William Curley’s Orange, Maple and Praline Cake

Equipment:

• Three 23 x 3.5 x 6cm loaf tins

For the cake:

• 165g unsalted butter softened, plus extra for greasing
• 200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 4g baking powder
• 80g cornflour
• 65g confit oranges (diced)
• 65ml full-fat milk
• Scraped seeds from vanilla pod
• 265g maple sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 65g praline paste
• 200g whole eggs (about 4 eggs)

For the syrup:

• 140g pure Canadian maple syrup (preferably amber syrup for its rich taste)
• 100g Grand Marnier

For decoration:

• 1 quantity of apricot nappage
• 2 confit oranges (cut into quarters, then in half)
• 20g chopped hazelnuts (roasted)
• Crystallised vanilla stick

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Grease three (23 x 3.5 x 6cm) loaf tins and line with silicone paper
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and cornflour into a bowl
4. Put the diced confit orange, milk and vanilla seeds in a saucepan and warm gently to a temperature of 37°C
5. Put the softened butter, maple sugar and salt together in a bowl and beat until light and creamy in texture, then add the praline paste
6. Gradually add the eggs and continue mixing until fully incorporated
7. Add the milk and confit orange, then fold in the sifted flour, cornflour and baking powder mixture
8. Divide the mixture between the three prepared loaf tins and bake for approximately 30 minutes
9. When the cakes are cooked, remove them from the oven and allow to cool slightly before demoulding
10. Combine the maple syrup and Grand Marnier
11. While the cakes are still warm, brush the top of each cake with the maple Grand Marnier syrup
12. Once the cakes are cool, glaze with apricot nappage and decorate with the confit oranges, hazelnuts and vanilla stick