Orange-Almond Cake

On Kiernan's 2-month birthday, we had just returned home from a 12-hour weekend drive to Richmond, VA to see my parents and sister. He also got his shots that morning and was extremely fussy and upset that afternoon.  All that is to explain why we skipped his 2-month birthday cake and decided to give him a 10-week birthday cake instead.

Like his 1-month birthday cake, this also comes from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.  The cake is olive oil based and has no dairy.  And it is definitely a winning recipe.  The citrus and cinnamon flavors are really apparent. The texture is slightly dense, like a coffee cake.  And it is not overly sweet. The recipe also called for a glaze made of orange juice and powdered sugar, however the proportions were off, so it just made a sweet juice that I did not pour over the cake. Decided to leave that out of the recipe below.

Orange-Almond Cake
1/2 cup light olive oil (not extra virgin)
1.25 cups sugar
3/4 cup slivered and blanched almonds (divided)
2.5 cups (12 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup orange juice
grated zest of 1 orange (I used a lemon)

• Preheat oven to 350. Brush sides and bottom of an 8-9 inch tube pan with olive oil.
• Combine olive oil and sugar with electric mixer.  Add the eggs and beat until thick and fluffy, about 5-7 minutes.
• Grind 1/2 cup of almonds until fine. Mix them with the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
• Stir a portion a portion of the flour mixture into the egg mixture, then add a portion of the orange juice.  Repeat, until well blended. Stir in the orange zest, then turn the batter into the tube pan.  Sprinkle with remaining slivered almonds.
• Bake for 35 minutes.  Cool on a rack; invert onto a rack and cool.

Kiernan eying his cake from the Bjorn