1 cup caster sugar
4 eggs
one orange, zest and juice
70g ground almonds
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1½ cups gluten-free flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Orange Syrup
¼ cup each: water, orange juice
½ cup sugar
zest of one orange, cut into fine strips
Filling
250g mascarpone
1¼ cups icing sugar
2 teaspoons orange syrup
Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Line a 20cm round baking pan with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the zest and juice of the orange. (This mixture will curdle.)
Fold in the ground almonds, poppy seeds, flour and baking powder. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until cooked. Leave the cake to cool in the pan.
While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup. Combine the water, orange juice, sugar and orange zest in a small saucepan. Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the liquid becomes syrupy and the zest is soft.
To make the filling, place the mascarpone, icing sugar and syrup in a bowl and mix until combined.
To assemble the cake, cut it in half horizontally and spread half the filling over the base. Place the other half on top and spread the remainder of the filling over the top of the cake. Serve with the orange syrup.TIP
This is a soft, spongy cake and is delicious with the filling. Organic gluten-free, all-purpose flour was used in this recipe.
