This citrusy, dense and delicious cake is the perfect example of whole food, plant-based baking, as it uses only whole, unadulterated ingredients and is ridiculously simple. The original Italian recipe uses just 5 ingredients - I've added lemon; the acid helps to activate the baking powder and give better rise. It's incidentally vegan; plant-based not by design, and is egg-free, dairy-free and gluten-free.

• Prep time: 10 mins (+30 mins orange cooking, 30+ mins orange cooling)
• Cooking time: 45 minutes baking
• Total time: 1 h 55 m (active time: 20 minutes)

Makes: 8 portions

Ingredients

• 1 x medium-sized blood orange, washed thoroughly and stem removed
• 250 g almond flour
• 150 g granulated sugar
• 85 g cornflour
• 80 g water
• 3 heaped teaspoons baking powder
• Juice of half a lemon

Optional

• Flaked almonds
• Icing sugar, for dusting

Equipment

• Food-processor
• Mixing bowl and wooden spoon
• 20 cm cake tin, lined (I used a thin layer of olive oil and baking parchment)

Method

Cook the orange

1. Add the orange to a small saucepan and fill with enough water to cover. The orange will float, but that's okay - just give it a turn while it's cooking to make sure it cooks evenly.
2. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until the rind is soft and can be pierced with a knife. Drain and leave to cool.
3. Cut the orange into 8 pieces (half, half and half again). Remove any seeds. Add it to the food processor and blend until smooth. It's okay to see pieces of rind in the paste, it creates a beautiful speckle in the crumb. Add the lemon juice to the food processor and pulse briefly to combine.

Make the batter

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to combine. Make sure the dry ingredients are fully distributed and there are no lumps.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined. The batter should be fairly thick, not of a pourable consistency. If the batter is too loose, the cake will be dense, so add a tablespoon more of cornflour until it is a thicker consistency.
4. Put the cake batter into the lined tin and smooth the top. Scatter with flaked almonds; this is optional, but gives it fantastic almond-croissant vibes which I don't think should be missed.

Bake the cake

1. Bake the cake for 45 minutes, but check it after 35. Test with a skewer and if it comes out clean, take the cake out early. Don't be afraid to get a deep golden colour to it, but remember, all ovens are different. Protect it with tin foil if you think it's browning too quickly.
2. Allow the cake to cool completely. I know, it's hard. Dust lightly with icing sugar to serve.