Let Them Eat Cake

When Marie-Antoinette declared, “Let them eat cake” she probably had no idea that her comments would hang in the air  for over 300 years like the smell of an 18th century Parisian drain. Poor old Marie-Antoinette was so misunderstood; What she actually said was “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” which, when you examine French history a little closer means something quite different.

At the time, French law required bakers to sell all their products at a fixed price meaning that the more elaborate confections cost exactly the same as the humble baguette. This was designed to make it impossible for unscrupulous bakers to cater only for the rich and therefore leave the working classes unable to afford their daily bread. Perhaps if the Queen Consort had suggested that the starving masses “Buy cake at the same price as bread and eat that instead” she may have been looked upon by history as something rather more flattering than the pantomime villain she became.

If you would like to take Marie-Antoinette’s advice and eat cake there’s non-finer than the one that follows. It is neither French nor even vaguely historical in origin but it’s absolutely delicious with a strong cup of coffee or served as a dessert with some crème fraiche and raspberries. For those of you that care about these things (or are catering for people with “needs”) it also happens to be dairy and gluten free.

Orange and almond cake – feeds 10

2 small oranges scrubbed well

125 gms ground almonds

100 gms caster sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

6 eggs

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC. Grease and line a 23cm springform cake tin with baking parchment.

Place the oranges in a saucepan just large enough to hold them and cover with cold water. Weight the oranges down with something like a saucer or small plate to keep them submerged. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 hours. Remove gently from the water and cool. When cool enough to handle cut open and remove pips. Roughly chop (skin and all) and place in a food processor with all the other ingredients. Purree until smooth.

Bake for between 1 hour and 1 ¼ hours or until a tooth pick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.

Cool completely before turning out of the tin. It’s particularly good the next day if you can restrain your self and your guests for that long.