Recipe by: Gateau a l'orange de Mme Majhoub, from Nancy Harmon Jenkins's book Essential Mediterranean Busy:20 min, Total prep time: 1h10 Serves: 8

Wash and brush energetically the oranges under running water. Dry them and cut 1 cm off their navel and stem sides to remove the areas where the skin is thicker. Cut the whole, unpeeled oranges into 8 pieces each. Remove all pips and whizz into a purée with a blender.

Pour the olive oil slowly into the orange purée while whizzing constantly, until obtaining a thick and creamy texture.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs into an omelette, then add the sugar little by little while beating continuously. Beat until the mixture thickens and becomes cream-coloured. Add the almond and vanilla extracts and give it a last whipping.

Using a spatula, stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture in three stages, alternating with the orange purée. You should obtain a thick, homogenous batter with fine grains of orange skin.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Butter (or oil, for a completely dairy-free version) the inside of a cake tin.  Sprinkle it with flour, turn it over and shake it so as to release the excess flour.

Pour the cake mixture into the tin and bake for about 45 minutes (a skewer dipped into the center of the cake should come out clean).

Wait 5 minutes before unmoulding. Once the cake is warm or cold, sprinkle with icing sugar. Serve it with a thick chocolate sauce (melt in the microwave 100 g good quality 70% cocoa dark chocolate, 30 g lightly salted butter and 5 tablespoons water), if you enjoy the taste of chocolate and orange together.