A Passover Cult Classic: Claudia Roden’s Almond Orange Cake
April 5, 2018
By all accounts, this is THE Passover cake. Claudia Roden’s almond orange cake, based on a traditional Sephardic recipe, is one of the most raved-about Jewish cakes out there.
As such, it had been on my list to try for years, but I always ended up passing this simple-sounding cake—consisting of little more than almonds, sugar, and oranges—for more immediately alluring recipes. Until now. This year, I decided, would be the year I tried Claudia Roden’s almond orange cake for myself.
So how was it? Did it live up to the hype?
First off, it’s extremely moist. Like, I cannot overstate just how moist this cake is. Roden herself describes it as pudding-like, and that’s right on. It was interesting, texturally, though my personal preference tends toward slightly drier/more solid cakes.
It’s also very sticky, so be sure to oil and dust your pan very well—including the lower rim, if you’re using a springform. The gooiness plus the stickiness made for a difficult time getting this one out of the pan, and I am sorry to report mine did not come out whole.
The flavor is pleasant; unsurprisingly, it tastes mostly of orange—and orange flower water, if you include it; a little bit of that stuff goes a long way! It’s also very sweet.
The recipe calls for two whole boiled, pureed oranges (deseeded, of course), and I was skeptical about putting all that peel and pith in my cake. I was steeling myself for something unappetizingly bitter, but it turns out the long boil really does remove most of the bitterness.
In conclusion: I liked Claudia Roden’s almond orange cake, but I didn’t absolutely love it. It’s by no means a bad cake, but in my opinion, it does not quite live up to the hype. It’s certainly not my favorite Passover cake I’ve made. I might make it again someday, but it’s not at the top of my list.
The original recipe calls for oranges (type not specified), but feel free to play around with your citrus selection. Nigella has a variation calling for 3 clementines in place of the oranges, and I’ve heard talk of making this cake with Meyer lemons, which sounds fabulous. I used navel oranges because that’s what I had on hand, and they worked just fine. And as an added bonus, I didn’t have to bother with removing any seeds.
I opted to serve this cake with my Spring Compote, which makes for a more dramatic presentation of what is otherwise a humble-looking cake, but it doesn’t really need any accompaniment and honestly I found the combined sweetness of the cake and the compote a little overwhelming. In retrospect I would’ve opted for fresh berries instead.
Before we get to the recipe, a little on the use of oranges in Sephardic cuisine: Oranges, which were brought to Spain by the Arabs around the middle of the 9th century, quickly emerged as a distinctive feature of Sephardic cuisine.
They most commonly featured in baked goods, like this cake, sometimes referred to as torta de los reyes. Oranges also feature in preserves, are cooked with chicken and cinnamon, and flavor custards—and some Sephardic harosets.
The recipe below is very slightly adapted from Claudia Roden’s original.
Claudia roden’s almond Orange Cake (Gâteau à l’orange)
2 oranges (approximately 200 grams’ worth)
6 eggs
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 tablespoon orange blossom water, optional
1 teaspoon baking powder, optional
1 ½ cups almonds, coarsely ground
Wash the oranges and boil them whole for 1 ½ hours or until they are very soft.
Oil a 9-inch round cake pan, preferably springform, and dust with matzah meal or additional ground almonds.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Beat the eggs with the sugar. Add the orange-blossom water (if using), baking powder, and almonds, and mix well. Cut the oranges open and remove the seeds, then puree in a food processor.
Add the orange puree to the egg-and-almond mixture. Pour into pan. Bake for an hour, and let cool before removing from pan.
Sources: The Book of Jewish Food (Claudia Roden); Encyclopedia of Jewish Food (Gil Marks, 2010)