My sister is one of those people that shops for food every day. The reason is that she doesn’t like having tempting food in the house for fear of being enticed. Chocolates, roast potatoes, cakes…they’re all an edible manifestation of a come hither look.
Fortunately, I’m not particularly vulnerable to food. As much as I enjoy it, I can take a bite and them leave it be (although taking a bite of something is a compulsion in itself). I have cupboards full of chocolate, champagne and other temptations. They don’t worry me at all, but suddenly, I knew exactly how she felt with this cake in the house.
I had already forked a mouthful from the slice that I had cut for the photo…and then another and another. My custom was to leave the cut piece to Mr NQN who would gleefully suck down each crumb as if he were a cavernous vacuum. But suddenly bites were disappearing quicker than I could comprehend, the moist crumbs sliding down my throat at seemingly warp speed. And before I knew it, the slice was gone.
“Just another little little bit!” I trilled to myself, taking the knife and cutting another sliver. That sliver was savoured more seriously. Then, the fork sprang to life in my hand and I started vertically forking little bits off the edge of the cake giving both cut edges a jagged finish to them. I surveyed by handiwork wiping off any crumbs.
“Hmmm I might have to straighten it up now!” and I cut off the edges straight with the knife and then popped the slices in my mouth. With the cake rapidly disappearing and with no end in sight, I quickly cut a large wedge for my parents, a large one for a friend that I was seeing that night and wrapped the remaining single piece and stowed it in back in the depth of the freezer. Like the Tell-Tale Heart, I heard creaks from the kitchen (or perhaps it was the neighbours coming home from work) but I resisted. Until the next night, of course.
The point of my story? Do not make this cake unless you have people to share it with. Or make it if you are alone and simply don’t care if you eat half a cake. It’s that delicious.
The cake was a recipe I first saw in the new SBS Feast magazine. It caught my eye simply based on the name – could sticky orange, chilli and vodka be the perfect cake flavour? It was a cake baked with almond meal and a little flour and then drenched in a sticky glaze of orange, dried chillis and vodka.
The recipe is by Sybil Kapoor and appears in photographer David Loftus’s Around the World in 80 Dishes book. I adjusted the recipe, particularly the syrup proportions as the original recipe called for just 30 grams or 1 ounce of sugar which didn’t produce much of a syrup given the liquids and appeared a bit too wet for the cake.
Adjusted, the cake is as heavenly as it sounds, moist and full of orange flavour with a delicate crumb. The effect that the vodka and chilli imparts is mild(unless of course you eat a whole chilli). The vodka is cooked off and I used mild dried chillis so the predominant flavour is of citrus. It is the kind of cake that you really shouldn’t have in the fridge for fear of polishing it off in the middle of the night, Nigella style, while convincing yourself that there is so much fruit in it that it must somehow be sort of healthy…
So tell me Dear Reader, are you able to resist delicious goodies in the fridge or pantry or do you keep them at a minimum to avoid falling into temptation?
Sticky Orange, Chilli & Vodka Cake
Adapted from SBS Feast magazine from Around the World in 80 Dishes by David Loftus
- 170g/6 ozs softened butter
- 1 cup/8.8ozs caster or superfine sugar
- 1 1/2 oranges
- 3 large eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup/125ml plain flour
- 1 cup almond meal/ground almonds
- 1/4 cup/62.5 ml dessert wine
- 1/2 cup/125ml water
- 1 lemon
- 3/4 cup/187.5 mls caster or superfine sugar
- 2-5 small mild dried chillies
- 2.5 tablespoons vodka
1. Preheat oven to 170C/340F. Line a 20cm spring-form tin with parchment paper on the base and sides. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Finely grate the rind of one orange into the butter mix and beat lightly, then add the egg yolks, one at a time and then the dessert wine. Add the flour and almond meal in two batches of each alternating between flour and almond meal.
2. Whisk the egg whites with a beater until you reach stiff peaks and then fold this into the mixture in two lots-the wet mixture is already quite heavy so you will end up deflating the cake mixture a bit but try and fold it in if you can. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
3. About 15 minutes before the cake is finished, start on the syrup. In a small saucepan add the water and sugar and the peeled zest from the remaining half oranges and the lemon. Juice the oranges and lemon and add this to the sugar and water. Add the chilli and vodka and stir until sugar dissolved and then boil rapidly for about 5 minutes until it becomes a thick syrup. Keep the syrup warm and infuse the flavours until the cake is ready.
4. Remove cake from oven and place bottom side up on a serving plate. Prick all over using a skewer and while hot, spoon over the syrup, peel and chillis. Serve warm-the syrup will have seeped into the cake making it moist and sweet.
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91 Comments | Add your own
A wonderful cake! I have chocolate bars in my cupboards (and other tempetations), but they never worry me either…
Cheers,
Rosa
Can I drink the rest of the vodka? =) quirky cake..i like it..
sounds incredibly dangerous Lorraine!
I’m working on it, but historically I cannot resist tasty things sitting around in my house, so much like your sister, I shop every day!
I think this cake sounds intriguing and could just be a showstopper at a party. Just sitting there looking innocent, until you take a bite and you sense that unexpected heat.
Looks and sounds lovely. For the syrup should that read from .5 (1/2) of an orange? You stipulate peel from 1.5 oranges for the cake and from 1.5 for the syrup. Thanks.
Is it because of the vodka that you are unable to resist the cake? Hehehe.
Hi Maria-It should be 1.5 or one and a half oranges
I’ve changed it so that it is clearer in case anyone has the same question.
Lorraine, I’m like your sister a little and that cake has me drooling all over! I couldn’t stop at just one piece. Mmm chilli and orange, great combination!
ooooh so very delicious!
I am pretty similar to you. Friends always ask me how I can have so much yummy stuff in the house. I have been known to devour a really good cake quite quickly in the course of a weekend though. I usually try to have someone in mind to give the baked goods. It helps if you tell the person what’s coming.
Oh my god. There are no word for how tempting this looks. I can see why you had trouble resisting!
What a gorgeous cake! I fear I am like your sister or you when you just needed to trim up the sides.
I’m not jealous of you in any way but your metabolism.
What an interesting combination of flavors. Of course, I love chiles with anything–well, practically anything. I will definitely make this and report back.
My cupboards are bulging with tempting things–I can resist them for the most part, but I understand those who can’t
Yum I love syrup cakes but haven’t tried one with this combinaton of flavours before.
I’m a bit of both, I can resist the chocolate in my cupboard that I have stockpiled for making ganache, but I cannot resist eating a great cake especially if it will go to waste if I don’t.
Hmmm I may have to invite some friends over to make this cake. Thanks for the recipe NQN!
Well one thing I have trouble with is nuts, so when I buy it I portion it out and get someone to hide it for me and give me one portion a day
Probably won’t work so well with cake. It looks YUM! and something different.
Hi, sounds delicious and I am another who just takes continuous ‘slivers’ of freahly baked cake for tasting.
Just wondering if it is plain flour and not self raising flour in the recipe? Thanks
Hi Ashly-Oh nuts are another downfall of mine!
Hi Andrea-Good to know I’m not the only one! I used plain flour although it says self raising in the recipe (I just missed that-oops!). But I liked how dense and moist it was with plain flour and since I used it I kept it in the recipe. But you can certainly use self raising flour too (and if you do, I’d love to know how it turns out!)
.
What a beautiful and unique cake!! Any cake made with almond flour is delicious, but this one looks irresistible (and according to your experience, it is!)
The only time unhealthy food is dangerous to me is when I come home from a dinner shift waitressing late at night and haven’t eaten enough (or any) dinner. Then even if I start with healthy food, I usually have enough late-night hunger to start down the forkfuls-from-the-edge-of-the-cake-oh-now-I-have-to-make-it-even slippery slope!
Beautiful cake! I’m definitely intrigued by the orange and chili pairing. You know when you have to “straighten the edges” that something is truly delicious
.
What a gorgeous cake! It does look irresistible. I am not able to resist delicious goodies. Luckily I have lots of happy eaters at home still. xoxo Mum
Chilli and orange already make for a deadly combo; Add to it vodka, and then have it all in a cake form…..that’s sheer brilliance, and sin in true form.
Bookmarking it.
I’m new to blogging, and found ur site through Maureen’s (orgasmic chef) food writer column……loving it.
God, this looks amazing! I think your strange recipes are the best.
I’m happy with my weight, so don’t mind eating half a cake every now and then.
My fridge and cupboards contain multiple yummy treats. My problem is I hoard food.
They don’t tempt me most of the time – I only run into trouble if I’m exhausted or very stressed or suffered a bout of insomnia. But I know my triggers, so I’m fine most of the time.
Warm banana cake is something I find difficult to stop eating. I’ll definitely give your cake a go.
I can resist temptations but Carl can’t so I can’t keep chocolate in the house. If I buy a block I might have two pieces but he’ll eat the rest and swear he only had half of it. What an unusual combination but I do love cakes made with almond meal and a sugar syrup is delicious. I meant to say a couple of posts ago, congrats on your speaking engagements in QLD. Unfortunately I am trapped in NSW that week so won’t be able to see you but I’m sure it will all go very well xx
I’m exactly like your sister – if it’s there I must have it. Great looking cake btw. Love anything with a syrup
I think this is going to be the highlight of our dinner with friends this weekend. Funnily enough I always get allocated dessert…this one is screaming make me! I wonder if one cake will be enough for 10???
Looks beautiful! Wonder how much the chilli and vodka have to do with it
! No problem usually keeping my fingers off favourite foods in the house . . . well, sometimes ’tis hard, but it is the savoury rather than the sweet which gets me 
!
Hi Sally-I’d make two just in case!
What an intriguing combo! Im like oyus sister, Im so tempted with stuff, I cant be trusted lol
WOW this really is an unique cake… i’ve never thought of these three things together and that it’ll go so well… now i’m totally inspired to try but I’ve gotta trick Mr Bao first because I don’t like he’ll like eating it much otherwise hehe
LOL I somehow feel like we’re very similar Lorraine
Like you I can take a bite of something and just leave it ~ but then I know some people who can’t do that hehe but i did make a chocolate molten cake yesterday that was so GOOD i ate 2…OPPS
Oh, wow. I may store this gem for later when I have people for I too am a compulsive nibbler.
Oh dear! Mind not in gear this morning
! When I saw this beautiful cake meant to mention that I’ll be pulling out my own bread and cake recipes for once as any day should bring a little parcel from California. Lovely Laura of ‘Family Spice’ has kindly picked me as her half-yearly winner for a bag of real, abolutely real [bright red throughout!] Persian saffron her parents have brought over from Iran. So both N European coffee bread and Persian rice are in the planning and am truly waiting for that aroma 
! Love the blog too!!
What a very striking cake – I’m loving the colours! I’m terrible when there’s chocolate in the house
Wow! This looks fantastic! I can’t have hummus and pita bread in the house. It will be GONE in minutes. Not sure that I could resist this cake either.
A GORGEOUS cake, TRUE!
Shared with heaps of my friends worldwide today too!
I am like you, can avoid food temptations in just one bite,
As you know food to me DOES
E-X-C-I-T-E and DELIGHT!
This cake might tempt me, but I still have some of my Christmas candy left if that answers your question. I’m a “take a bite” person, but when there is a good cake around, I’m a sneak a slice, until I look and shriek because 3 pieces are gone.
WOW! This looks AMAZING, Lorraine! I will definitely give it a try! PS Your Armenian Nutmeg Cake with Pistachios and Rosebuds is my current go to special occasion cake. Love it!
xx
I just love cakes with almond meal so I am sure I would want to eat this – even with a chilli kick!
As for your sister, isn’t food shopping full of even more temptations than her kitchen?
Hi Lorraine! once again you grabbed my attention when ‘sticky Orange’ was mentioned .Anything with orange in it(& chocolate of course!) makes me weak at the knees! Just a question though: What kind of dessert wine did you use?
Will def. be making this one!
I love chili in sweet dishes-actually any dishes! What a great combination indeed. I am super good at resisting my raw ingredients like the 5kg box of chocolate in my pantry, but it is certainly harder once they’re cooked up into deliciousness. I use the freezer to hide the goodies from instant gratification too
It really does sound like a weird concoction but I do imagine it tasting rather unique!
A good baker is one who always experiments 
The sliver concept always gets me: “I’ll just have one tiny sliver” convincing myself I have the self control of steel…..ten slivers later I have eaten half the cake. ooops!
Lorraine, I roared with laughter at you gradually demolishing the cake! We refer to it as ‘tidying up’ in our house, as we work across, steadily but surely making a huge impact on the said cake! Well you just can’t leave a cake untidy and uneven can you – that’s our motto anyway.
This cake will definitely be given a whirl, looks so very interesting!
Oh how delicious that looks. I’m another one who has to avoid having anything too yummy in the house unless I get caught out at a weak moment. Luckily I don’t have much of a sweet tooth these days, but I don’t think I could resist this cake!
Bahaha! This is one cake I wouldn’t even want to take a bite of. However, if it used lemon instead of orange…
The chillies and citrus rind make that cake so pretty! Oh I can definitely polish off half a cake, half a block of choccy etc. I find if I don’t open them, I’m not tempted to start, but as soon as the pack is open, it’s game over!
I always have chocolates and sweets lying around but I’m not that easily tempted I suppose, at most I’d eat a chocolate on passing it in the kitchen…
But seriously, this cake, it looks like I can chow it down in minutes! The whole thing! I believe you that it’s that good.
Dear Lorraine,
Any cake that’s got alcohol in it has my vote
Usually the slightly mad things are the best ones – this cake proves this
Cheers
CCU
I have found this weekends project for when I have the gals over!
How many do you think this will feed NGN?
Do you know what this is like without the syrup as I am trying to cut down on sugar in my dieting? Do you think if I halved the sugar it would be okay?
I keep a lot of goodies in the house and usually manage to resist temptation…however I do take a lot of my baking into work too as otherwise my boyfriend and would be the size of houses!
This cake looks unusual but delicious – love the sticky syrup.
My mom used to make an orange cake that was TDF, but this recipe surely sounds over the top! I love the idea if the chilli and citrus! Wonderful!
I have the same problem as your sister; nothing is safe in our house. Particularly Ice cream; it has been known to project itself from the basement freezer and call my name at all hours of the night. I could easily stand above the chest freezer and spoon copious amounts of ice cream into my mouth, not once, but several instances over an evening. That’s just so wrong. I don’t keep ice cream around the house. Ever.
chilli and vodka? that sure is an unique cake recipe!
Whoa! Looks exquisite! I can’t wait to try it and enjoy
Sounds like a really interesting combination! I am not able to resist at all…which is why, when I bake, I take a bunch of goodies to work and make my boyfriend take a hefty portion to his work to share so there’s less temptation in my apartment! I have a massive sweet tooth
So here is the thing Lorraine.. I am a blend of you and your sister, I am scared of keeping food at home that I might give in to those alluring deliciousness but that being said I mostly end up taking a bite and stopping there. But as you say bite is a compulsion!!
This looks gorgeous and I can bet no one can stop at a bite!!
It goes both ways for me. Sometimes I can resist something sitting in front of me for days, but sometimes I have to spend a fair bit of time “straightening the edges” or “euthanasing the ugly ones”. I can see why this one might be tough to resist…
I would also have to make sure again and again that the edges were straight
Fabulous! I am so much like you… I have boxes of chocolates and cookies and bags of chips around the house and can really just eat one and be satisfied. But a truly amazing cake and I find myself snitching pieces every time I walk through the kitchen which will happen more often than usual. This sounds like one heck of an unsual and delicious cake!
OMG, this is something I have to make…!!!
And I know about eating when you are thinking you are not going to do so, I mean, sometimes after cut a slice I started making it to see perfect, so I cut the ends of the slice and the cake and well, I start eting it, so at the end I always cut more than expected just to have something in my mouth.
Can I use just almond meal instead of almond meal and flour? I am gluten intolerant
(((
This is baking in the oven as I write. I am having friends over for morning tea and I shall serve it to them chili and all. I used plain flour but read your note about self raising. Shall report back!
The syrup tastes great! It is not too spicey at all.
I think this looks like a marriage-maker cake! Dessert wine AND vodka? Awesome
I can’t keep certain foods at home otherwise I eat it all – chocolate, Vita-Weats (seriously), ice-cream…
Lol straighten it up, I do that all the time
Divine! And a good excuse to go and buy some vodka and dessert wine …
Husband: Ang you seem to have developed a healthy liking for strong alcohol!
Me: Oh no darling, I simply want to cook with it! Hee Hee .. evil laugh
Whooooa… the sticky shiny syrup looks amazing! Sweet and spicy… I’d love to have a piece of this!
Hi Lorraine, love your stories
I can totally relate as I have done exactly as you have said on more than one occasion! Cake looks delicious 
Would sticky dessert wine be suitable?
Hi Lina and Shaz-I just used the dessert wine I had open (sorry I can’t recall the name). Any sticky or dessert wine will do
Hi everyone! Thanks for the lovely comments
I still can’t believe I ate half the cake hehehe! 
xxx
I don’t have time to shop everyday, so I’m a fat version of your sister. I give in to temptation regularly. Although there are many tempting things I can leave alone for many days, until one day the wind changes direction (or is it my hormones) and they get massacred. Mercilessly, like your cake.
I always thought if you’re just trimming to even it up the calories don’t count?
~~~~Lorraine,
this orange cake looks moist and utterly decadent.
You should be baking for the Queen of England, Dear.
Xxxx
when it comes to sweets, my self-control is pretty much non-existent. i love sticky, messy, gooey things most of all!
This cake must be stellar! Spicy and gooey and orangy! Awesome!
wow this cake looks amazing!! I agree slightly mad but clearly very delicious. I’m forever falling into temptation – I just can’t resist delicious treats
I had to read this title twice! I was thinking of a different kind of chili, the bean stew variety. This makes much more sense! And sounds wonderful!
This cake sounds/looks incredible! I can see why you couldn’t leave it alone. I have no doubt I would have the same problem:)
I am usually pretty good at resisting but after dinner, in front of a movie, is when I am in danger of picking on all the sinful things I store away.
Lorraine, I’m really behind in my reading, but I wanted to let you know I’m featuring this post in today’s Food Fetish Friday series (with a link-back and attribution). I hope you have no objections and it’s so much fun following your creations. This cake is just gorgeous…
Hi Lorainne, i have a nut allergy so what can i replace the almond meal with in this receipe??
Hi there, the cake was so delish…very morish! My only comment was I couldn’t copy the recipe to print it for ease of reference when I was cooking. Is there a reason for this since other blogs such as The Pink Whisk allow you to do this.
This sounds so tempting…but could you suggest some substitutes from the alcohol?
Just GOT to try this out!! Could you tell me the ounces (or gram) equivalent to your “cup” measurements please?
Hi Lyn! Our cups aren’t that different to US cups but I’ll convert them for you now
Enjoy the cake!
Still confused about the oranges. The ingredient list says 1 1/2. One of those is grated for the cake mix. How much zest goes into the syrup? 1/2 orange?
Can’t wait to try it! It’s +2 and raining. At least some of the snow is going away.
Joe in Montreal
Hi Joe and hello Montreal! I’ve amended it to make it clearer, thanks so much for letting me know!
Oh it sounds like great baking weather-I hope you enjoy this cake as much as we did! 
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