Orange Almond Cake with Candied Cara Cara

This showy cake makes the most of winter citrus by putting beautiful candied orange slices front and center. If you’re short on time, skip the candied oranges and the glaze, and the cake itself comes together in a snap. It’s a very moist cake thanks to the olive oil and yogurt so, it will keep for a couple days and still be delicious.  

Ingredients

Candied orange slices

• 1 cara cara orange (or other citrus)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water

Cake

• ¾ cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons orange blossom water (optional)
• ½ teaspoon orange essence (optional)
• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup almond flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 ½ tablespoons syrup from candied oranges (or orange juice)
• ½ teaspoon Orange blossom water (optional)

Directions

For the candied orange slices
Bring a medium sauce pan filled with water to a boil

Cut the orange in half lengthwise (from stem end to blossom end). Cut the ends off of each half and then slice into ¼ inch half moons. 

Add the orange slices to the boiling water and let them cook for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside. 

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, combine sugar and water and bring to a boil. Add the orange slices and simmer for 40 minutes or until the peels begin to look translucent. 

Using a slotted spoon, remove the orange slices and place them on a rack set over a baking sheet. 

Place the orange slices in a dehydrator (or low oven set to 200 degrees) and let them dry until they are not sticky to the touch, about one hour. 

For the cake
Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan with olive oil.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients and the sugar (yogurt, olive oil, eggs, orange juice, orange blossom water and orange essence).  Whisk to combine and set aside. 

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing just until combined. 

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake come out clean (about 40-50 minutes) 

Place on a wire rack to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then remove the cake from the pan to continue cooling. 

For the glaze
Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add the liquids and mix well until there are no lumps. You want glaze that is runny enough to spoon on the top of the cake, but too thin that it will not stay put on the top of the cake.  Add more powdered sugar if the glaze is too runny or a tiny bit of syrup if it’s too thick. You’ll need less liquid than you think!

Assemble the cake
Once the cake is cool, top it with the glaze by spooning the glaze over top. Gently press the candied orange slices into the glaze and allow to set before slicing.