Makes 12 cakes

Ingredients:

For the cakes:

1 Large orange

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 Cup good quality olive oil

2 Large eggs, room temperature

1 Cup all purpose flour

1/2 Teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped

For the icing:

120g Unsalted butter, softened

1 Cup icing sugar

1/4 Cup orange curd (recipe follows)

A pinch of salt

For the orange curd:

2 Egg yolks

125g caster sugar

1 Cup room temperature water

1 Large orange

2.5 Tablespoons corn flour

20g Unsalted butter

A pinch of salt

To Make The Cakes:

Fill a large pot three quaters of the way full with water & place on the stove top, set to a high heat.

Add in the orange, cover with a lid & bring to a boil.

Once the water is boiling, reduce to a medium heat & let cook for 35-45 minutes.

Keep an eye on it, if the water level drops below the orange, add more water.

After 40 minutes, remove the orange & set aside.

Drain the water, & fill the pot with fresh water.

Place back on the stove at a high heat, add in the orange, cover & bring to a boil again.

Reduce heat & cook the orange once more, just like before for another 30-35 minutes.

Remove orange from the pot & set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 180 celcius.

While the orange is cooling, sift the flour, salt & baking powder into a medium sized bowl & set aside.

Chop orange (skin, rind & all) into quaters & place in a blender.

Blitz the orange until a thick paste forms.

Add in the olive oil & blitz.

Add in the sugar.

Add in the eggs, blitzing after each, scraping down the sides as needed.

Add the dry ingreaitents to the blender & blitz well.

Add in the rosemary, & mix by hand until just combined.

Brush two six-cup mini loaf pans with a little olive oil to ensure the cakes don’t stick during baking.

Divide the batter evenly amoung the pans.

Place the trays onto a baking tray, tap tray gently on bench top to realease any air within the batter.

Bake in oven for 22-25 minutes. The cakes are ready if the middle springs back once poked, or if the skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Allow cakes to cool.

To make the Orange curd & icing:

Add the zest & juice of the orange to a small bowl. Be sure to zest the orange before you juice it, otherwise zesting becomes incredibly challanging. Set aside.

To a medium sized pot, add the sugar, corn flour & salt & whisk to combine.

Pour in the orange juice, orange zest & water into the corn flour mixture & whisk until homogeneous.

Place pot on stove over a medium-high heat, whisking continuously until thickened.

To temper the eggs, slowly drizzle the hot orange mixture into the eggs, while whisking contantsly. Whisk fast, pour slowly!

Once the eggs are tempered (warmed) add the mixture back into the pot, & return to a medium heat.

Whisk for 2-5 minutes longer until thickened, coating the back of a spoon.

Add in butter & stir until all melted & mixed into the curd.

Transer to a container & let cool. Once cool enough to handle, place in the fridge to chill until set – minimum 3 hours, or over night.

Assembly:

Add the softened butter to the bowl of a sand mixer with the paddle attchment fitted & cream until pale, light & fluffy.

Sift the icing sugar into the butter.

Starting out slowly so icing sugar doesn’t go everywhere, cream the sugar & butter together.

Increase the speed to medium/high & cream for 10-15 minutes. Scrape the bowl down as needed.

By now the icing mixture should be incredibly fluffy & smoothe.

Add in the salt & gently stir in the curd until well mixed.

Pipe the icing onto the cooled cakes, top with sugard rosemary if deisred & enjoy!

These cakes keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.