Orange and Almond Loaf Cake Recipe

I remembered having a fragrant, elegant almond and orange cake at a local cafe some time ago, when I’d been planning to make an orange and poppy seed cake. I’d wondered, however, if my youngster would like the seeds, being quite fussy about her food. I had some ground almonds and almond essence in the store cupboard, so I baked this orange and almond loaf cake recipe instead instead. 

Blood oranges were in season, so I used two of those. That gave the orange and ground almond loaf cake’s icing its gorgeous pink hue, which I love. Ordinary oranges are fine to use, though. If you want pink icing, feel free to add a drop of food colouring instead at the time of mixing the icing sugar and orange juice.

Some recipes use olive oil, but I love to stick to my basic formula when making cakes as it never fails. There’s no need for fancy orange puree when you can use orange zest from whole oranges – as well as the juice in the icing. I don’t use baking paper here, either, as I find that greasing the tin well does the job. I found that adding just 1 tsp baking powder seemed to help the cake rise and bake better in the cake loaf tin.

Makes 1 loaf cake

Orange and almond loaf cake recipe ingredients

Cake

• Self-raising flour, 150g
• Granulated or caster sugar, 150g
• Baking margarine or butter (at room temperature), 150g, cubed
• Eggs, 3
• Baking powder, 1 tsp
• Whole oranges, 2, zest (finely grated), plus juice from 1 (reserve other for icing)*
• Ground almonds, 50g
• Almond extract, 1 tsp
• Salt, a pinch

Icing

• Icing sugar, 125g
• Orange juice from 1 whole orange*
• Sprinkles, to decorate

Equipment

• Loaf tin
• Food processor
• Metal skewer
• Wire rack
• Small mixing bowl
• Tablespoon (for stirring the icing)

How to make Orange and Almond Loaf Cake

• Grease a loaf tin. Add all the cake ingredients to your mixer or food processor. Process for about 15 seconds until smooth and well combined.
• Transfer the mixture to the prepared cake tin. Bake in the oven, pre-heated to 180C (fan), for about 25-35 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. After about 5 minutes, remove the cake from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
• Once cooled, make the icing by mixing the icing sugar with the orange juice. Add a little at a time until you have a thick, smooth, spreadable paste. Smother or drizzle this on top of the cake, adding sprinkles at this stage if you wish.

Serve this almond and orange loaf cake with tea or coffee, or as a dessert.

Related recipes:

• Poppy seed and orange cake
• Elderflower and lemon cake
• Apricot frangipane tart
• Butterfly fairy cakes
• Cherry cake

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