Orange & almond cake with citrus mascarpone

Orange & almond cake with citrus mascarpone

An unbelievably moist and yummy dessert

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 - 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs

Gluten-free

Method

  1. Boil two of the oranges (whole) in water, with the lid on the pan, for about 1 hour or until squidgy. Drain and leave to cool.
  2. Butter a springform cake tin, 23cm/9in wide and 7cm/23⁄4in deep. Add 1-2 tablespoons of polenta, tip the grains around until the tin is coated, then knock out the excess. Set aside.
  3. Whizz the flaked almonds to a grainy powder in a food processor, then mix in a bowl with the polenta and baking powder. Set aside.
  4. Halve the cooked oranges and remove any pips. Remove zest from the third orange. Whizz the zest and the orange halves (with skin on) to a smooth purée in the food processor. Set aside.
  5. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/fan oven 160C. Using a mixer or electric beaters, beat the eggs, yolks and sugar for a good 5-7 minutes until the batter looks like a very thick milkshake.
  6. Quickly beat in the almond mixture, then the purée until just blended. Pour the batter into the tin, leaving at least 1.5cm/5⁄8in at the top.
  7. Bake the cake in the middle of the oven. After 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 150C/ Gas 2/fan oven 130C, bake for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 140C/fan oven 120C for a further 30 minutes (if you have a gas oven, cook at gas 4 for 10 minutes, then at gas 2 for 11⁄4 hours until done without reducing the temperature further). The cake is ready when it has risen, is golden-brown and the centre is just firm - don't panic that it still feels fragile.
  8. Leave the cake to cool in its tin (it will sink a little), then run a palette knife around the edge before releasing the sides. Only attempt to transfer it from the metal base to a decorative plate or stand if you have a proper cake lifter.
  9. Whisk the liqueur and marmalade into the mascarpone. Serve the cake in thick wedges with the mascarpone dolloped on top.
Try

Getting ahead

The cake can be baked up to 3 days ahead as long as it's kept in a sealed tin.

Per serving

839 kcalories, protein 17g, carbohydrate 79g, fat 51 g, saturated fat 22g, fibre 3g, sugar 54g, salt 0.84 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2002.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo Dory

    02 December 2007

    Dory rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Gorgeous. Seemed like a hassle to make but was well worth it.

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  • Binder photo macusine

    01 February 2008

    macusine commented on this recipe

    I cheat a little and boil several oranges at once. I then puree them in the food processor and freeze, either individually or two together. Saves some hassle, steam and mess!

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  • Binder photo Av

    13 June 2008

    Av rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Didn't use any alcohol and used an artisan orange marmalade instead of lime (which seems to be tricky to get!). Also can get away with one tub of mascarpone. This resulted in me winning 2nd prize in a cake baking competition, so very pleased with this recipe!

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  • Binder photo Sam

    14 August 2008

    Sam rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Yum, made this yesterday, moist, nice texture and very tasty has anyone tried it with a different citrus fruit?

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  • Binder photo Alison

    09 November 2008

    Alison commented on this recipe

    I dont know what went wrong, followed recipe to the letter but ended up having enough mix to make 2 cakes. The end result was bitter and gritty. Not nice.

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  • Binder photo Lyn

    20 September 2009

    Lyn rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this this morning with Lemons instead of oranges and substituted the polenta for almonds as I too find polenta a bt gritty. Makes it an expensive cake but soooooooooo worth it . I also sprinkled some slivered almonds over the top before baking.

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  • Binder photo Brenda

    05 December 2010

    Brenda commented on this recipe

    any ideas on where to get polenta? Both my local large supermarkets only sell the ready-made stuff. Or any ideas for a substitute?

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  • Binder photo Brenda

    05 December 2010

    Brenda commented on this recipe

    any ideas on where to get polenta? Both my local large supermarkets only sell the ready-made stuff. Or any ideas for a substitute?

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  • Binder photo Joli4

    03 December 2011

    Joli4 commented on this recipe

    A bit late a reply, but in the Netherlands I buy polenta for cakes in a shop for organic food. There's two types of polenta, I'm no expert but I believe one is good for baking, the other is nicer in Italian dishes instead of mashed potatoes and takes a bit longer to prepare as it consists of bigger grains.

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  • Binder photo Kriss

    03 February 2012

    Kriss rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Kriss

    02 March 2012

    Kriss rated this recipe

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  • Binder photo loveagoodcake

    07 April 2012

    loveagoodcake commented on this recipe

    "Butter a springform cake tin, 23cm/9in wide and 7cm/23�4in deep."? Can I just ask where I would buy a cake tin 2 foot deep? Other than that it sounds yummy!

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  • Binder photo Clarabelle@LW

    17 June 2012

    Clarabelle@LW rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely delicious, beautifully moist and with a lovely crunchy crust. I adore polenta having been introduced to it when living in Australia in the 90s so am always looking at ways to incorporate it into recipes. I boiled the oranges on a Thursday night, baked it on Friday - following instructions to the letter - and served as one of my desserts for a charity dinner on Saturday. The whole cake is quite rich with a powerful orange flavour so you could easily get away with a light single cream or vanilla ice cream to accompany and forget the mascarpone etc. I added a few scattering of almond flakes on the top. Two things to note: it will easily serve at least 12 and like another reviewer I had enough mixture for an extra small cake.

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  • Binder photo SabinaP

    27 June 2012

    SabinaP rated this recipe

    5 stars

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 - 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs

Gluten-free

Ingredients

FOR THE MASCARPONE

  • 500g tub mascarpone
  • 3-4 tbsp Cointreau or other orange liqeur, to taste
  • 3-4 heaped tbsp homemade (or artisan) lime marmalade , to taste
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Per serving

839 kcalories, protein 17g, carbohydrate 79g, fat 51 g, saturated fat 22g, fibre 3g, sugar 54g, salt 0.84 g

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