Orange and saffron layer cake
Ingredients
- 180 g T45 flour
- 100 g of ground almonds
- 150 g sugar
- 3 eggs
- 80 ml Aix-en-Provence olive oil PDO
- 80 ml milk
- Orange zest + 1 teaspoon of orange juice
- 1 c. à café baking powder
- ¼ c. à café baking bicarbonate
- 1 pincée of salt
- Saffron: 5–6 stigmas
- 220 g mascarpone
- 100 g whole crème fraîche (well chilled)
- 2 c. à soupe orange blossom honey
- 1 c. à café Aix-en-Provence olive oil PDO
- Finely grated zest of ½ an orange
- A few drops of bitter orange flavouring
- 3 mandarins
- 1 organic orange
- 150 g water
- 150 g sugar
- Grand Marnier (or Cointreau, rum, etc.)
- a few saffron threads
Astuce
Instructions
Prepare the garnish: wash and slice the orange into thin slices (3–4 mm). Peel the mandarins and make sure to remove all the white pith.
- In a saucepan, make a syrup with 150 g of sugar and 150 ml of water. Bring to the boil.
- Place the slices and mandarins in the syrup and cook over a low heat for 20–30 minutes until they become translucent.
- Drain and leave to dry on a wire rack for at least 2 hours. Add 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier to the syrup and set aside (if the syrup is too thick, add a little water).
- Gently heat the milk with the saffron threads and orange zest (instead of adding the zest directly to the batter). Leave to infuse for 30 minutes, covered.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line two 18 cm cake tins.
Whisk the eggs with the sugar until the mixture turns pale and doubles in volume. Add the PDO olive oil from Aix-en-Provence, followed by the saffron-infused milk. Gently fold in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
Pour the mixture into the tins and bake for 20–25 minutes. Check whether they are cooked by inserting the tip of a knife. Leave to cool completely.
- Whip the well-chilled crème fraîche until it thickens slightly. Fold in the mascarpone, orange blossom honey, olive oil and orange zest. Whip for a further 1–2 minutes until the mixture is smooth and firm.
- Lightly soak the cakes in the syrup.
- Spread a layer of cream over the first sponge.
- Place the second layer of sponge on top and spread the cream over the top (and, if desired, a little down the sides for a ‘semi-naked’ effect).
Arrange the wedges in a ring on top of the cake, overlapping them slightly to create a ‘natural spiral’ effect. Gently scatter a few saffron threads over the centre and around the sides. Dust very lightly with zest and icing sugar.
Astuce
For this recipe, we recommend PDO huile d'olive d'Aix-en-Provence (intense taste) for its aromas of raw artichoke and greenery, sometimes complemented by hints of walnuts/hazelnuts and red berries.
If you don’t have this, choose another intense-flavoured olive oil: PDO huile d'olive de Corse - Oliu di Corsica, PDO huile d'olive de Haute-Provence, PDO huile d'olive du Languedoc, PDO huile d'olive de Nîmes, PDO huile d'olive de Provence, PDO huile d'olive de la Vallée des Baux-de-Provence.
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