butter for the tin
2 large oranges (see note 1 below) - blood oranges can be used as well
6 eggs (note 2)
250g castor sugar
250g ground almonds with the skin or toasted ground pistachios
1heap tsp baking powder
Self raising flour (see note 3 below)
Method
Put the washed oranges (whole) into a pan with a little water and slowly "simmer" for 1-1.5 hours till the oranges are soft. Once cooled, purée the oranges in a food processor - I like to leave quite a lot of large bits like a thick cut orange marmalade, so purée the oranges to a consistency that you like.
Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment and brush with butter.
Beat in the eggs till fluffy and then add the caster sugar and continue to beat in.
Mix in the ground almonds/pistachios and purée orange mixture a little at a time, alternating between the two.
For a more cake result, fold in enough flour to the mixture, till you get more of a cake mixture consistency. For a dessert, only fold in enough flour to take the "wetness" off, you may not even require any flour. Pour the mixture into the tin.
Bake for about 50 mins and probably longer depending on how wet the mixture is, test so that a skewer comes out clean for the cake option.
Leave to cool before turning out, if you have opted for a cake, it will probably sink slightly.
For a dessert/pudding consistency, the mixture will not have risen much.
note 1
I also like to slightly burn the oranges while simmering to get the caramel effect for a stronger taste. Alternatively you could add an appropriate alcohol.
note 2
you can also separate the eggs and beat the egg yolk with the sugar first, leaving the beaten egg whites to be folded in later.
note 3
In general, when you fold the flour in, check for the consistency of the mixture. For a cake, add enough flour to achieve a cake mixture, otherwise only add a little flour to ensure it will not be too wet. The amount of flour will depend on how much liquid was yield from the oranges.
