Orangey porangey cake

A cake for people like me who love oranges - peel, juice, flesh and all. The cake itself has two whole oranges blended into the batter and is topped generously with slices of candied blood orange. Unlike many gluten-free cakes, this one stays deliciously moist for days! To save time boil the oranges the night before you intend to make the cake so that they are soft and ready to go when you need them. 

You will need:
- 2 whole oranges (I used the seedless "cara cara" variety for it's beautiful sweetness and ruby colour)
​- 125g salted butter, softened
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups self-raising gluten free plain flour 
(OR a combination of 1 cup rice flour + 1 cup tapioca flour with 4 teaspoons GF baking powder OR 2 cups almond meal with 4 teaspoons baking powder)


For the candied blood oranges:
- 1/2 cup water,
- 1 cup caster sugar,
- 3 small blood oranges, sliced in thin rings

For the cake:
Place 2 whole oranges in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring the water to the boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer oranges for 1 hour with a lid on the pot. Drain the water out and let the oranges cool down overnight or for at least 4 hours before making the batter. 

Preheat moderate oven (180’c). In a blender - blitz oranges (rind and all!) until smooth. Beat in softened butter, sugar and eggs. Mix in flour and beat until smooth. Pour batter into a (paper-lined) 22cm spring form cake tin. Bake for 50-60 minutes. You will know when the cake is done when a skewer or thin knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove cake from the oven and cool while you make the candied orange slices.

For the candied blood orange slices:
Slice three small blood oranges into thin rings. In a large, heavy-based frying pan bring 1/2 cup water and 1 cup of sugar to a boil on a high heat. Gently place all your blood orange slices in the pan - they can overlap each other - and reduce heat to low. Let the oranges simmer for 20-30 minutes. I used tongs to flip the slices over a couple of times in this process. Turn the heat off. Remove the slices and let them cool a little on a piece of baking paper or on a clean plate. There should be a little syrup left in the frypan. 

Arrange candied slices on the top of the orange cake and drizzle all the remaining orange syrup on top. Enjoy on it's own or with a generous dollop of double cream or greek yoghurt...