Sunday Bake: Healthy Orange, Butternut & Poppy Seed Loaf

Makes 1 loaf to serve 4-6

Ingredients
70g rice flour
20g finely ground oats or oat flour
65g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
¹?8 tsp bicarbonate of soda
¹?8 tsp xantham gum (optional)
½ butternut squash
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
finely grated zest of ½ lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp poppy seeds
2 eggs
85g golden caster sugar or demerara sugar
candied orange slices (see recipe below), to decorate
coconut oil, for greasing

For the glacé icing
120g golden icing sugar
1 tsp poppy seeds
juice of ½ orange
juice of ¼ lemon

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4. Grease a 450g loaf tin with coconut oil and line the base and sides with baking parchment.

Sift together the flours, ground almonds, raising agents and xanthan gum, if using, and set aside.

Peel and coarsely grate the butternut squash. Weigh out 150g and scatter over the zests, juices and poppy seeds.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until thick and doubled in volume. Gently fold through the butternut mixture lightly, followed by the dry ingredients, then leave for 10 minutes.

Scrape the batter into the tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 40 minutes, or until the top springs back when pressed and an inserted skewer or cocktail stick comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.

For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the poppy seeds and add enough juice to form an icing the thickness of double cream. You probably will not need all of it. Pour the icing over the cooled cake and leave for a few minutes before decorating with the candied orange slices.

Candied Orange Slices

Ingredients
225g golden caster sugar
1 unwaxed orange, halved and cut into roughly 3-4mm-thick slices

Method
Place the sugar and 150g water into a small pan and heat to dissolve the sugar and bring the syrup just to the boil.

When the syrup reaches the boil, add the orange slices and cover them with foil or baking parchment to keep them submerged in the syrup. Simmer very gently for 45 minutes, or until the orange slices are translucent. Remove from the heat and allow the fruit to cool in the pan.

Transfer to an airtight container and chill for at least 24 hours before using (so the orange slices can absorb the syrup). The candied orange slices will keep for up to 4 weeks in the fridge.

Drain and slice into quarters before using.

Extracted from Nourish Cakes by Marianne Stewart (Quadrille, approx €17). Photography © Catherine Frawley.