What a turbulent first week this has been. Like each year all the little chores that tend to get ignored during the holidays piled up quite heavily. However, there is this one task that I dread more than my mile long to do list. That sad moment of having to take the decorations down and removing the Christmas tree. I just don’t like doing that. For me there is only one way to deal with this week and that is treating myself with the last few bits that are left over from the holidays and bake this sticky walnut cake with orange syrup.
I think everyone is familiar with left over cooking. For some it is just the fact of reheating some food the next day, others turn roast vegetables into soups and a few get really crafty and create whole new meals from different left overs. So what exactly has this got to do with this cake? More than you think. This cake is what I tend to make after new year. I use up all the nuts that are left over from baking all the Christmas treats. Not that I need an excuse to make this sticky walnut cake with orange syrup but this is a very valid one! You can use any type of nuts really but I prefer walnuts for this cake. They work really well with the citrus and give the cake a nice texture.
- for the cake:
- 3 flax eggs, (3tbsp ground flax seeds + 9 tbsp of water)
- 175g (2/4 cup) coconut cream + 2 tsp cider vinegar
- 225g (2 cups) ground walnuts
- 200g (1¼ cup) semolina
- 125 ml coconut oil, melted
- 100g (1cup) sugar
- 1 lemon, the zest of it
- 1 orange, the zest of it
- 3 tsp baking powder
- for the syrup:
- 100ml agave syrup
- 1 orange, the juice of it
- 1 lemon, the juice of it
- for the topping:
- 50g (1/2 cup) walnuts
- 50g (1/2 cup) pistachios
- 100g blueberries
- Mix the ground flax seeds with 9 tbsp of water and let them sit for about 5 minutes until they start gelling. Combine the coconut cream with the cider vinegar in another bowl.
- Add the sugar and flax seed mixture to a large bowl and beat together for a few minutes or until the mixture becomes very frothy. Add the remaining ingredients and gently mix together until very evenly combined. The cake batter will be quite thick.
- Pour the cake batter into a 20cm (8inch) cake form and spread it out with a spatula to create an even surface,
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180ºC to (350 ºF) for 35-40 minutes.
- Take out of the oven and let it cool down fully.
- Once cooled down, pierce the cake all over with a skewer, this is necessary so that the syrup can easily be absorbed.
- For the syrup combine the agave, the juice of the lemon and the orange in a small sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and reduce by approximately a third. You can either measure it or go by feel.
- Scatter the nuts over the cake and pour the hot syrup over them. The idea is to soak the cake so give it time to absorb the syrup and pour slowly. Once it has cooled down you can add the blueberries.
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