To this day, the taste and smell of certain foods really bring back childhood memories. One that does it every time is the “gateau a l’orange” my mom used to make. She would use regular flour and sugar, but in this recipe, I substitute them with gluten free flour and maple syrup. You could also easily use a nice clear honey as sweetener as well.

Ingredients

1/2 + 1 tbsp butter
1/3 cup of maple syrup (my mom used 1/2 cup of sugar)
3 eggs
The juice of one orange
1 tbsp of orange zest (I use organic)
1 cup gluten-free flour (I use Bob’s redmill baking flour)
1 tsp baking powder

Syrup (optional)
Juice of half an orange
1/4 cup of maple syrup (my mom used a few tbsp of sugar)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Cream the butter in a mixer and add maple syrup. Mix for another 30 seconds
3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition
4. Add the orange juice and zest and set aside
5. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients
6. Add the orange liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. I do this by hand and it takes less than a minute.
7. Pour the batter in a buttered pan and place in the oven for 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when pricked in the center
8. Separately, bring to boil the maple syrup and orange juice for 30 seconds. Let it cool for a few minutes and pour it over the warm cake.