Orange is one of my favorite flavors when it comes to cake. In this recipe, I’m using all-purpose flour but also ground toasted almonds which gives a nice texture and flavor to the cake. I used orange zest and an organic orange extract that gives a delicious taste and aroma!

The icing is a light orange infused white chocolate ganache.

Let’s start with the recipe. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram because I post the videos of how I make my desserts @Pastry_Tales

Yield about one 9 inch cake pan . I made it in a Springform pan.

Ingredients

For the cake

1 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoons salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 and 1/2 tablespoons poppysseds

1 cup toasted almonds, toasted and grinded but not too powder, you want to see some tiny chunks of almonds too. How to toast almonds? Preheat oven to 350, place your almonds on baking sheet and bake for about 7-9 minutes. Take them out of the oven, let them cooled and then ground them in a food processor or blender. Also, don’t take the almond’s skin off.

1 and 1/4 cups white granulated sugar

11 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 eggs, large at room temperature

2 tablespoons orange zest

1/2 cup milk, I used lactose-free 2% milk

1/2 teaspoon orange extract. I used this one: https://nielsenmassey.com/products/pure-orange-extract/

For the white chocolate ganache

10 oz. white chocolate chips

2/3 heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon orange extract

Directions

For the cake

1.- Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare your pan: grease with butter the bottom and sides of your pan. Dust your pan with flour and tap down the excess. Set aside. I used a Springform pan so it was very easy to unmold the cake after it cooled off. You can line the bottom of your pan with parchment paper too.

2.- In a small bowl mix flour, ground almonds, salt, baking powder and poppy seeds. Set aside.

3.- In a bigger bowl and using an electric mixer, beat butter for 2 minutes. Then, add the sugar and mix in medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one by one mixing well after each addition. Add the zest and extract. Mix.

4.- Now, you are going to add your dry ingredients in 3 parts and your milk in 2 parts. You start adding some of your dry ingredients, mix a bit, add half of your milk, mix a bit again, add more of your dry ingredients, mix, the other half of your milk, mix and finally the last party of your dry ingredients and mix in low speed until well combined but do not overmix.

5.- Pour your cake batter into your prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs. Remember that each oven works different so if you see that the top of your cake is getting very dark but the inside needs to cook longer, grab a piece of foil, cover the top of the cake and keep baking until done.

6.- Let the cake cool off completely before frosting. You can make the cake the day/night before.

For the ganache

In a small saucepan, heat the cream until you see a small boil. Pour this hot cream on the top of the chocolate chips and whisk really good until all looks like a smooth cream. Add the orange extract, mix well. Let it cool off completely to room temperature. Then, place it in the fridge for 30-45 minutes and get ready to frost your cake.

When your ganache is thick enough to spread, grab a spoon or a spatula and frost the top part of the cake. Pour a thick layer of frosting on the top, it will come down to the sides too and that’s ok. Decorate with slices of oranges and extra almonds. I used dried oranges that I found at Trader Joe’s.

Enjoy!