Citrus Season. Every year I can’t wait for it to arrive and every year I dread the day it ends. The arrival of spring usually signals the last days for these glorious winter fruits. Its time to celebrate them.

In Liguria, for the first time, we picked fresh oranges and lemons straight from the tree. We peeled them one after the other and stuffed ourselves silly. The fruit was still warm from the sun, juicy and sweet. The lemons were so thin-skinned, they had almost no pith. The membranes inside were delicate and the lemons were bursting with juice. From each lemon I got almost a cupful of juice, enough for about two batches of lemon curd! I brought home a big bag of those fruits and have been busy preserving them and making lots of different sweet and savoury citrus dishes.

This is a version of my orange-coconut flour cake, a delicious moist quick-bread with a dense texture reminiscent of pound cake. It is not very sweet, it only has ¼ cup of honey but you can add more if you prefer.  I usually enjoy it for breakfast, but you can dress it up for dessert too. It couldn’t be easier to make, just throw everything into a blender. I served this version with some citrus paste, and you can find that recipe and more preserving ideas for citrus here and here. 

Freshly picked lemons and oranges.

I sprinkled a few cocoa nibs on the top in this version.

I baked this one in a silpat sunflower told.

The texture is moist and dense like a pound cake. I used a dark honey in this version so the colour of the crumb is dark. If you use a clear honey like clover or orange blossom you will get a lighter coloured interior.

Baked in smaller molds.

It is nice dusted with cocoa.

I served this one with some cocoa, fresh cream and a dab of citrus paste.

Coconut Flour Orange Cake (Gluten and Sugar-Free)

2017-03-25 00:44:40

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

50 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

50 min

Ingredients

1. 60 grams coconut flour (½ cup)
2. 80 grams liquid honey (¼ cup)
3. 60 gram piece of a whole organic, unpeeled orange (2 ounces, about 1 small juice orange or half of a larger one)
4. 60 grams (2 ounces) coconut oil or butter
5. 5 large eggs
6. 1 tsp baking soda
7. 1 tsp vanilla extract
8. a pinch of salt
9. ¼ cup desiccated coconut flakes (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare an 8 inch cake pan.
3. Melt the coconut oil (or butter) together with the honey
4. Put everything but the (optional) coconut flakes in a blender and process to liquify. The batter will be very loose.
5. If using coconut, fold it into the batter.
6. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Notes

1. Other citrus fruit like grapefruit or lemon can be substituted, just make sure they are organic or untreated.
2. To turn this breakfast cake into an elegant dessert cake serve it with a dollop of lemon curd, whipped cream and a drizzle of honey.
3. Fold in a handful of raisins or other dried fruit, chocolate chips or cocoa nibs.
4. Or a teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary.
5. You can bake this in a loaf pan or muffin tins. Baking times will vary.

Susan McKenna Grant https://www.susanmckennagrant.com/