Cook and Drink

April 27^th we celebrate the birthday of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. Hip hip hooray!
The Dutch royal family is also known as ‘de Oranjes’, which is reflected in the use of the colour orange when referring to Dutch royalty. Actually, there is no link between the royal family and the colour. The ‘Oranje’ in the name refers to the French city of Orange, a Principality one of his ancestors inherited in 1544.

Nevertheless, over the years we prepared Orange Sabayon, Queen’s Soup, Bouchée à la Reine, Orange Flan and Canard à l’Orange on this day. What better way to celebrate a birthday than by baking a cake, a flavourful, moist Orange and Almond cake?

What You Need

• One large Orange
• 3 Eggs
• 100 grams Fine Caster Sugar
• 125 grams of Almond Flour
• 3 grams of Baking Powder

What You Do

Wash the orange and cook it (meaning the whole orange) for 2 hours in some water. Let cool.
Preheat the oven to 170 °C or 340 °F. Coarsely cut the orange, remove the pits and blender the orange until you have a marmalade-like consistency. Add the baking powder to the almond flour and mix. Beat the eggs and the sugar until light and airy. This may take 5 minutes. Add the blended orange and mix gently. Add the almond flour and the baking powder. Mix. Coat a baking spring form (18 cm or 7 inch) with butter, add the mixture and transfer to the oven for 40-45 minutes. The cake will rise only a little during the baking process. When ready, leave the cake to cool in the tin.