Sugar Free Blood Orange & Almond Cake (Flourless)

One of the things I’ve been trying to do over the last few years, and which has yet again made it into my goals for 2018, is to reduce our food waste. I get so frustrated watching perfectly good food get wasted by supermarkets and others, but the truth is, I am far from blameless in this area.

But I am trying. Little bit by little bit. I am trying to get our compost bin working so we don’t have to throw food into the general waste. I try to prepare, blanch or cook as much as possible when I get it and freeze in portions to make sure I don’t end up throwing it out from somewhere at the back of the fridge a few weeks later. I try to reheat or re-purpose leftovers in lunches and occasional dinners so as to not throw away the one portion of last night’s dinner.

I’m getting there. It’s very much still a work in progress, but I’ve been making small changes here and there to keep from wasting so much, to help the environment and save us some money. And they are working. Sarah Wilson’s Simplicious has been a massive help. As has good old Google.

With this attempt at cutting back on waste, I’ve come to truly love recipes like this one: recipes that use up every bit of the fruit or vegetable being used. Seriously. By the time you finish making this delicious, dense and delightful blood orange and almond cake, all you will have left to throw out are a few orange pips are a couple of egg shells (and if you check out this post on some awesome ideas for how to use eggshells, you may never throw them out again, either!).

Using the entire orange has more benefits than simply reducing waste, however. It also adds more fibre to the recipe, which slows down the release of the sugar from the orange into the bloodstream. So this cake is not only better for the environment, it’s better for you, too! 🙂 It may seem like a small step, but the little steps add up.

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Sugar Free Blood Orange & Almond Cake

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 10 mins

 

A sugar free, low carb, gluten free blood orange & almond cake that is moist, dense, delicious and comforting. It uses the entire orange (except the pips), which reduces the waste and adds to the fibre, helping slow down the sugar absorption in the bloodstream.

Course: Celebration, Christmas, Dessert, Entertaining, Holiday, January, Seasonal, Treat, Winter

Servings: 6 -8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 blood oranges (organic is best as you are using the whole orange, including the skin - use plain oranges if you can't find blood oranges)
• 6 medium eggs
• 250 g (2 and 1/2 cups) ground almonds
• 150 g (3/4 cup) xylitol (or use 100g xylitol and a few drops liquid stevia)
• 1 tsp baking powder (gluten free if needed)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• a syrup made by pouring boiling water over 1 tsp rice syrup and a few drops liquid stevia, optional
• creme fraiche or yogurt, toasted flaked almonds and orange zest, to serve, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas 5. Pierce the oranges all over and heat in the microwave in a bowl for 5 mins until soft (or boil for 2 hours on the stove). Allow to cool and remove the pips, then blitz in a food processor to make a pulp.

2. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl, then add in the other ingredients and mix well. Add the orange pulp and stir until combined. Pour into a greased and lined 23cm (9") cake tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 mins - 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If doing the syrup, pierce the cake all over with a skewer while still warm and spoon over several tablespoons of syrup. This will make the cake slightly sweeter and more moist and dense. You can skip this step, if you prefer.

3. Allow to cool slightly. Gorgeous served warm or cold with a big dollop of creme fraiche, full-fat plain yogurt or unsweetened coconut yogurt, toasted flaked almonds and/or a grating of orange zest.