Orange and Almond Cake

It has been a month since my last post. Now, I'm back at home in Bangkok, Thailand. It's nice to be back here. I feel like a foreigner in my own homeland since I haven't been living here for the past ten years.  It will take me quite sometimes to get used to the buzzing and the hot weather again! During the last two weeks since I've been back, I have been running around and doing lots of thing with my parents. I went up to Chiang Mai which is a city that locates at the northern of Thailand to visit my grandma for a week. I visited many temples in Chiang Mai. I posted some of the pictures in my 365-days project. Feel free to drop by!

When I was in Chiang Mai, my mom took me to a baking-supplies store. I bought couple ingredients and cake pans, so I can start baking again when I came back in Bangkok. To be honest, I never ever bake when I'm back at home in Thailand. It will take me sometimes to know where would be the best places to buy my baking supplies. However, what I found the most challenging is to trust someone else's oven. I tried not to judge the look of my parents' oven. LOL. Somehow, I just do not trust it. Before I left Toronto, I decided to buy an oven thermometer. So, this way I know that at least I will get a right temperature and everything should turn out okay...and it did! 

The first recipe that I make is Orange and Almond Cake. Couple days before I arrived, my mom boiled some oranges and froze them in the freezer. So, she was asking me whether I can make something out of it. So, I went on TasteSpotting and found an orange cake recipe from Peter at Souvlaki For the Soul which uses boiled oranges. I love this recipe because there is no use of flour, butter, or oil. I would say it's pretty healthy kind of cake. It's moist, dense and not too sweet. Everyone in the family loves it. So, thumbs up for the cake and for the oven too!

Orange Almond Cake
(Adapted from Souvlaki For The Soul)

2 large oranges, boiled
6 eggs, lightly beaten
250 gr. of ground almond
160 gr. of sugar **
1 tsp baking powder
icing sugar, dusting

** The original recipe calls for 250 gr. of sugar. After I read the comments, I decided to reduce the sugar to 160 grams. The sweetness turns out to be perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.**

Place the oranges in a medium pot. Add water until the oranges is barely covered. Cover the pot and boil the oranges for 2 hours. Let it cool to the room temperature. Once it is cool, cut them into segments. Remove any seeds. Cut them into small pieces. Set aside.

Preheat the oven at 375F. Butter and flour a 24cm springform pan. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the ground almond, sugar, and baking powder. Set aside.

Using a food processor, blend the oranges and the eggs quite thoroughly together. Pour the egg mixture into a large bowl and slowly add the almond mixture. Mix until incorporated.

Pour the cake mixture into the springform pan and bake for 45 mins to 1 hour or until the knife come out clean.

Cool it on a rack to room temperature. Dust with icing sugar before serving.