Moroccan orange & almond cake, a no-fail recipe
This orange and almond cake is really easy to make, and it is an all-pleaser. The spices give it the Moroccan feel together with the orange blossom water which I always like to add.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
🥧 Main ingredients
- large orange
- cinnamon stick
- star anis
- cloves
- aquafaba (chickpea water)
- caster sugar
- flour
- baking powder
- ground almonds
- orange flower
For decorating;
- powdered sugar
- pistachio
- raspberries (or any other fruit)
- zest of orange
- mint leaves
📖 Size variations
This orange and almond cake is very moist and slightly sticky. It provides for a easy sweet treat after an flavourful Moroccan meal. You can pimp the cake up with decoration, but it is perfectly acceptable to serve it plain.
The shape doesn’t really matter. It works also in a loaf shape tin or as a round cake. I even made these cakes in small muffin trays one time, which worked great! You will just have to adjust the cooking time slightly,… and it will be as delicious than the big cake.
Try this easy Orange & almond cake in any shape you like. Add @haricoco1 to your instagram post. I always love to see your creations.
If you are interested in more Moroccan sweets, check out;
This Orange & almond cake recipe is part of my series; ‘Travels of taste‘. In which we use our taste buds to travel the world and discover the use of our senses and imaginations to meet other cultures through food. So today we are in Morocco. Moving around the hustle & bustle of the souks, and discovering all the flavours Morocco has to offer, check out my full Moroccan ‘travels of taste’ post; >>> Morocco – the flavours of the souks.
📋 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large orange
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 star anis
- 4 cloves
- 75 ml 1/3 cup aquafaba (chickpea water)
- 200 g 1 cup caster sugar
- 75 g 3/4 cup flour, sieved
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 200 g 1 + 2/3 cups ground almonds
- 1/2 tsp orange flower
For decorating;
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 10 pistachio coarsely chopped
- 5 raspberries or any other fruit
- zest of orange
- 5 – 6 mint leaves
Instructions
- Start with covering the whole orange with water in a pot, add the cinnamon, start anis, and cloves and bring to a low simmer.
- Leave to simmer (covered) for 1 hour.
- After an hour, take out the orange and leave to cool. Cut open and discard any pips.
- Puree the whole orange (including skin) in a blender, and add the orange blossom.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C / 355F
- Put the aquafaba in a large and clean bowl, and whisk (with an electric hand whisk) until the volume is tripled , and the aquafaba is stiffened.
- Slowly start adding the sugar to the aquafaba while continuing whisking, a spoonful at a time, until all sugar is dissolved in the aquafaba mixture.
- Carefully whisk in the orange puree.
- Then fold in the sifted flour and baking powder.
- And lastly fold in the ground almonds.
- Prepare your cake tin with baking paper, or greased (20cm round, or any other shape equivalent size)
- Pour in the mixture, bake for 30 minutes. Check after 20 minutes, if your cake gets too brown on the top, cover it.
- Check after 30 minutes if it is cooked, otherwise you might leave it another 10 minutes on 160C / 235F
Love this cake. Its moist, sticky, chewy, nutty. Great taste and a big bonus it is vegan as well.
Thank you!
Where can I find the orange blossom
Hi Maetha, I normally buy Orange blossom in our local Moroccan shops, if they are not in your area than you will be able to find it online. Have a nice day!