Chocolate Orange Cake

Oranges may not be the only fruit but 300 years ago fresh oranges were expensive luxuries in northern Europe (and probably "fresh" wasn't always the exact word for them). I can see why - an exotic fruit of such a wonderfully vibrant colour, they promise much and once peeled the sweet segmented flesh offers no disappointment. The wealthy built orangeries in the grounds of their stately homes, not something I'd come across until I came to England, but the building of an orangery illustrates how besotted the wealthy were with this lovely citrus. A fine example is the baroque Orangery in the gardens of Kensington Palace which was built in 1704 for Queen Anne, who used it for parties. The architect was Nicholas Hawksmoor and was built with under-floor heating - remember this is the dawn of the 1700's - and in winter was used as a conservatory for delicate plants.

In those days if you could get oranges, they were marvellous for impressing your guests. They were a fleeting crop and one of the main concerns was how to preserve them, to savor their rich flavor and majestic colour all year. I'm guessing that that is why some clever cook came up with the idea of cooking them. The really distinctive flavor of an orange is in the peel, and so I offer this up as the motivation for the very first boiling of whole oranges.

This Nigella Lawson cake requires the boiling of whole oranges, 2 of them for 2 hours, and the who did it why first question has caught at the edges of my mind for the few months that I have been making it. Not who so much, but definitely why. They bob away - you can't drown an orange - and gradually become squidgy - soft and wet and changing shape easily when pressed. They lose their smooth exterior and all that reassuring firm resistance they have when just picked and basically end up the very opposite of what you want in a fresh orange. The first time I made this recipe I reached the 'boil oranges for 2 hours then cool slightly' point and really, seriously, did not believe we were going anywhere good.

How wrong I was.

Chocolate Orange Cake

The baroque Orangery, located next to Kensington Palace in Kensington Gardens, was built in 1704-05 for Mary's younger sister, Anne, who became Queen when William died. Anne used Kensington for entertaining and she held parties in the Orangery.
The building had under-floor heating and in winter it was used as a conservatory for delicate plants.
The architect of The Orangery is thought to have been Nicholas Hawksmoor, the clerk of works on Kensington Palace and the designer of six new churches in east London.
- See more at: http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/kensington-gardens/facilities-in-kensington-gardens/the-orangery#sthash.7UYP8MLn.dpuf

The baroque Orangery, located next to Kensington Palace in Kensington Gardens, was built in 1704-05 for Mary's younger sister, Anne, who became Queen when William died. Anne used Kensington for entertaining and she held parties in the Orangery.
The building had under-floor heating and in winter it was used as a conservatory for delicate plants.
The architect of The Orangery is thought to have been Nicholas Hawksmoor, the clerk of works on Kensington Palace and the designer of six new churches in east London.
- See more at: http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/kensington-gardens/facilities-in-kensington-gardens/the-orangery#sthash.7UYP8MLn.dpuf

The baroque Orangery, located next to Kensington Palace in Kensington Gardens, was built in 1704-05 for Mary's younger sister, Anne, who became Queen when William died. Anne used Kensington for entertaining and she held parties in the Orangery.
The building had under-floor heating and in winter it was used as a conservatory for delicate plants.
The architect of The Orangery is thought to have been Nicholas Hawksmoor, the clerk of works on Kensington Palace and the designer of six new churches in east London.
- See more at: http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/kensington-gardens/facilities-in-kensington-gardens/the-orangery#sthash.7UYP8MLn.dpufIf you could get oranges, they were great for impressing your guests. But one of the main things on your mind would be how to preserve them, to savor their rich flavor and majestic color all year.

I am far from a cake fanatic but I have made this one at least half a dozen times over the last few months, and everyone that eats it wants the recipe. I understand. It is a great cake, rich and elegant and properly grown up and sophisticated.

2 oranges, unwaxed ideally
200g ground almonds
50g cocoa

6 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
250g caster sugar

Put the oranges into a pan of water and simmer for 2 hours, until they go unattractively soft. Set aside to cool.

Heat the oven to 180C and grease and line the base of a 20cm spring form tin.

Cut the oranges in half then put them into a blender – skin pips and all – and whizz to a paste like consistency. Add all the rest of the ingredients and blitz again till you get a lumpy batter. If your blender is not big enough to put everything in, tip the orange pulp into a bowl then blitz the rest of the ingredients in the blender, add that to the orange and mix till it's all combined.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for about an hour till a skewer comes out clean. 

Leave the cake in the tin on a wire rack for 20 minutes or so to start cooling then carefully unclip the outer ring and take it off. The cake can cool fully on the metal base before serving.