Bakes and comforting recipes from James Martin and champion Simon Wood

Each month, Home economist Petra Jackson tests our TV recipes and adds helpful tips

‘It’s good news that the sunniest of the citrus fruits are at their best during the bleakest of months. So look out for good deals on bags of oranges – they should be at their cheapest now.’

A LITTLE EFFORT

SERVES 8–10

butter, for greasing 5 oranges 100ml rapeseed oil 4 eggs 450g golden caster sugar 125g self-raising flour 125g ground almonds 2 tsp baking powder 150g cream cheese 150g crème fraîche 25g icing sugar 25g walnut halves, crumbled 1 tbsp basil cress or tiny basil leaves

1 Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. Lightly butter a 23cm springform cake tin and line the base with baking parchment. Grate the zest of 3 of the 5 oranges and set aside, then remove the pith and discard. Roughly chop the flesh, then tip into a saucepan with the rapeseed oil and blitz using a stick blender until puréed, or blitz with the oil in a food blender. 2 Whisk the orange zest, eggs and 250g of the caster sugar in a food mixer (or a large bowl with an electric whisk), until the mixture is very light and ribbons form when the whisk is lifted out. Mix the flour, ground almonds and baking powder in a separate bowl. 3 Fold half the puréed orange into the eggs, then add all the flour and the rest of the puréed orange. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 1 hr or until golden brown and risen. Check the cake is cooked by inserting a clean skewer or JAMES’S TIP Without the cress the cake will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week. knife into the centre – if it comes out clean, the cake is ready; if not, cook for a further 5 mins and check again. 4 While the cake cooks, prepare the topping. Beat the cream cheese, crème fraîche and icing sugar together in a bowl until smooth and thick, and chill in the fridge until needed (take care not to overbeat or the mixture will turn runny). 5 Peel the zest off the last two oranges using a vegetable peeler, then slice the peel very fnely into julienne. Put 150ml of water into a saucepan with 150g of caster sugar and the julienned orange peel. Bring to the boil and simmer for 8–10 mins. Strain into a sieve set over a bowl and press through lightly to remove the sugar syrup. Save this to use another time in a salad dressing or in another cake. 6 Tip the remaining 50g caster sugar onto a plate and toss the julienned orange peel into it, moving it around to make sure that all the strands are coated. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out and leave to cool completely on a wire rack. 7 Spread the frosting over the top of the cooled cake and decorate with crumbled walnut pieces, the candied julienne strips and basil cress.