Orange Cake with Verjuice Icing

INGREDIENTS

1 cup caster sugar
1 1/4 cup ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
3 cups icing sugar
50g melter butter
1/4 cup Verjuice

2 tsp lemon juice
Directions:

This cake is based on the Claudia Roden original and each year we make it with our Poor Man’s Oranges that are delightfully bitter but you can use any oranges to hand, though they will be sweeter.

2Place the oranges into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 1-1 ½ hours or until the oranges are soft. Drain and set aside to cool completely.

3Pre heat the oven to 180C.

4Once the oranges are cool, cut in half and remove any seeds. Place oranges whole into a food processor and pulse until chopped, but not completely pureed.

5Line a 20 cm spring form pan with baking paper.

6In a large bowl beat the eggs with an electric beater, add the sugar, almonds and baking powder and mix well. Fold in the processed oranges and pour into the prepared cake pan.

7Bake for 50-55 minutes (checking after 40 minutes you may need to cover the top of the cake with foil if it is becoming too dark). Remove cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin. Once cooled ice with the Verjuice icing.

8To make the icing, combine the icing sugar, melted butter, Verjuice and lemon juice. Mix until smooth and liberally spread over the top of the cake