Whole orange, chocolate & almond cake

Author: Claudia Brick

Ingredients

40 g butter (or non-dairy spread) diced
70 g soft brown sugar
30 g honey
120 g flaked/sliced almonds
400 g whole oranges (approx 2 small)
80 ml olive oil (1/3 cup)
4 eggs
60 g dark chocolate melted
250 g caster sugar (1 1/4 cups)
65 g dutch cocoa powder (1/2 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
170 g ground almonds (1 2/3 cups)

Instructions

Grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm round baking tin with baking paper. Use a non-springform tin if possible.
Place the oranges in a deep saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 45 minutes. Remove from the water and set aside to cool slightly.
For the almond topping, combine the butter, brown sugar and honey in a small saucepan. Melt to combine. Add the flaked almonds and stir to coat the almonds. Transfer into the prepared tin and spread out into an even layer, pressing firmly into the corners of the tin. Set aside while you make the cake batter.
Cut the very top and bottom off each boiled orange and discard. Cut the oranges into quarters. Place into the Vitamix jug with the olive oil. Blitz until smooth.
Add the sugar, eggs and dark chocolate. Blitz to fully combine.
Add the cocoa powder and baking powder, and again blitz to combine.
Add the ground almonds and blitz to just combine.
Pour the cake batter over the almonds in the prepared tin.
Bake at 180° for about 1 hour, or until the top springs back to touch and a skewer inserted comes out with a few crumbs attached (if you used a spring form tin, set something in the oven underneath to catch any drips).
Set aside to cool for 30 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack or serving plate so the almonds are on top and remove the baking paper carefully. If any almonds fall off, just set them back into place. Leave to cool completely before serving. Cut with a serrated knife for sharp slices through the almond topping.