With our wedding looming ever closer I've been trying to eat healthily. In fact it's only 3 weeks away. I can't believe it! Time certainly flies! While I want to look my best in my beautiful dress that doesn't mean though that I can't have cake. Especially this beautiful sugar free and gluten free Blood Orange cake!
When I was choosing my wedding dress one of the things I was adamant about was that I wanted a dress I could wear again. Despite being told by sales assistants that I could easily dye a silk wedding gown to wear again the occasions in my life that call for evening gowns are few and far between. Apart from the waste factor of buying a dress I could only wear once, I wanted something that each time I put it on would make me feel special and remind me of our special day. And that's exactly what I've chosen for my wedding dress. In a case of "it was clearly meant to be" the day I set out to look at wedding dresses I went to the store of my favourite designer, spied my wedding dress within 5 minutes of entering the store and the icing on the cake was that they were having a 50% off sale!
The minute I tried my dress on I knew it was "the one". It's style was exactly what I wanted and suited the vintage feel I wanted to go for. And while it definitely looks weddingy (is that even a word?) enough to pass for a wedding dress it also can easily be worn again, and that exactly what I plan to do when we go to New York on our honeymoon and visit Eleven Madison Park. Even though visiting Eleven Madison Park will be a special event in and of itself, the fact I will be wearing my wedding dress again will make it all the more special in my mind. In fact, my husband to be is going to wear his wedding suit too.
While I was adamant I wanted a wedding dress that I could wear again, the other thing I'm adamant about is ensuring I look my best in it on the day, so I've been limiting the amount of baking I've been doing to remove temptation. But I realised something, I missed it. I love baking, I find it relaxing and I love creating with delicious sweet treats more than I love eating them, which is a good thing!
As for this cake, it was inspired by a beautiful flourless Meyer Lemon cake I came across on Erin's gorgeous Yummy Supper blog. I love flourless cakes, especially anything citrus, and even better I loved that it contained the natural goodness of honey as it's sweetener in place of sugar. Inspired by Erin's cake and the beautiful blood oranges in season at the moment I came up with a flourless Blood Orange cake which contains a mix of almond and hazelnut meal.
While the cake is beautiful as is, I couldn't resist serving it with a blood orange and honey compote. It's the perfect way to celebrate blood orange season, however if you can't get your hands on blood oranges it will work equally well with regular oranges.
So tell me, did you go with the dress of your dreams for your wedding day or something you could wear again, and have you in fact worn it again?
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup of almond meal
- 1 cup of hazelnut meal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of sea salt
- 6 room temperature eggs
- 1 cup honey
- ¼ cup olive oil
- zest and juice of 2 blood oranges
- BLOOD ORANGE & HONEY COMPOTE
- 2 blood oranges
- 1 tbs of honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius and grease and line a 20cm springform pan with baking paper.
- In a large bowl, add the almond meal and hazelnut meal, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Add the honey to a large microwave safe jug and microwave for 30 seconds or until it reaches a pouring consistency. Add the olive oil, blood orange juice and zest and whisk to combine. In a separate bowl or jug add the eggs and whisk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared spring form pan and bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan.
- To make the compote remove the zest of one of the oranges using a peeler and finely shred the zest using a sharp knife. Set aside. Peel and segment the oranges and place the segments into a bowl along with the zest. Add the honey and mix to combine. Refrigerate until needed.
- Serve the cake with the blood orange compote.
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
What a beautiful cake, the blood oranges are so striking!I hope you'll share some wedding pictures after your big day - I'd love to see your dress :).
Jennifer says
Thanks Lauara 😀 I love blood oranges, they are just so beautiful.If I'm happy with how the wedding photos turn out I'll post some 😀
Rosa says
Delicious! I've never baked with blood oranges... I can't wait to try.Cheers,Rosa
love2dine says
This looks awesome!! (I could eat it all year round…)
erin @ yummy supper says
Jennifer, I'm so glad that I could play any part in the inspiration for this gorgeous cake! And I LOVE blood oranges.I'm also really excited for you and your upcoming wedding. A dinner at 11 Madison Park in your dress sounds perfect for a honeymoon celebration. I've heard only the best things about that spot. People swoon when they talk about meals they've had there.xxoo from California,E
Chompchomp says
Only 3 weeks to go! How exciting! Ours is 7 months away but I swear it was only the other week I was thinking it was 12 months to go. Gee how time flies! I too go that feeling when I tried on my dress - it was "the one". After numerous shops of big meringue foo foo, it was so lovely to find something that was elegant flowing and....me. Good luck in the lead up for your big day!
Martyna @ Wholesome Cook says
Fantastic recipe Jennifer, love the fact there's no added sugar and as a matter of fact, I have some blood oranges in the fridge. Will have to try this!
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
I've never had a citrus flourless cake before but I'm so eager to try this.No, never worn the dress again. It's packed away, for what I don't know, and I know I'll never want to wear it again. I think your idea is brilliant!
thelittleloaf says
HOW exciting that your big day is so close! And NY sounds like such a wonderful honeymoon destination. Do you have any pics of the dress? I'd love to see :-)As for this cake, it looks gorgeous. I can't imagine giving up baking altogether, even with my wedding coming up, so glad you managed to find a way to include some slightly more healthy, wholesome recipes in the run up to it 🙂
Lizzy (Good Things) says
A beautiful recipe Jennifer, and warmest congratulations on your upcoming wedding.
Claire @ Claire K Creations says
YUM Jen. I had my first blood oranges for the season last week and they were delicious and so pretty. I may just have to make this next week.
Louisa says
this looks delicious! funny more and more of my friends are going gluten-free, so it's great to find out about new recipes. thanks!
K-bobo @ Gormandize with A-dizzle & K-bobo says
I have so much respect for the decision you made about your wedding dress! I always find it shocking how much money people spend on wedding dresses which they wear for one day and then never again. I would definitely go for something that I could wear again (or at least alter so that I could wear again!).
Choc Chip Uru says
Pod orange must give this such a zingy taste :DDelicious!CheersChoc Chip Uru
Anna @ The Littlest Anchovy says
Woo hoo on finding your perfect dress! I hope we all get to see it!Also a big woo hoo for blood oranges, I cannot begion to explain how happy they make me. I am going to definitely be making this cake!
Balvinder says
I just loved the way you served this flour less cake with blood orange compote. It would have given a very nice taste.
Jen Laceda @ Tartine and Apron Strings says
Hi, Jen. First of all, congrats on your wedding. And second of all, WOW! Honeymoon in NYC! It's going to be a foodie trip? Eleven Madison Park is definitely on the list for me! Daniel Humm <3! Any chance you can get to Per Se? I highly recommend that place!By the way, GF & SF cake! Oh, yay!
ally says
i adore blood orange! what a stunningly unique recipe!xohttp://allykayler.blogspot.ca/
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
Delicious cake with unique ingredients! I can't wait to see your wedding photos 😀
Thanh @ eat, little bird says
Oh my, your wedding is looming closer and closer! You must be so excited! I love that you and your fiancé will wear the same outfits to Eleven Madison Park - very fitting 🙂 I can't wait to hear about your experience at the restaurant - I'm sure you will love it.I have a friend who is gluten-intolerant and have saved this recipe for when I might have an occasion to bake for him. Sounds delicious!
Lindy says
Hi JenniferThanks for sharing this beautiful recipe it will be perfect as a wedding cake. I've been looking for a gluten free and sugar free recipe to use to create a wedding cake as my gift for my friend's wedding in December in Australia. Will the cake handle being decorated with fondant and royal icing or will it crumble?I hope you enjoyed your special day and have worn your wedding dress againxox from Tasmania Australia
Jennifer says
Hi Lindy :DI have to be honest and say I'm not sure how well this cake would hold up to being decorated with fondant. It's quite a moist cake, thanks to the olive oil, and is therefore quite sticky. I tend to find the drier style cakes easier to decorate. That being said, I have frosted this cake before in Italian Buttercream (I have a recipe here https://www.deliciouseveryday.com/2012/10/15/triple-chocolate-honeycomb-cake/ just omit the chocolate and add your preferred flavouring) and it's worked well. I'd just refrigerate it overnight before frosting as that will help dry the cake out a bit and make it easier to frost. Also, if you are planning on doing a layer cake, I'd bake the cake in the separate layers as it will make it easier to frost.When the cake is frosted it won't need to be refrigerated as the frosting is safe at room temperature for up to 1 week. Left over frosting can be frozen.I hope that all helps 😀 Let me know if you have any other questions.Oh, and in answer to your question, yes I've worn my dress again, when we were in New York on our honeymoon :)Good luck with your daughters wedding cake 🙂
Laurie says
Jennifer...This cake looks sooooo yummy! As a matter of fact, i cannot wait to make it! One question though, am I supposed to add the oil, juice, and zest to the honey and then to the dry ingredients? Or is the honey just for the compote?
Jennifer says
Hi Laurie 🙂 Yes, add the oil, juice and zest to the honey and then to the dry ingredients. There is additional honey (1tbs) for the compote which is mentioned at the bottom of the ingredients section. I hope you enjoy the cake. Let me know how you get on 😀
Laurie says
Thank you! It finally clicked after I reread it 50x!
Jennifer says
I'm sorry if the recipe wasn't clear enough Laurie. Hopefully the cake turns out well for you 😀
Laurie says
Oh no! That's the thing...the recipe was very clear. I am just not sure what my problem was! Lol Thanks again... I'll let you know how I like it :))
stephanie says
Just made this for Easter - turned out great! Thanks!!