Orange Cake
in Sicilian:
Pan d’aranciu
Orange cake from Sicily is the ideal cake for wintertime, when oranges are in season. It is pleasantly fruity, not too sweet, and wonderfully refreshing. Moreover, the preparation is truly child’s play.
What makes this orange cake recipe special is that the orange, including its peel, becomes part of the cake. This not only intensifies the flavor, but also allows important nutrients from the peel to be incorporated into the cake. It is important to use untreated organic oranges to ensure that no harmful substances enter the orange cake.
Almonds also play a significant role among the ingredients. These are incorporated in the form of ground almonds. Both oranges and almonds represent the wealth of the island of Sicily in delicious delicacies, and in this orange cake they form a perfect symbiosis. The rest of the cake is based on the basic ingredients of almost every cake: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and baking powder. The orange cake is also rounded off with a glaze made from freshly squeezed oranges, which further intensifies the aroma.
Orange cake is a Sicilian dessert with very ancient origins, allegedly invented by the nuns of the Benedictine monastery in Catania. The nuns crushed the almonds with a mortar to obtain almond flour. Then they mashed the oranges to create a creamy mixture. Combined with the remaining ingredients and baked in the oven, the orange cake with its delicate, fragrant aroma was created.
The cake is ideally suited as breakfast or as a snack. It keeps well for 3 to 4 days and hardly loses any of its moist flavor during this time.
Oranges and Sicily
Originally, oranges, like many citrus fruits, come from Asia and were only brought to Europe in the Middle Ages by seafarers. The cultivation and sale of oranges represent an important economic sector for the island of Sicily. Due to the nutrient-rich volcanic soil of Mount Etna, the fruits grow and thrive here in an incomparable way and develop a particularly intense flavor. The sun and mild climate also make an important contribution to the development of the first-class aroma of oranges from Sicily.
Oranges are the epitome of winter fruit and, like hardly any other fruit, stand for freshness and enjoyment on cold winter days. They provide a large amount of vitamin C, for which they are very well known. Their sweet taste combined with the pleasant fragrance that the fruits emit can truly captivate you.
Orange cake - eatlovesicily.com
- Prep Time10 min
- Cook Time30 min
- Total Time40 min
- Yield10-12 pieces
- Serving Size4 servings
Ingredients
For the cake batter
- 200 g Tipo 00 flour (or Type 405)
- 100 g ground almonds (or almond flour)
- 150 g sugar
- 150 g butter
- 1 large untreated orange
- 3 eggs
- 1 packet of baking powder
For the glaze
- 1 Orange
- Puderzucker nach Belieben
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Schritte
To begin, wash the orange thoroughly and remove the ends. Then cut the whole orange, including the peel, into small pieces. Remove the seeds and finely puree the orange cubes. Furthermore, melt the butter and let it cool slightly.
Tip: It is best to use untreated (organic) oranges to avoid harmful substances from the peel entering the cake and being consumed.
Now the oven can already be preheated to 180°C with top and bottom heat. Also butter and flour a cake pan (we use a 30cm loaf pan) for the orange cake.
Next, in a mixing bowl, beat the eggs together with the sugar until frothy. Then gradually stir in the flour using a small sieve, the ground almonds, and the baking powder. Finally, add the melted butter and stir in. Once all the ingredients are well mixed, the pureed orange can be incorporated. Stir everything until a homogeneous mixture is formed. Then pour this into the prepared cake pan.
Then bake the orange cake at 180°C for approximately 30 minutes. The cake is ready when the top is golden brown. If desired, you can test with a toothpick whether the batter is still too sticky or not. Finally, remove the cake from the oven, release it from the pan, and let it cool.
In the meantime, you can decide whether you want to put a classic glaze made from orange juice and powdered sugar on the cake or prefer a lighter version with less powdered sugar. For the first option, squeeze the juice of a whole orange and stir it with a sufficiently large amount of powdered sugar until a creamy glaze for the cake is formed. For the second option we present, the freshly squeezed juice of half an orange is sufficient, with which you brush the still slightly warm cake on the surface and sides. Once the cake has cooled completely, it can be dusted with powdered sugar as desired.
Finally, cut the orange cake into slices and serve. Buon appetito!
Tip: Coffee from Sicily, which pairs perfectly with a delicious piece of cake, is available in our online shop. Which variety tastes best to you?
