Orange Cake with Apricots and Lemon Rose Syrup

Spanish Orange cake and nutty middle eastern desserts with ground nuts and rosewater live in that same world of aromatic, romantic and elegant desserts.  I don't really love when the rose water or orange blossom water of many persian, arabic or sephardic jewish dishes is overdone, but just a little bit adds something glorious to cake.

I find these flavors quite regal and for the more discerning palate, because let's face it, these desserts are a far cry from a chocolate cupcake with buttercream icing.  Nothing wrong with that.  But you need to enjoy the oils and aromas that come from citrus to love a cake like this.

This recipe is inspired by Claudia Roden's NYT recipe.  A few years ago, a friend asked me to help her mother make a DIY wedding cake, using this recipe which is gluten free.

It was incredibly simple to make.  I made it and Lucy's mom dusted it with confectioner's sugar tied a white ribbon around it and placed some flowers in the center.  It was the perfect and lovely cake for the small wedding gathering they were having.

This spring as I was preparing for passover and working on testing cake recipes using dried fruit, I remembered that orange cake and wanted to make  something inspired by it but of course kosher for passover and that didn't take as long to prepare given the boiling time of the oranges.  So I started playing with all of the fruit and flavors I had at home and of course the flavors of sephardic jewish cooking. 

Apricots and oranges.  Similar in color, complimentary but very different in flavor, the latter  bright and acidic, the other muted with its own special perfume.

Surprisingly during the process, I assumed I couldn't use baking powder and later learned that baking powder, though it aids in leavening, is in fact kosher for passover.  At the time, I assumed it was not so omitted this ingredient and find that the recipe which unfolded was perfectly light and fluffy from the egg whites.

In developing this sponge cake recipe, I wanted to find a marriage between the ingredients used in these Spanish and Persian cultures, and I found that the oranges, apricots, lemon and rose all join together beautifully.

I simmer the oranges with apricots, sugar and water for only 15 minutes, allow it cool and puree. It is used to flavor the cake base which is whipped egg yolks and sugar made light and ribbony.  I stir the puree into this, followed by the almonds and vanilla.  The stiffly beaten egg whites are then folded into the base in 1/3rds and into the oven.  After the cake is baked, I lightly brush a simple lemon and rose syrup onto the cake while it's still warm and then a little more when it's completely cool to emphasize the citrus and rose.  You can leave the syrup off is you wish but it adds a certain je ne sais quois.  You'll see.

This is a lovely breakfast cake (Yes cake for breakfast is an excellent idea) or the perfect cake for tea.  It happens to be a gluten free cake, so celiac dessert lovers and gluten free folks rejoice!