Orange and Almond Cake

I love chocolate cake, I love everything chocolate, so naturally I prone to make chocolate cake or cookies whenever I bake. However, I bought a cookbook called 'Sweet Food' (Murdock Books) the other day and there is this delicious looking orange and almond cake and I just had to make it myself.

I only made half the portion because 23cm round tin is too much for us. The ingredients are what you think it should be for an orange and almond cake; orange, almond powder, sugar, eggs, orange liqueur, baking powder, nothing special, but you have to boil whole oranges for two hours and put them through blender until smooth and add the orange puree to beaten eggs and sugar, then add almond powder and bake. That's why the cake looks orange (a bit greenish in the picture, I know). Cook the orange juice, white wine, and sugar until becomes syrupy and pour the orange syrup on the cake to soak. So it is like orange savarin I think. I had some reservation while I cooked oranges in the hot water but all in all, it turned out quite good.

I modified the ingredients for syrup and although I found this cake in the book I think it's okay to share it with you because it's a kind of my original now.

Orange juice 500ml (about 2 cups)

Sugar 120g (about 1/2 cup)

White Wine 200ml (about 1 cup)

Orange Liqueur 2 table spoon

Put everything except orange liqueur in a saucepan over medium heat and once the sugar dissolved, reduce the heat and cook for about 20 minutes or reduced by half and slightly syrupy. Do not overcook otherwise it becomes like marmalade without peels. Add orange liqueur while still hot.

It's good with the orange and almond cake but I think it's goes quite well with chocolate cake, too and we are going to have pancakes tomorrow morning with this orange syrup and why don't you join us?