Wholesome Cook
Australian

Couscous and Blood Orange Mini Cakes

These bite-sized Couscous and Blood Orange Mini Cakes are dairy free, and can be made with any type of citrus of your choice. If not allergic, feel free to use butter for an ever tastier treat. 

Couscous and Blood Orange Cakes

On Sunday, I woke up around 5am with a burning desire to bake something… I remember going to sleep, feeling incredibly inspired by Sherilyn’s recipe mentioned in Saturday’s post. By the time the sun came up, I had already entertained the puppy enough for her to let me be and had my first baking project on the rise – sweet ricotta buns. That was to satisfy my other recent craving (more about these soon).

Blood Oranges

Since my fruit bowl has been graced with the presence of some sweet new season blood oranges, I knew they would be perfect for a re-make of the Lemon Polenta Cakes recipe. To satisfy my curiosity, however, I chose to re-bake these cafe-style treats using quinoa. For some strange reason, perhaps because I was up so early, I cooked up a batch of couscous instead. Doh. Nevertheless, I decided to go with the flow and make the cakes with that. After all, couscous and orange is a classic combination of flavours.

Blood Oranges

The recipe makes 24 mini cakes, almost like petit fours, using a mini muffin tin. If you’d like to make the cakes larger, use a regular muffin tin and bake for an extra 10 minutes. You will get 12 – great for an afternoon tea or the lunchbox. Since couscous contains gluten, if you are allergic, go with the original Lemon Polenta Cakes recipe – just use blood orange instead.

Couscous and Blood Orange Cakes

Couscous and Blood Orange Cakes
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Couscous and Blood Orange Mini Cakes

The recipe makes 24 mini cakes, almost like petit fours, using a mini muffin tin. If you'd like to make the cakes larger, use a regular muffin tin and bake for an extra 10 minutes. You will get 12 - great for an afternoon tea or the lunchbox. Since couscous contains gluten, if you are allergic, go with the original Lemon Polenta Cakes recipe - just use blood orange instead.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Servings: 24

Ingredients

For the Couscous:

  • 1 cup couscous
  • 1/2 cup blood orange juice
  • 1/2 cup boiling water

For the Couscous and Blood Orange Mini Cakes:

  • 50 g coconut oil or butter softened plus extra for greasing
  • 1 blood orange, zested and juiced
  • 1/4 cup blood orange juice
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup desiccated coconut
  • Couscous prepared as above

For the Blood Orange Icing:

  • 1/2 cup blood orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon arrowroot (tapioca) flour
  • 2-3 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 2 tablespoons powdered granulated stevia or 6-8 stevia drops

Instructions

To prepare the Couscous:

  • Place couscous in a bowl. Add blood orange juice and boiling water. Mix well and allow to stand for 10 minutes, or until all the water and juice have been absorbed. Fluff up with a fork to separate. Set aside to cool.

To prepare the Couscous and Blood Orange Mini Cakes:

  • Cream dairy-free spread or butter in a large bowl using a mixer. Add zest, juice and egg and continue mixing on a lower speed for another minute.
  • Add desiccated coconut and couscous and mix until the mixture is blended well. About 1 minute.
  • Grease muffin tray with extra dairy-free spread or butter.
  • Scoop mixture into muffin holes, pressing down gently to fill and even out the tops.
  • Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes for mini cakes, or 25 minutes if using a regular-size muffin tray.
  • When ready, remove from oven, invert onto a cutting board and cool.

In the meantime, prepare the Blood Orange Icing:

  • Place blood orange juice an arrowroot in a small pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook the juice down to about a quarter of the original volume. It will thicken and become slightly syrupy. Allow to cool.
  • Once cooled, add coconut flour and stevia, mix to make icing.
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17 comments

Anne S September 20, 2012 at 10:11 am

Yum! What a great idea to use couscous for cake. Great spring shots too.

Reply
Martyna @ Wholesome Cook September 24, 2012 at 10:47 am

Thanks Anne, I felt inspired by the sunshine and the outdoors!

Reply
Kerry Anne September 20, 2012 at 10:16 am

I like that you didn’t give up and made the cakes anyway. They look scrumptious, so pretty.

Reply
Kasia September 20, 2012 at 10:55 am

Wspaniały pomysł Martynko! Dla moich maluszków i dla nas :-)

Reply
Martyna @ Wholesome Cook September 24, 2012 at 10:46 am

Smacznego i pozdrawiam!

Reply
Nami | Just One Cookbook September 20, 2012 at 2:02 pm

It’s always so much fun to check out your photos (how can you be so creative all the time!!!). And of course everything you cook looks so delicious too. How fun to use couscous for cake! That’s my first time for me to hear about/see it!

Reply
Martyna @ Wholesome Cook September 24, 2012 at 10:48 am

Hi Nami, it’s my first time too *giggles* Thank you for your kind comment,

Reply
Sneh Roy (@cookrepublic) September 20, 2012 at 4:29 pm

So pretty! I have also been waiting to get some time on hand so I can try out that luscious cheesecake you published a few days ago!

Reply
Martyna @ Wholesome Cook September 24, 2012 at 10:49 am

Thanks Sneh, that cheesecake is really good! I was tempted to bake it again on the weekend, but we ended up just having cheese instead. Maybe next time.

Reply
john@heneedsfood September 20, 2012 at 5:03 pm

What gorgeous little cakes. But you know you now need to make the quinoa ones!

Reply
Martyna @ Wholesome Cook September 24, 2012 at 10:49 am

I know… I’ve been baking so much!

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PB and Peppers (@JenatPBandP) September 21, 2012 at 1:06 pm

I love it!! These are adorable and look so tasty!!

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Tina September 21, 2012 at 4:30 pm

nice :) i never thought couscous would suffice as a dessert option, but it looks great from here!

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Martyna @ Wholesome Cook September 24, 2012 at 10:50 am

Just like penicillin, sometimes the good things are discovered by accident. :-)

Reply
ROBYN LITTLE September 21, 2012 at 7:50 pm

What a great combination – blood oranges and couscous. What a great way to combine them in a cake! The icing really is its crowning glory.

All the best,
Robyn.

Reply
rsmacaalay September 23, 2012 at 7:04 pm

Another great creation, Love the recipe and the idea behind it

Reply
Amanda@Chewtown October 1, 2012 at 5:43 pm

These look gorgeous! I love the use of cous cous in the cakes… something I wouldn’t have thought to use!

Reply

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