Claudia Roden’s Orange and Almond Cake Recipe (2024)

Twice in three weeks, I've made this fail-proof cake, the second time with 3 Meyer lemons instead of the two oranges called for. Both times I used only 5 large eggs, 1 cup of sugar and 1 1/2 cups of ground almonds.

A little known secret.. Zap the two oranges in water on high in your microwave. 15 minutes would do it. This marvellous cake is awesome!!?

Cooking the oranges for 2 hours will make the rind and white pith into a rich soluble pectin, like making jams and jellies. No fruit has more pectin than citrus peel. So whatever recipe you use that makes use of whole boiled citrus, simmering for 2 hours before baking is what contributes to the rich moist texture. Pith and peel per orange varies greatly and will change texture and bake times from more or less pectin.

Decorating tip: when boiling the oranges, add cinnamon sticks and cloves to the water. Then use the leftover zesty liquid to make a glaze! (Bonus: makes your house smell like Christmas.) To about 4 tbsp of leftover liquid, add a squeeze of OJ and a splash of bourbon, and simmer to thicken. Let it cool, then whisk about a cup and a half of powdered sugar into it. Use as glaze for the baked the and cooled cake.

citrus fruit sold in stores are dipped in a vegetable wax that has some fungicide buried in it at the packing house. Even organic citrus is wax coated to delay molding. So make sure to wash and scrub your citrus with a stiff brush unless you picked it yourself. Not a bad idea for every citrus recipe that uses the rinds.

What is meant by "in water to cover"? The oranges float, so you cannot cover them with water.

A delicious cake that is healthier than most. I found the same recipe in Claudia Roden's The Book of Jewish Food (p. 599, Gateau a l'Orange or Orange Cake). In that book she gives 375 as the baking temperature. At 400 my cake seemed to be cooking and browning too quickly so I turned the oven back to 375. Probably depends on oven and pan.

Excellent suggestion! Pressure cooking the oranges for 15 minutes should also do it. Recipes that, in this day and age, call for boiling ingredients for 2 hours, should always offer an alternative.

Keep the peel! We've updated the recipe to clarify.

The original recipe I found in my much yellowed Claudia Roden book from 1968, Vintage Books "A Book of Middle Eastern Food" page 413 says to use only 1/2 cup sugar. That's much much less than 1/2 lb! She also says to use 1 1/2 cups ground almonds and yes, leave orange peels on. Otherwise ingredients are the same.

I haven't seen anyone mention the stunning bitterness of this cake (apologies if this is buried somewhere). I'm using one cup of sugar like some of the comments suggest. I assume more sugar would mask some of this but I can't imagine it being completely disguised. I can see this being an acquired taste (it's not so bad with espresso) but I would never serve this to a guest. Fair warning..

Made this with the help of the comments (5 eggs, 1c sugar, almond flour, less "pithy" oranges) and love how it turned out. We wanted a dessert wine pairing and was recommended a Sauternes to try with it. Omg, what an amazing pairing with this cake. I highly recommend. We also used the leftover orange water to make a simple syrup from. We added some Cointreau and used that on the top to create a glaze.

This is a fabulous cake that is fun to make and super nutritious. I had a piece for bkf. and was full until lunchtime. I determined the nutrient breakdown based on the ingredients that I used:2 cup almond flour2 whole navel oranges6 large eggs3/4 cup erythritol (Swerve granular)1/2 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp baking soda1/4 tsp saltI used a 9" springform pan and divided into 8 pieces. For each piece:238 calories11 g protein4 g sugar5 g fiber18 g fat30 g carb

Some nice variations that I have been doing:- add 2 - 4 oz. of Amaretto to the puréed oranges - add 1/2 tbsp of Cardamom (I have a severe Cardamom obsession and will add it to almost anything)- use Minneolas instead of oranges- peel a few very thin strips of the outer skin layer off before boiling the oranges to get rid of the sometimes overly strong bitterness- Do all of the above which I just did and it was the best version of this cake I have made so far!Everybody loves this cake!

Excellent! I used 2 cups almond flour, 1/3 c Allulose, 1/3 c cane sugar. Boiled the oranges in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes with about 10 cloves and 2 cinnamon sticks and a pinch of saffron. We drank the remaining liquid as a tea. Topped the cake with barely sweetened whipped cream and raspberries

Quite disappointed in this cake. Flavor was fine, but consistency was just not as expected. Super eggy and wet..dense, but not in a good way. I used a scale so I’m sure my measurements weren’t off.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 mins. Then check. Continue cooking a few more minutes if not doneMicrowave the oranges in water, in covered casserole, water does not need to cover oranges. The oranges can be processed the day before.Cake can be made the day before.

I use Monkfruit instead of sugar and it turns out beautiful. Sprinkle with a touch of coco powder instead of powdered sugar for an extra treat. This cake is so good in every variation!

I also used Navel oranges and was so bitter I threw it out. What sort of oranges work with this recipe? Help.

I used navel oranges and they made the cake very bitter. It did have a lot of flavor. I'm trying again with some satsumas. I will say that the texture is lovely and moist.

I’m not sure what went wrong, but my cake was inedible. It was super bitter and pithy tasting, and moist to the point of feeling underbaked. Besides baking it for an hour to try and set it, I followed the directions to a T. Maybe my oranges were too big?

What size pan?!!

In 9" pan 45 minutes at 400 was too much. over brown on sides in a spring-form pan. Since it is gluten free, didn't want to dust pan with flour, so dusted with sugar. worked ok, but I will try something different next time. Added 1 teaspoon each of dried ginger and cinnamon. Spices couldn't be tasted, but added complexity. Cream cheese frosting with grated orange peel. worked well for my gluten free friends that also want to avoid chocolate.

I’ve made this twice now. The first time, made to the recipe with a small deviation. I made it at Thanksgiving added a tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of vanilla. A bit bitter, but really good. I just made it again for Christmas Eve and Day breakfasts. I made it with 4 medium Cara Cara oranges (whole orange). I added: 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 c monk fruit sugar alt/1/2 c sugar, 2 TBS Rum, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp all spice. SO GOOD! EVEN BETTER! Not bitter at all. Can’t wait for reviews from the fam.

Springform pan. Also with greased parchment. 😋