Monday, April 18, 2011

Post revision haze...

OK... revisions have been sent and I'm coming up for air. And I'm whinging, because last week while I was tied to my desk, we had absolutely glorious sunshine and today -- you guessed it -- it's raining again.
Clearly, I'm not meant to do the weeding, am I? But I'm not really in the mood for housework either.

But there's always cooking. I recently read Promises to Keep by Jane Green. Jane is my auto-buy at airport bookstores and I bought this book on my trip to Sydney. If I'd known it was about someone dying, I may have had second thoughts. I just grabbed and ran, but I have to say, Jane handled the subject very deftly and still manged to deliver an uplifting ending.

And... a bonus of the book was that each chapter ends with a thoroughly tempting recipe. I've already tried her Spinach and Chickpea Coconut Curry. As we have visitors coming for Easter, I want to try this Almost Flourless Orange Cake with Marmalade, which I've copied for you. Sounds yummy, doesn't it? To discover the other recipes you'll have to buy the book, or visit her blog.


Almost Flourless Orange Cake with Marmalade
1 orange
3 eggs
1/4 cup plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup marmalade
icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 F) Grease an 8 inch springform pan and line it with greaseproof paper.

Put the orange in a pan, cover it with water, and simmer for an hour (or nuke in microwave for about 25 mins) until soft. Cut the orange in half, remove pips and puree in a food processor.

Beat the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Fold in the flour, baking powder, almonds and orange puree. pour into the tin and bake for an hour.

Melt the marmalade in a small pan then pour through a fine sieve, pressing to get all the juice out. Spread the rind free juice over the cake.

When cool, sift icing sugar over the cake. Mix whipped cream with the orange rind and serve alongside.

5 comments:

Danielle said...

Hi Barbara,

If you like books with recipes after each chapter you'll love one of my favourite books; 'Lunch in Paris' by Elizabeth Bard. Its a true love story about how she meets her french husband and their life with recipes. She also has a blog: http://www.elizabethbard.com/
such a great book! I am hoping she brings out another one as I've been following her blog!

p.s. loved 'The Bridesmaid's baby'!!

Anne said...

Barbara, congratulations on the completions of the revisions. Kick back and relax. I've eaten an orange cake made like this, by boiling the oranges, and it was delicious.

I like Trisha Ashleys books. They have lots of food in them and she always includes recipes at the end. Haven't made any of them, but there's always the possibility.

I'll also check out Danielle's suggestion. Thanks.

Barbara Hannay said...

Danielle, thanks so much for the tip about Elizabeth Bard. I made a trip to her blog and it looks wonderful. Loved the entry about the French Resistance. I've ordered her book from the Book Depository.
Thanks also for letting me know you liked The Bridesmaid's Baby. I'm so pleased.

Anne, it's great to hear you've tried this kind of cake and it's as yummy as it sounds. I bought the ingredients yesterday, but today I'm making an ordinary fruitcake first, because I'm still refining the temperature on my oven which tends to dry cakes out. Am cooking at a much lower temp to see if that works.

Must take a look at Trisha Ashley, too. Thanks!!

Lacey Devlin said...

It's such a shame about the weather. It almost looked like the sun was going to come out today =)

Barbara Hannay said...

Sunshine again today. Yay for a sunny FNQ, Lacey! And am very pleased to report that the orange cake is deeeeelicious. We had to taste to make sure it was OK to serve to guests.