My top contributor, well ok, my ONLY contributor so far, Gabriela Blandy, today brings us her gluten-free, dairy-free, Orange Almond Cake. Not only that, she’s also providing us with a 6 minute workout that you can do prior to eating a slice to make you feel better about your indulgence. If only she had given us some inspirational thoughts to go with it, then we would really have a holistic cake experience going on here (next time Gab yeah?).

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 large or 3 medium oranges
6 eggs
250g caster (superfine) sugar
250g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
Oil, enough to grease baking tin

WHAT YOU DO:

1) Simmer the whole oranges, submerged for 2 hours. When cooled, cut them, remove the seeds and blend.

2) In a separate bowl beat the eggs and sugar. Gabriela suggests that a healthier sugar substitute could be used here, but as neither her nor I have tried that in this recipe, I won’t make any particular recommendations.

3) Mix the ground almonds and baking powder into the eggs and sugar. Add the blended oranges and combine.

4) Grease a 23cm round tin with a spray or light brushing of oil.

5) Put batter into tin and bake in a pre-heated oven, 180C/350F for 45-60 minutes, until risen. It should be firm and moist but not soggy.

6) Cool before turning out.

7) Dust with icing sugar. Gabriela likes to serve it with Greek yoghurt, but if you’re keeping it non-dairy, then…erm…don’t use yoghurt! (You’re welcome).

AND NOW FOR THE 6 MINUTE WORKOUT…

1 rep = either 30 seconds or 20 each of leg raises and crunches (totalling 1 minute or 40); then a 30 second plank or a plank for 30 breaths.

Repeat each rep 4 times (rep = above 3 actions, each rep lasting around 1 and a half seconds)

End with a hot flush, heart pounding and general euphoria having achieved something, plus the added extra euphoria about being able to enjoy a piece of cake, all guilt free!!

Here is Gabriela working out with friend Adam…

And here is Adam showing how very deserving he is of a piece of cake after all that working out. And before you suggest it, no, I didn’t just want an excuse to have a picture of a well-muscled male on my blog. It’s perfectly normal to have pictures like this to accompany cake recipes…

Now, what were we talking about?…Oh yes, cake! Thank you for the recipe and photos Gabriela. And thank you Adam for being game!

Mother’s Day is coming up here in the UK on 10 March. What mother wouldn’t be delighted with a picture of Adam…er, I mean a homemade orange almond cake right? Remember to make her do the workout first though.

If you would like to submit a recipe, with or without photos, email me at: sugarness@live.com