Citrus + Almond Cake with Yoghurt Drizzle

I keep making these type of cakes and then forgetting which recipe I used or where I even got it from. This makes it frustrating when I'm trying to recall my favourite (and I know there is one!). Losing one's marbles was not the only calamity in the kitchen this morning.  My attempt at making a yoghurt icing saw it start off creamy and end up runny - fail!  So it transformed into a yoghurt drizzle. Ah well, in the end we still got to eat cake and sometimes that's all that matters, as Marie Antoinette was wont to point out (maybe?).

I was given a lovely homemade present of a jar of brandied kumquats (thank you, Penny) and used the last of them in this cake, making up the difference in quantity with some homegrown oranges.  I am sure the liqueur in the kumquats adds greatly to the taste (hic). Now I get to keep the leftover liquid for six months until it has reached a thick, sweet syrup - can't wait to try it.

Before you start this recipe, bear in mind you will need to boil the oranges first and let them cool before you start baking.

Citrus & Almond Cake with Yoghurt Drizzle

Approx. 3 smallish oranges (375 grams)
6 eggs
225g sugar
250g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder

Place the whole oranges in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil then simmer for one hour. Drain and leave until cold.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Butter and line a 20cm cake tin.

Cut the cooked oranges in quarters and remove the pips. Place the whole fruits in a food processor with a metal blade and blitz until finely chopped. Add eggs and sugar and process until well combined. Finally add ground almonds and baking powder and pulse until just mixed.

Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. If the top of the cake starts to brown too much, cover loosely with tin foil.

Remove from the oven and leave in the tin but place on a wire rack to cool.

Once cool, dust with icing sugar or a lemon glaze or the yoghurt drizzle below.

Yoghurt Drizzle

1 cup Greek yoghurt
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup icing sugar, sifted
100g cream cheese

Whisk (by hand or electric) the ingredients together until smooth. Keep refrigerated until required. Spoon or drizzle over the cake.

I decorated my cake with some edible flowers (well the pink one on the left may not be edible but the others are) and freeze-dried raspberry powder.

This will be my October entry for Sweet New Zealand which I am hosting here.