Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for whole orange and cardamom cake

From theguardian.com

Claudia Roden’s classic cake adapted and reimagined as an ideal Christmas dessert

Nothing can beat Claudia Roden’s orange and almond cake. It’s the cake my husband, Hugh, asks me for every birthday. It’s very special and slightly bonkers, given that it involves boiling two oranges and blending them whole. But it isn’t vegan (it uses six eggs). Many chefs and food writers have written recipes in homage to her Sephardic delight, and now it’s my turn. I’ve kept the boiling and blending bit, because it adds moisture and richness, a bright orange flavour and a slight (pleasant) bitterness, but I’ve replaced the almonds with flour, to bind, and added some cardamom, because it’s Christmas!

Whole orange and cardamom cake

Meera Sodha’s whole orange and cardamom cake. Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food styling assistant: Eden Owen-Jones

Prep 5 min
Cook 2 hr 10 min
Serves 8

2 unwaxed and ideally organic oranges (800g)
5 tbsp whole oat milk
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
300g plain flour
200g demerara sugar, plus 1 tbsp extra to top
1¼ tsp baking powder
1¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¾ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp fine sea salt
Vegan creme fraiche or ice-cream, to serve

Grease and line a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper, and boil the kettle.

Put the oranges in a saucepan, cover them with the boiling water, then boil for 45 minutes, or until they are very soft. Drain the oranges, let them cool a little, then weigh them – you’ll need 500g for the batter. Cut the 500g oranges in half and hoik out the pips; thinly slice the rest to use to decorate the cake later, removing any pips as you do so.

In a food processor (or using a stick blender), blitz the 500g oranges with the oat milk and oil until smooth.

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Put the flour, 200g sugar, baking powder, bicarb, cardamom and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine. Fold in the orange puree, then scrape into the lined tin. Level out the top of the batter, then pat on the side to disperse any air bubbles.

Gently layer the orange slices over the top of the batter, then sprinkle the extra tablespoon of sugar evenly over the top, making sure it doesn’t touch the sides of the tin, because it will solidify and make it hard to remove the cake after baking.

Bake in the oven for an hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove, then leave to cool in the tin before unclipping. Serve with a dollop of vegan creme fraiche or ice-cream.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/dec/14/vegan-whole-orange-and-cardamom-cake-christmas-recipe-meera-sodha