No Marmalade Orange Pudding Cake – Wow, what a mouthful it is, but such a worthy title!  Let me tell you a little secret, there really is not a speck of marmalade in it.  Yup you got that right!  Although I must say I had to boil an orange for it.  This citrusy treat is loaded with the rich, orangey, sticky sweet sensation that a orange marmalade pudding cake would deserve if there ever was one.  This cake is unbelievably moist, dense and bursting with fresh citrusy notes.

 

 

Who would have thought boiling an orange would be so much fun!  First of all, simmering the orange in a huge pot of water was an experience it itself.  The beautiful orb of bright orange, simply floated about bouncing ever so gently around the pot as if suspended by some invisible thing.  It was a sunny day as I set to my task, and the water glinted with golden hues in the surreal pool of orange.

 

 

For a couple of hours my home bathed in the scented orange steam that rose off the simmering pot, as it slowly slipped its way like a sea of mist into every nook and cranny of my home.

“Happy” is the feeling I would express when inhaling this georgious aroma.  I guess it stems from memories spent on countless school vacations at my grandparents home.  My grandfather would drive over every weekend to sell oranges in the city on a Saturday and leave the next day.

On the first Sunday of our vacations, he and my grandmother would pack several of us grandchildren into the back of their truck and drive us off to their home in the country.  We would spend a magical week with them, climbing mango trees, ripping the leaves off and inhaling their fresh mellow scent as we inched higher into it’s branches.  Mango trees made for perfect climbing.  We would grab some of the leaves on our way down and feed them to the goats before dashing away to harass the chickens as they pecked happily on the soft earth.

At night we listened to the bats rustling away in the banana trees outside our room window.  We would huddle together on our beds as we heard the owls hooting, terrified at what else we might hear.  Maybe an impatient whine from a stray cat, the frantic chirping of the crickets, and then the sound of the bats as they flew off  into the dark.  We’d eventually fall asleep only to be awakened at sunrise with the cockadooling of the rooster.

We spent an entire week, frolicking in the sunshine, eating and drinking, playing and fighting too.  As Saturday drew closer we grew somber.  We knew sooner or later we would be crammed into the truck for our trek back home.

Although when the day arrived, we did perk up when we noticed the twenty pound sacks piled into the back of the truck.  The sacks contained the most beautiful, sunshine soaked, fragrant orange fruits and they would be our pillows for the next few hours on the sleepy ride back into the city…

 

 

Recipe adapted from Prickly Pears and Pomegranates by Bernadette le Roux and Marianne Palmer

 You will need:

• 1 large organic navel orange
• 3 eggs
• large pinch of cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 cup almond meal

To make

Immerse the orange in a large pot of water and bring to a boil.

Simmer gently, topping with more hot water if needed for two hours.

Remove and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 325F degrees.

Pull the orange apart and remove any visible seeds.

 

Place the orange, skin and flesh into a blender and blend till thick and smooth.

 

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, cardamom, coconut sugar and almond extract with a hand whisk.

Add the almond meal and the orange pulp to the egg mixture.

 

Fold in the ingredients and be careful not to overmix.

 

Pour the mixture into a greased fluted baking tin.

Bake for approximately one hour or until a tooth pick inserted comes out somewhat clean.

Leave the cake to cool completely.

Use a butter knife to gently coax the cake away from the tin.

Place onto a serving plate.

After standing for a bit, the No Marmalade Pudding Cake will develop a clear glaze on its surface.  I think this happened by chance and was such a good surprise (it may have something to do with the pectin from the orange).  I’ve made this cake several times now and it does this every time.  So exciting!

 

Tips

• Because of it’s pudding like consistency, the cake tastes great heated again and served with a puddle of heavy cream.
• Before baking the mixture can be poured into a glass baking dish and served as a pudding warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.