Recipe: Gluten-free Jaffa Cake

We all our have foodie strengths.

PhoodiePharmacist is always my first port of call when I need a restaurant recommendation. Or to know which brand of chocolate is gluten-free. I will always insist that Mr R pick out cheeses for a platter, and I would (and do) travel great distances for his Eggs Benedict.  And I’m sure if I ever need to order the world’s most boring pizza, I can call Superman.

And I don’t think my esteemed compadres would argue with my declaration that I am something of a baking diva. In short, I love to bake. I love the smell of something baking wafting through the house, I love taking baked treats to work to share with my colleagues and I love nibbling on a piece of home-baked cake – the secret ingredient is love, surely? In times of great stress, some people turn to meditation or yoga. I switch on the oven and drag out a favourite recipe.

This recipe is a new favourite because it has such a spectacular result for so little effort. It’s a luscious, rich chocolate cake with a delicious hit of orange. It’s an old Nigella Lawson recipe and receives bonus points because it is gluten and lactose free (because, according to Mr R, that makes it healthy). If you’re a baking diva like me, this is definitely one to try.

Gluten-free jaffa cake

Ingredients

2 small thin-skinned oranges (about 400g total weight)

6 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

200 g almond meal

250 g caster sugar

50 g cocoa

 Directions

Put the whole orange/oranges in a saucepan with some cold water. Bring to the boil, cooking for 1 ½ hours or until skin is soft.

Drain and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter and line a 20cm springform tin.

Cut the cooled oranges in half and remove any big pips. Cut each orange into about eight pieces. Put the pieces in the food processor and pulp.

Add the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, almonds, sugar, cocoa and eggs to the food processor and process until you have a cohesive batter. Pour into the prepared cake tin.

Bake the cake for 50mins – check after 45 but it could need as much as an hour. It varies from oven to oven.

Leave the cake to get cool for half an hour, then turn out onto a cooling rack

If you don’t have any lactose-free requirements, top with a dark chocolate ganache and serve with double cream (it’s worth the extra calories).

Clementine xx