Zesty Aperol Spritz Loaf Cake with Aperol Lemon Syrup & Rosemary
DIFFICULTY: Easy
PREP TIME: 30 minutes / COOK TIME: 45 minutes
Ingredients
✴
Ingredients ✴
Zesty Orange & Almond Loaf:
3 large eggs
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup full-fat cows milk
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Zest of 1 orange (about 1 Tbsp zest)
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ½ cups ground almonds
½ cup gluten-free plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp flaky sea salt
¼ tsp baking soda
Aperol Syrup:
¾ cup freshly-squeezed orange juice (juice of about 2 oranges)
¾ cup prosecco
¾ cup Aperol liqueur
⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 Tbsp caster sugar
Icing + Garnishes:
250g Traditional cream cheese (Meadow Fresh is the best brand for icing)
⅔ cup icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla bean paste
2 Tbsp Aperol liqueur
3 orange slices, cut into quarters (optional)
Rosemary sprigs & rosemary flowers, to decorate (optional)
Directions
✴
Directions ✴
Preheat your oven to 180°C regular bake. Grease and line the base and sides of a regular sized loaf tin with baking paper.
Zesty Orange & Almond Loaf: Add the eggs, sugar, milk, olive oil, orange zest and lemon juice to a large mixing bowl. Whisk together until combined. Add the ground almond, gluten-free flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda to the bowl and whisk together, until combined and smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin. Bake on the lower-middle oven rack for 40-45 minutes, or until golden and cooked through (while the loaf bakes, prepare the aperol syrup). A skewer inserted should come out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs. Poke the loaf all over with the skewer, about 50 times.
Aperol Syrup: Add all of the ingredients to a small pot. Place over high heat and bring to a simmer, whisking to dissolve the sugar. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 8 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced slightly. Pour ½ cup of the liquid out into a jug/bowl and set this aside. Return the pot with the remaining liquid to the heat. Simmer on low heat for a further 8-10 minutes, or until it is very reduced, glossy and syrupy. Remove from the heat and set the syrup aside to cool. While the loaf is still hot, pour the reserved ½ cup of the aperol liquid over the loaf. Set the loaf aside to cool completely in the tin, before icing.
Icing + Garnishes: Add the cream cheese, icing sugar, aperol and vanilla to a medium mixing bowl. Using hand-held electric beaters, beat together on high speed for 1-2 minutes, or until smooth and fluffy. Spoon the icing over the cooled loaf and spread out over the top, creating swoops and swirls in the icing with the back of a spoon. Drizzle over a few spoonfuls of the aperol syrup. Garnish with the orange slices and rosemary, if using.
Serve the cake at room temperature with the remaining syrup on the side for drizzling.