Flourless Orange, Almond and Mascarpone cake

Three layers of orange scented cake, finished with an airy mascarpone frosting and topped with an assortment of summer berries.

This cake was made for my parents 30th wedding anniversary, i.e their pearl anniversary. In Indian mythology, pearls are said to be dewdrops from heaven that fell into the sea. These jewels represent peace, nobility and beauty, and would make a wonderful gift- but clearly we couldn't stretch to pearls so had to settle for this stunning cake with a perfect pearly sheen...Close enough right?

Flourless cakes are new additions to my repertoire, and surprisingly it was a fairly easy cake to make. Once you make the citrus puree, the actual cake is probably one the easiest things I have done. It takes about 10 minutes after making the citrus puree, from cracking the eggs to placing it in the oven.

Apologies for the bad quality photo 

Serves 10 (3 x 9 inch tin)
Cook time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Ingredients

Orange flourless cake

300g whole oranges (to make puree)

9 eggs

375g caster sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

375g almond meal

Mascarpone frosting

250g mascarpone

250g heavy cream

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

To decorate

1 punnet of mixed summer fruit

1 cup of almonds

                                                                          

Method

1. 1) Firstly, we begin by making the orange puree. Put the oranges (skin on) in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Place a circle of baking paper on top to keep the oranges submerged. Boil for 1-2 hours, or until the oranges are completely soft.
2. 2) Once soft, remove oranges from the heat and place into blender with a few tablespoons of water and blend. Transfer this mixture into the fridge to cool.
3. 3) To make the cake, preheat oven to gas mark 2 and line the base of three 9 inch tins. The cake is quite fragile so avoid making one large batch and cutting into thinner layers.
4. 4) In large bowl,whisk together eggs and sugar until well combined. Whisk in baking powder and almond meal.
5. 5) Divide the batter and bake for 25-30 minutes.
6. 6) To make the frosting. whip together mascarpone cream, sugar and vanilla paste until smooth. Assemble the cake as you wish, I chose for the rustic approach and topped it with summer fruit and toasted almonds.

Lots of Love
Kaya xo