Spiced Cake With Almonds And Caramelized Oranges Recipes

SPICED OLIVE OIL CAKE WITH ORANGE GLAZE

Steps:

• Make the cake: Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the dry cake ingredients, including ground spices. In another bowl, whisk the oil, milk, eggs, rum, orange zest and juice until smooth.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. To prevent clumps, stir together starting from the center of the bowl, gradually drawing in the dry ingredients. Mix just until smooth. The batter will be thick. Pour into the prepared loaf pan.
• Bake in the center of the oven for 1 hour, rotating after 30 minutes. When done, the cake will be just firm and dry on top and a tester inserted into the center will come out clean.
• Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a measuring cup with a pouring spout, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons orange juice until smooth. The texture should be runny; add more orange juice if needed.
• Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out. While it is still warm, drizzle the glaze over the top, making messy, Jackson Pollock-style zigzags by moving the cup back and forth over the cake. Let cool completely to set.

SPICED PEARS WITH ORANGES AND CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Using melon baller and starting from bottom, core each pear. Cut thin slice off bottom of each pear to make level.
• Stir sugar and 1/4 cup water in heavy large saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil until syrup is deep amber color, brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat; whisk in butter, then 2 tablespoons water.
• Stand pears in caramel sauce in saucepan. Sprinkle cinnamon over. Cover and cook over low heat 10 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with ras-el-hanout. Cover and continue to cook until pears are tender, occasionally spooning caramel sauce over pears and shaking pan so pears don't stick, about 15 minutes. Arrange orange slices around pears; spoon caramel sauce over. Cover and simmer until orange slices soften, about 5 minutes.
• Place orange slices on plates. Stand pears atop orange slices. Spoon caramel sauce over and sprinkle with almonds. Serve warm or at room temperature.
• *A Moroccan spice blend available at some specialty foods stores and Middle Eastern markets, and by mail from The Spice House (312-274-0378; thespicehouse.com).

ORANGE CAKE WITH SEMOLINA AND ALMONDS

Steps:

• Combine chopped oranges and 1 tablespoon water in a small saucepan, cover, and cook over medium-low heat until oranges are soft and excess liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
• Place oranges in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until finely chopped.
• Beat egg whites in a glass, metal, or ceramic bowl until stiff peaks form. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, continuing to beat for 1 more minute.
• Beat egg yolks and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a separate bowl until pale and thick, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in finely chopped oranges. Fold in ground almonds, semolina, vanilla extract, and fiori di Sicilia. Stir in 3 spoonfuls of whisked egg white to loosen the batter. Gently fold in remaining egg whites with a spatula or large metal spoon. Pour batter into prepared springform and level the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cake is golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Check cake after 20 and 30 minutes to see if it is starting to brown too quickly. Cover top lightly with aluminum foil once cake starts to brown.
• Remove from oven and cool in the pan. Remove ring, peel away parchment paper and transfer cake to a serving plate. Drizzle with liqueur and dust with confectioners' sugar.

ALMOND CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED ORANGES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan. In a large bowl, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until fluffy. Add flour, alternating with cream, in two additions. Add salt. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in almond extract and orange zest. Bake for 1 hour, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Meanwhile, peel 3 oranges with a sharp knife, removing all of the white pith, and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Cut largest rounds in half. Squeeze juice from fourth orange into a heavy-bottomed skillet; add remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Cook over medium heat until golden-brown caramel forms, about 5 minutes. Add orange rounds and cook until glazed, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve at once with cake.

ORANGE ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 9inch springform pan and set it aside.
• Break up the almond paste and place it in the container of a food processor. Process for a few seconds until it is grainy, like the texture of cracked wheat. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until very fluffy, at least 3 minutes. Add the almond paste, orange liqueur, and orange zest. Beat until perfectly blended, another 2 minutes or so.
• One by one beat in the eggs until the mixture is very smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle on the flour and baking powder and beat just until combined, 30 seconds or so.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, and the sides of the cake have begun to shrink away from the pan. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. (The cake might sink a little in the center.)
• Remove the outer ring of the pan. Place a plate over the cake and invert it. Remove the bottom of the pan. Invert again onto a wire rack and cool the cake completely. Serve dusted with confectioners sugar.

SPICE CAKE WITH ALMOND-COCONUT TOPPING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 330 degrees F (165C).
• Butter and flour a 10 inch bundt pan.
• Combine flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
• In large bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy (no less than 6 minutes).
• Add eggs; beat until smooth.
• Add flour mixture alternately with yoghurt (or sour cream); beat until smooth.
• Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake about 1 hour, or until tester comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.
• Preheat broiler.
• Combine brown sugar, butter, almonds, coconut, milk and vanilla.
• Spoon mixture over top of cake.
• Place under broiler, 3 inches from heat source until lightly browned.
• WATCH VERY CAREFULLY as this can go from caramelly to burned in no time!

SPICED ORANGE AND ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Mix the breadcrumbs with the sugar, almonds and baking powder.
• Add the oil and eggs and beat well.
• Stir in the orange and lemon zest.
• Pour the mixture into a greased 8inch round cake tin, put into a cold oven and set the heat to 375F, or slightly less for a fan assisted oven.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin then turn out onto a plate.
• While the cake is baking, make the syrup- put the 1/2 cup sugar, juices, cloves and cinnamon stick into a pan and bring gently to the boil, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for about 3 minutes.
• Pierce holes in the cake with a toothpick while still warm and pour the syrup over it in small batches. Leave to cool and continue spooning over the syrup until it is all soaked up.