orange and cranberry torte

this cake has already become the stuff of legend. a couple of weeks ago i made it as pudding to follow spiced meatballs with feta and pomegranate couscous. i now have a diary date for march when i am instructed to bake another orange and cranberry torte so my friend’s boss can try it – he’s a cake fan and was apparently very disappointed to hear it described but not have any to sample.

so there you go – you’ll have to try it too. the cake is made with ground almonds instead of flour which makes it suitable for people with wheat or gluten allergies. it‘s flavoured with orange, cinnamon (this is surprisingly subtle despite the large quantity used in the recipe) and, of course, cranberries. i served this with cream but i think it’s better just as it is.

as for how it keeps – i’ve no idea as it didn’t make it past 24 hours!

i'm sending this cake over to grace who is celebrating cinnamon...

eric lanlard’s orange and cranberry torte (serves 10)

butter, for greasing

350g ground almonds

350g caster sugar (i used less – c300g)

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 teaspoons baking powder

8 large eggs, lightly beaten

400ml sunflower oil

finely grated zest and juice of a lemon

finely grated zest and juice of 2 oranges

200g dried cranberries plus extra to decorate

3 cloves

pouring cream, to serve

preheat oven to 180c. grease and line a 23cm springform tin.

in a bowl, combine the almonds, 300g of the caster sugar, 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon and the baking powder, make a well in the centre and add the eggs and sunflower oil, mixing together. add the cranberries and citrus zests. spoon into the cake tins (it’s quite a wet, runny mix – don’t worry) and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

meanwhile, gently heat the citrus juices with the remaining sugar, cloves and remaining cinnamon until the sugar dissolves, increase the heat and simmer for 3 minutes*.

remove the cake from the oven and pierce a few times with a skewer. drizzle with the syrup and leave for an hour (or overnight) to soak in. decorate with the extra cranberries and serve with pouring cream.

*at this stage i added the extra dried cranberries that i was going to use for decoration so they’d absorb some of the liquid