Roasted orange & hazelnut cake

This cake has a gloriously light, almost sponge-like, texture. The cake batter is very runny that sets as it cooks. Makes 12 slices Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 25 minutes roasting oranges + 35 minutes baking cake

❚ 3 medium oranges – my homegrown oranges veer on the side of small so use 2 oranges if particularly large ❚ Knob of butter, about 30g ❚ 2 teaspoons runny honey ❚ cup ground toasted hazelnuts (*see ingredient note) ❚ 1 cup white flour (gluten-free: use

cup white rice flour + cup tapioca) ❚ 1 teaspoon baking powder (gluten-free if required) ❚ cup sugar ❚ 4 free-range eggs

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Trim the skin off the orange flesh (a little pith remaining is OK) and chop into wedges.

Arrange in a single layer in a baking dish, dot with butter and drizzle with honey.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until softened and beginning to caramelise. Cool a little.

Turn down the oven to 160 degrees. Line and grease a 20cm cake tin. In a mixing bowl combine the hazelnuts, flour and baking powder.

Place the orange wedges into a food processor, add the sugar and blend until smooth.

With the engine running, add the eggs one at a time. Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold together into a runny batter.

Pour into the tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is lightly golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Serve with creamy yoghurt.

*Ingredient note: I used toasted and ground hazelnuts for their complementary flavour to orange. I often pick up a bag of unshelled hazelnuts from the market to hand-crack and add to cooking, the extra time involved makes the cake a treat.

If hazelnuts are unavailable, substitute with ground almonds (almond meal). Toast the whole hazelnuts in the bottom of the oven while the orange wedges are cooking.0

Once the skins crack (about 10 minutes) tip into a tea towel and rub away the skins. Cool, then finely grind in a spice grinder or food processor.

❚ homegrown-kitchen.co.nz

PHOTOS: NICOLA GALLOWAY This roasted orange and hazelnut cake is less bitter than a traditional one, which is often made using whole oranges.

Roasting the oranges adds to the prep time but the sticky caramelised wedges give the cake a more intense flavour.