Tunisian orange and almond cake

[Bluebear]

I think this was a Sophie Grigson recipe originally, but it's tweaked a little. We first had it as part of a picnic bought from a deli in Cley-next-the-sea in Norfolk for eating on a hike out to Blakeney Point to see the seals.

For the cake:
50g breadcrumbs
100g ground almonds
200g sugar
1.5 tbsp baking powder
Zest of an orange
Zest of 1/2 lemon
4 eggs
200ml olive oil

Combine the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the orange and lemon zest. Beat together the eggs and oil into an emulsion and then beat into the almond and sugar. Pour into a well buttered spring form tin. Put in a cold oven and bake it at 190C for 40-50 minutes. You can test with a skewer but it's never going to come out that clean as it remains a very wet cake.

For the syrup:
85g sugar
Juice of an orange, pips and all
Juice of half a lemon, pips and all
1-2 tbsp orange flower water
1 cinnamon stick
4-6 cloves

Boil all together to melt sugar and thicken slightly. When the cake is cooked, remove from oven and let cool slightly before skewering it all over the top. Pour the syrup over so it can soak into the holes you've just made; it might take a couple of attempts to get all the syrup into the cake.

Enjoy.