Recipe & words: Gretchen Lowe
Styling: Amber Armitage
Photography: Manja Wachsmuth
Featured: Homestyle Magazine
Oranges and rhubarb are a sublime combination, while coconut and cardamom give this cake a subtle exotic flavour. The candied oranges look pretty but only add them if you have time – you’ll still get the full flavour without them.
200g butter
250g caster sugar
zest of 3 oranges
4 cardamom pods, seeds only crushed
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups long-thread desiccated coconut
1 tsp baking powder
11/2 cups fresh rhubarb (I bake mine first with ¼ cup of sugar for 20 minutes in a moderate oven), plus extra for serving
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Grease a 24cm-diameter cake tin and line the bottom with baking paper. Beat the butter, sugar, zest and cardamom until pale and creamy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each. Stir in the flour, coconut and baking powder. Pour into the tin and spread out. Sprinkle the rhubarb evenly over the top then bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool slightly (leaving in the tin).
Syrup
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water zest and juice of 2 oranges.
Juice of one lemon
4 cardamom pods, seeds only crushed
Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the zest and juice, and mix well. Baste the cake with the syrup as it cools. Serve in wedges with extra rhubarb and whipped cream.
Optional top with candied oranges
2-3 oranges, thinly sliced
250ml water
430g caster sugar
Place the orange in a small saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover and bring to the boil. Drain and repeat.
Stir the cup of water and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves. Add orange and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 45 minutes or until the orange is translucent and syrup thickens. Cool slightly
A wonderful recipe from my days at Homestyle. Thanks to the talented Manja Wachsmuth for her photography and Amber Armitage for help with food styling. x
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