Orange and Almond Crumble Cake

I recently posted about a pear and almond cake with a streusel topping, well this is a variation on that cake and it is still delicious and light and fluffy. Really I think Delia is a genius! This cake would work with practically any ingredients and I’m already thinking of making a strawberry and pistachio version.

In work we recently started selling Steenbergs range of extracts and waters and I was allowed to take home the Orange blossom water to try. Well I’m super happy with it. It gave the cake the sweetest hint of orange, had I used the right quantity of orange juice that the cake would have needed for the taste to eminate through, it would have been too moist and not have risen properly (trust me, I tried it). And everyone in work said it was delicious! Hooray! I get very nervous bringing cakes into work in case they don’t like them and I look like a fool, same goes for D’s work. Always very nervous feeding others…

But this cake, simply yum!

ORANGE AND ALMOND CAKE

You may have noticed that I am a big fan of almonds? Well if you hadn’t, now you know. I love using ground almonds for the taste and texture it lends and flaked almonds are just wonderful on the tops of cakes. I do make cakes without them from time to time but they are my preferred nut! This cake is very easy and light. It’s a crowd pleaser.

For the cake:

• 110 g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 25 g unsalted butter
• 25 g spreadable butter (I actually used and olive spread)
• 50 g golden caster sugar
• 50 g ground almonds
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp of orange blossom water
• pinch of salt
• 2 sweet mandarins or clementines, in segments, peeled and shredded

For the topping:

• 50 g unsalted butter, melted
• 75 g self-raising flour
• 50 g demerara sugar
• 50 g flaked almonds
• 1 tsp grated orange (clementine) zest

icing sugar to dust and serve

THE HOW

Preheat your oven to 180 °c  (fan oven). Line the base and sides of an 18cm loose bottomed tin with baking paper.

All you really need to do is to sift your flour and baking powder into a medium bowl, lift your sieve to give the flour more air. Throw in all your other cake mix ingredients and with an electric whisk, mix until creamy. If you feel the need add a bit of grated orange zest to the mix, but you shouldn’t need it.

Spoon the mix into the tin and layer the peeled, shredded clementines segments on top.

To make the streusel topping, mix the flour, suagr and melted butter in a bowl (with a fork) until it looks like a light crumble, add in the flaked almonds and zest and scatter over your cake mix.

Pop it into the oven for 30-35 minutes. After 30, check it with a skewer and if it comes out clean then it is done. Once out of the oven, leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes and then cool further out of the tin. Dust with icing sugar and eat…