot syrup and orange rind over the warm cake. Set aside for 30 mins to cool. Cut cake into wedges and place on serving plates. Drizzle with any remaining syrup and serve with double cream, if desired.

Happy Baking
Please support me and like me at Facebook.