Cake à L'orange - No Sugar

by Feli Chic'Cuisine

This orange cake is moist and mouth-watering, and almost impossible to stop eating once you've tried it! Orange cakes are plentiful, but this recipe stands out, and for a good reason. The cake contains semolina, is sugar-free, gets its sweetness from pear syrup, and has a wonderful orange flavor.

This delightful orange loaf cake is perfect all year long, but especially during the orange season, where their are especially fragrant.

Why to use organic oranges

Sadly, many pesticides are used in nonorganic citrus, including oranges. You can avoid ingesting pesticides by choosing organic oranges.

For oranges that are not organic, the peel can be rinsed with baking soda and water and rubbed gently with a soft brush to remove any residue.

Another method would be to soak them in vinegar with water for 15 minutes, then rub them with a clean kitchen towel.

Prepare the batter

Bake for 50 min

Prep Time: 25 min

Bake Time: 50 min

Total Time: 1 h 15 min

Ingredients

4 oranges ( 2 of them organic oranges)
4 eggs, separated
1 pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
250g butter, at room temperature
250 ml pear syrup, divided
150g all-purpose flour
80 g semolina
75g almond flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp Orange liqueur (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fun (350°F / 4 gas mark). Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and butter the bottom. Wash 2 organic oranges in hot water. Finely grate, peel and cut them into ½ cm thick slices. Line the bottom of the loaf pan with the orange slices. Set aside.

2.In a large bowl beat the egg whites and salt until stiff. Halve the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the pulp. Squeeze the two remaining oranges - in order to obtain 150 ml orange juice.

3. In a bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter, vanilla, half of the grated orange zest and 150 ml pear syrup, until creamy. Add the yolks, one at the time, beating after each addition. Add 100 ml orange juice while continuing to beat.

4. In medium bowl, combine flour, semolina, almond flour and baking powder, and fold it into the butter mixture. Using a rubber spatula, gradually incorporate the egg whites. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the surface. Bake for 50 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

5. Meanwhile, mix the remaining orange juice (50 ml) and the orange liqueur. Drizzle the mixture over the still warm cake. Let to cool in the pan.

6. Carefully turn up side down the cake onto a long cake plate so that the orange slices are on top. Heat the remaining pear syrup (100 ml) and mix with the remaining grated orange zest. Pour over the cake and leave to stand for at least 1 hour before slicing.