Orange Cake

I have made this many times with lots of variations.  The recipe started from Diana Henry's in Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons, though I think that the original source is Claudia Roden.  The Roden version is just 2 boiled oranges, 8oz each of ground almonds and sugar and 6 eggs.  I've not yet tried it.  Here is mine, for a 34cm rectangular loaf tin.  This will make about 16 slices

2 medium oranges, boiled for an hour or so
2 medium oranges for zest and juice
8oz blanched almonds, ground in a food processor (much better than shop bought ground almonds)
3oz self raising flour
1 level teaspoon of baking powder
4 eggs at room temperature
12oz golden caster sugar
1 1/2 oz semolina (or use more almonds)
a pack of dried cranberries (optional)
butter to grease the tin

For the filling - a 250gm tub of Marscapone, 2 tablespoons good honey, I like to use Acacia, 1 or 2 tablespoons of good, full fat yoghurt and either a teaspoon of ground cardamom or 8 or so crushed amaretti biscuits.

Take the eggs out of the refrigerator to bring them to room temperature. Boil 2 oranges for an hour or so and if possible allow to cool.  If using the cardamom filling, make it now as it improves if it is allowed time for the cardamom to permeate.  If using the amaretti - last minute to keep the crunch of the biscuits.  Grind the almonds in the food processor, and put them in a bowl. Remove the green stalk end of the oranges, split into 1/4s, remove seeds and central pith and whizz in the food processor.

Put the oven on to 160C fan.  Grease and line the baking tin.  In a large bowl (mine is about 18" diameter) beat the eggs and sugar till pale and thick.  Add the zest of another orange.  Sieve the flour and baking powder.  Delia Smith says to do this from a good height to get plenty of air into it - this leaves my kitchen with a thin flour coating everywhere.  I prefer to sieve it two or three times as Dan Lepard suggests.

Fold the almonds, orange pulp, semolina and cranberries if using them, into the eggs and sugar.  Lastly, quickly, lightly and thoroughly fold in the flour.  Pour into the tin and put it in the oven for about 45 minutes, until softly springy.  I let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out.

Last time I made it the day before which seemed to help the texture which became pleasantly chewy rather than crumbly.

As close as possible to serving time, split the cake horizontally and fill with the marscapone.  I usually ice it as well with the juice of rather less than 1/2 an orange and the zest of the last one.

This cake also works well as a pud, in which case I'd serve the marscapone cream on the side

Zesting - if you don't have one, buy a microplane.  Useful for all sorts of jobs around the kitchen.