Maltese oranges are in season now and taste simply delicious. This cake makes the most of them and the laringina in the mix gives the flavour a real turbo boost.
For the cake, six eggs, 200g of caster sugar, 200g of plain flour, one teaspoonful of baking-powder, two medium-sized Maltese oranges, two tablespoonfuls of Laringina, two tablespoonfuls of olive oil.
For the filling, 500g frozen redcurrants or cranberries, 400g granulated sugar.
For the topping, 350g of ground almonds, 300g of sugar, two eggs, a generous dash of Laringina, the finely grated zest of a small Maltese orange.
Wash and boil the oranges for an hour to 90 minutes, or until they are soft. Split them in half, remove the pips and purée them with the olive oil and Laringina until all is smooth. Preheat oven to gas mark 4 ½/185C. Whisk the eggs until thick and then add the sugar bit by bit, whisking well in between each addition. Once all the sugar is incorporated, spoon in the orange and olive oil purée, sieve in the flour and fold it all in very gently. Pour the mixture into a well-greased 20cm-diameter cake-tin and bake it for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is firm and springs back when tapped. Turn it out onto a rack to cool, then slice it in half like a sandwich.
Put the cranberries and 400g of sugar into a wide, shallow pan and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Then bring it to the boil and cook the berries (which make a popping noise) for about 10 minutes. Sieve the compote into a bowl and set it aside, then use the berries left behind in the sieve to fill the cake, spreading it on the lower half and then topping it with the other half.
Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/205C. Mix all the topping ingredients together to make a soft paste- add a little water only if necessary. Spread this smoothly over the surface of the cake, using a damp blunt-ended knife and moistened hands. Once this is done, pipe a hatched or trellised design with the same filling. Return the cake to the oven for 15 minutes or until the topping is golden. Bring it out again and let it cool. Then fill the spaces in the design with the jelly left behind in the bowl (see picture).