Happy Diwali: Orange & Almond Cake
Happy Diwali to all those celebrating this joyous holiday of the Festival of Lights across the Indian subcontinent. This calls for a delicious Orange & Almond Cake to share with family and friends.
It’s time to celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights! This joyous festival is a major holiday across the Indian subcontinent. Friends and families gather together to exchange gifts and feast together to celebrate light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.
As a child, Kenz would visit his Indian side of the family to celebrate with a big Gujarati feast and lots of Indian sweets. From ladoos to barfis and gulab jamun, these Indian sweets are very sugary and often doused in syrup. Kenz loves Indian sweets, but it is not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s certainly not mine.
A Healthy Gluten-Free Celebration Cake
So to celebrate Diwali this year, I made an Orange and Almond Cake with an Indian twist. I added a hint of cardamom, light orange-rosewater syrup and garnished with crushed pistachios and dried rose petals. This Orange and Almond cake is not only gluten free, but is also “fat free” as it does not contain any butter or oil. Yet, this orange and almond cake is extremely moist.
In order to blend the oranges in the food processor, these oranges firstly need to be boiled down for at least 45 minutes or until the skin is soft and tender. Be sure to remove any seeds as this can turn your cake quite bitter. To get a fluffy cake, the key is to beat the sugar and egg until it is very pale and thick using an electric whisk. Then a simple syrup is made by combining sugar, orange juice, and water over low heat in a stainless steel saucepan. After, add the orange zest and some rosewater. Drizzle the syrup over the cooled cake. Finally, garnish with crushed pistachios and dried rose petals on top of the cake.
You can eat this lovely Orange and Almond Cake on its own or add a dash of whipped cream. If you are looking for a “healthier” dessert to celebrate Diwali, this gluten-free Orange and Almond Cake will certainly be a crowd pleaser.
Happy Diwali – may light and joy fill your day today and everyday!
Orange and Almond Cake w/ an Orange-Rosewater Syrup
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3 whole oranges
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 cups almond flour 300g
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
For the Syrup:
- 1 whole orange zested and then juice
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1.5 tsp rose water
To Garnish:
- chopped pistachios
- dried rose petals
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160C/320F. Grease and line an 8" round cake tin with baking paper.
- Place the oranges in a large pot with water. Bring the water to boil, and then turn down the heat to a simmer for 45 min or until the orange skin is soft and tender.
- When the orange is cool to touch, quarter the oranges (remove any seeds) and place it in a food processor. Blend the oranges together until smooth.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs and sugar together until very pale and thick.
- Add the orange mixture, almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and cardamom to the egg and sugar mixture. Gentle fold through the ingredients until well mixed together.
- Carefully pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Smooth and level the surface.
- Bake in the oven for 60 minutes, or until the toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool whilst making the syrup.
- To make the syrup, zest the orange and set aside.
- Then juice the orange and add the juice to into a small saucepan together with water and sugar.
- Over low heat, gently simmer the syrup until the sugars dissolve, stirring constantly using a whisk until the syrup thickens.
- Add the orange zest and rose water to the saucepan.
- Use a toothpick to prick holes on the cake and drizzle the syrup evenly around the cake.
- Garnish cake with chopped pistachios and dried rose petals.
