19 May 2009

petersham at home

I love the orange and almond cake at Petersham Nurseries, and this weekend, I finally worked up the courage to try making one at home. This is the Orange and Almond Cake from Leiths Baking Bible:

You begin by simmering three whole oranges and one whole lemon for two hours, then pureeing them (skin and all) in the food processor. The puree is combined with sugar and eggs (whisked until very thick and foamy), ground almonds, and a bit of baking powder. The result is delicately flavored and unbelievably moist: almost exactly like the Petersham version--woo hoo!

The Emma Bridgewater plate reads 'Lots of Fruit Organic & Green,' and in this case it's true, as the cake not only contains lots of fruit, but the fruit is organic: the oranges were from the sample Abel & Cole veg box I received last Thursday. More veg box details to come...

11 comments:

  1. Your cake sounds delicious and I'm sure the kitchen smelled wonderful with the simmering fruit! I was thinking of you and your baking skills this morning, I've been seeking a recipe for Devon Seed Cake.

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  2. looks fab, although i don't know if I'd have had the patience for it!
    x

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  3. That does sound like a very good cake indeed.
    And a box - Is G converted?

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  4. You can do something very similar with clementines at Christmas ... yum!

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  5. One of my collegues at work described this cake as as the best they had ever tasted. A strong compliment indeed!

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  6. I tried this a while ago - though from another recipe book - and found the bitter orange peel taste too much; perhaps one for Oxford marmalade fans, rather than wimps like me?

    I've never heard of Devon Seed Cake though; sounds intriguing!

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  7. Oh yum...I do love ground almonds in cakes, for that added moistness.

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  8. This looks and sounds fab. I have a lot of WI baking to do in the next couple of months but suspect this may be a little too demainding for the schedule...

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  9. So it must now be named in perpetuity "The Best Cake Ever"!
    Sounds fab.

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  10. I just have to say that the title gave me a bit of a shock - I live in a small town called Petersham, in the US. :)

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