Whole orange macadamia nut and ginger cake

When we were at the Caloundra markets last week I came across some Macadamia Nut and Ginger Paste made by Kalinga Farms. Having made Almond Butter recently I was interested to know if I could make the paste using the same method and the man I spoke to confirmed that that method should work. So today I shelled about a cup of macadamia nuts and added plenty of ginger but was disappointed with the result and then had a brainwave and decided to add the paste to Rhonda's Whole Orange Cake and it turned out nicely.

 

After we left the Caloundra Market I wished I had bought a bottle of the paste so that I could get an idea of how much ginger to add and when we were passing through Kilcoy on the way home I saw the Kalinga Farms stand at the markets but there were no car parks so we kept going. So I thought I would give it a try anyway.

 

 

 

I ended up adding about four times this amount of ginger to a cup of macadamia nuts.

 

It started looking like breadcrumbs after a few minutes.

 

Unfortunately it didn't get as runny as the Almond Butter but was very oily and spreadable. Then I remembered that I had used roasted almonds for the butter and had also heated them before putting them in the food processor so perhaps that had made a difference. Anyway, I wasn't all that happy with the result and thought that I had wasted the nuts and ginger and took a walk outside before the drizzle started up again. Then I spotted the orange tree and thought I would see what the paste would taste like when added to the ingredients for the Whole Orange Cake. So I replaced the butter with the paste and, as I didn't have quite enough macadamia nut and ginger paste, I added a small amount of almond butter to the mix as well and reduced the amount of sugar to about 1/3 cup.  

 

Firstly you cut the oranges (with the skin left on) in quarters and process them and then just add the rest of the ingredients and give them a whiz until they are completely mixed.

 

Put the mixture into a loaf tin and pop it in the oven and cook for about 40 minutes.

 

Don't be like me and forget to check when the cake is ready and burn it!

 

In the end it turned out to be quite tasty and I will have another try at making Macadamia Nut Ginger Paste using roasted macadamia nuts next time. Has anyone else made a similar paste? Do share your recipe.