Almond, Pistachio & Orange Spice Cake // Dairy Free, Egg Free, Vegan
Looking for a special cake for afternoon tea?
This lightly spiced orange cake has sweet shards of orange zest and crunchy pieces of almonds & pistachios, making it very moreish...
It's a very adaptable recipe, and other nuts can be substituted for a change of flavour. Almonds and pistachios can be used in varying quantities, or walnuts can be used instead.
We love the crunch of chunky almonds - so we only grind them a little - but if you prefer a finer textured cake, grind them finely. The chia seeds help to bind the cake.
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons white chia seeds
1 cup plant milk (we used soy)
160 ml extra virgin olive oil
100 gm raw sugar
3/4 cup coconut yogurt
grated zest of 2 organic oranges - use a zester if you have one*
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or ½ teaspoon ground vanilla beans
1 tablespoon orange flower water
2 teaspoon ground cardamon
200 almonds, roughly ground
100 gm shelled pistachios, roughly ground
200 gm wholemeal self raising flour
¼ cup cornflour
2 teaspoons baking powder (not baking soda)
METHOD
Preheat fan forced oven to 175 degrees C.
Oil (or line with baking paper) a 20 cm stainless steel cake tin.
Stir chia seeds into plant milk and set aside.
Beat oil, sugar and orange zest in the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed for a few minutes until mixed.
Add vanilla, orange blossom water, cardamom and yogurt to bowl of stand mixer. Mix until well combined.
In another medium bowl, stir together the flours, nuts, and baking powder powder.
Turn off mixer. Tip half of flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and stir gently with a wooden spoon or spatula to incorporate, using a figure of eight motion.
Add half of the plant milk/chia mix. Fold in gently.
Fold in the remaining flour mixture. Fold in remaining milk mixture.
Pour mixture into baking tin and bake for approximately 50 minutes, or until a wooden skewer comes out cleanly.
Leave in the tin for a few minutes, then invert onto a cooling tray to cool to room temperature.
When cold, and ready to serve, sift dusted icing sugar over cake to create a gentle powdered snow effect. (We sometimes ice it with a cashew cream cheese icing, but the cake is moist without it.)
* A zester produces long thin ribbons of citrus peel. It’s a handy, old-fashioned little kitchen gadget. If you have one, it’s marvelous for citrus cakes and producing long shards of zest for use in baklava, citrus flavoured curries or tagines. If you don’t have one, simply use a coarse grater to catch the coloured part of the citrus, being careful not to use any of the bitter white pith part of the fruit.
“You’ve got this life and while you’ve got it,
you’d better kiss like you only have one moment,
try to hold someone’s hand like
you will never get another chance to,
look into people’s eyes
like they’re the last you’ll ever see,
watch someone sleeping
like there’s no time left,
jump if you feel like jumping,
run if you feel like running,
play music in your head when there is none,
and eat cake like it’s the only one left in the world!”
If you try the recipe, please share your thoughts in the comments. Your feedback is helpful to others.
