Ingredients:
For syrup:
½ cup sugar
⅓ cup orange juice (from the 2 oranges you zested)
4 whole cloves
1 tablespoon honey
For batter:
¾ cup full-fat yogurt or buttermilk or creme fraiche
½ cup olive oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier
Zest from 2 oranges
¾ cup - 1 cup sugar (Less sweet vs more sweet? You decide.)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup almond meal
Method:
- Prepare your syrup: Add sugar, juice and cloves in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl, and add honey. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C
- Prepare your 8” cake pan or loaf pan by buttering and lining in parchment paper
- In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, orange zest, yogurt (or creme fraiche or buttermilk), olive oil, eggs, orange liqueur, and salt. Add baking powder and whisk until smooth. Add flour, almond meal, and mix until smooth without lumps. You may need to switch to a spoon if the batter feels too thick to whisk.
- Pour batter into pan. Smooth with a spatula so the batter is evenly distributed.
- Place the pan on a baking sheet (in case of spillover) and bake in the oven for approximately 30-45 minutes. Start checking at 30. It’s done when the cake is cooked through and springs to the touch, the top is golden brown, and small cracks start to appear on the top.
- When the cake is done baking, take it out of the oven. Poke the cake all around with a skewer or fork. Pour cool syrup over hot cake. Let the cake sit and absorb the syrup for 30 minutes to 1 hour before un-molding. If you have another orange, you may decorate the top with additional orange zest.