Hello to March and the start of spring! To celebrate the transition into a new season, I thought I’d make a delicious gluten free orange honey cake. Although we’ve had a few nasty storms (and snow) the last few weeks, I’m hopeful that the recent sunny spells are here to stay and spring is officially upon us! One can dream, right?

You may be thinking have I made this cake for any particular celebration? However, in my eyes there never needs to be a significant reason to eat cake – it’s someones birthday somewhere in the world!

NOTES OF CITRUS

I’ve always loved using oranges in baking, as it adds a lovely freshness to the recipe. Citrus are also in season at the moment and nothing tastes quite as good as fruit that is at its peak freshness! Although I love using lemon and limes in cooking, I never seem to use them in my baking recipes.

Maybe that’s because fresh and citrusy tarts don’t excite me as much as something with chocolate and peanut butter! Oranges have slightly different flavours combinations than lemon and limes, as they work well with chocolate (such a classic combo) and of course honey!

CAKE INGREDIENTS

This seasonal orange honey cake is made up of 9 simple ingredients. No crazy superfoods/powders, refined sugars or weird health products in this recipe! Everything can be found in your local supermarket.

Ground almonds
Baking powder
Cardamom
Ginger
Cinnamon
Eggs
Honey
Coconut oil
Orange

Ground almonds makes up the ‘flour’ in this recipe, creating a soft and nutty texture. Baking powder helps the cake rise and the 3 spices add warmth to every slice. Eggs, honey and coconut oil make up the wet ingredients and sweetener, whilst orange zest adds the final zing to the recipe.

Once the cake is cooked and out of the oven, a simple glaze made with freshly squeezed orange and honey can be gently poured over the top. Once that has sunk in to the cake, a simple cream cheese frosting can be spread over the top, finishing with fresh berrries and chopped pistachios. Absolutely. Delicious.

INGREDIENTS

Cake
240g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
230g + 1tsp honey, divided
50g coconut oil, melted
1 orange

Cream Cheese Frosting
200g cream cheese (full fat)
115g unsalted butter (room temperature)
400g icing sugar

Toppings
Handful of fresh fruit – berries, figs etc
Chopped pistachios

RECIPE

1. Preheat your oven to 170C/150 fan and line a loose bottom cake tin with parchment paper.
   Start by mixing the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (ground almonds, baking powder, spices).
2. Next, in a separate bowl whisk together the wet ingredients (eggs, honey, melted coconut oil and orange zest).
3. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, being careful not to overmix.
4. Transfer to the prepared cake tin and bake for 40-45 mins unil the top is golden.
5. Take the cake out of the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Whilst this is cooling, squeeze out 3 tbsp of fresh orange juice and add to a small pan with 1 tsp honey. Heat on a medium temperature until combined.
6. Pierce the cake with a toothpick and gently pour the orange/honey glaze over the warm cake until it all sinks in.
7. To make the frosting, simply combine the cream cheese and butter until smooth using an electric whisk.
8. Slowly sieve in the icing sugar, around 100g at a time, and continue whisking. I find it easier to gently stir in the icing sugar with a spoon so it’s not sitting at the top. That way when you use your electric whisk it doesn’t fly around everywhere in an icing sugar cloud!
9. You can make this ahead of time and leave it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.
10. Once the cake has cooled, spread the frosting over the top and finish with berries and cropped pistachios – delicious!

Sophie x

Inspired by this recipe.