I’ll bet good money that if you look inside your fridge right now, chances are there’ll be a Nippy’s product inside. A family owned business for over 50 years, South Aussies have all grown up with their OJ and in more recent years, we’ve made room in our fridges and pantries for their flavoured milks.
We were lucky enough to spend the arvo with the Nippy’s family in the Riverland and it’s fair to say, they’re just like their oranges… super sweet!
Nippy’s started in the early 1930s, when local lad Alic Knispel started growing and packing citrus fruit in the Riverland. Thirty odd years later, his sons’ started collecting oranges and hand-squeezing them in their mum’s kitchen, making OJ that they then sold to school friends and to local shops.
The kids and their dad were given the nickname ‘Nippy’ by their friends… which later became a household name when they called their OJ, Nippy’s!
While we were in the Riverland, we went ‘backstage’ at the Moorook facility, where they make all Nippy’s long-life products including juices, organic juices and flavoured dairy drinks. These products are sold in Australia and also exported overseas. We managed to get our hands on a few OJs and decided to turn them into CAKE !
So, thanks to Lauren’s niece and foodie extraordinaire Mia DeCesare, here’s our recipe for a delicious Zero Waste GF Nippy’s Orange, Almond & Polenta Cake!
:: Serves 10
:: Gluten free and zero waste
:: All recipes available from your local Romeo’s
Ingredients
For the cake
4 Nippy’s used orange halves*
4 eggs, beaten
200g caster sugar
200g almond meal
100g polenta
1 teaspoon GF baking powder
200g unsalted butter, softened
Cream, to serve
* Keep the orange juice for the syrup
For the orange syrup
100ml Nippy’s freshly squeezed orange juice
100g caster sugar
Method
To make the cake
Place the used orange halves in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil.
Boil, covered, for about an hour and 15 minutes. Remove the oranges from the water and leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
Roughly chop the cooked and cooled used oranges and transfer to a food processor or blender.
Add the remaining ingredients until smooth and mix until smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, and then place in oven to bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the cake is just set.
Leave to cool, then remove from tin.
To make the orange syrup
Place the sugar and orange juice in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, and then remove the pan from the heat to cool.
Drizzle the orange syrup over the cooled cake, and then serve with cream, ice-cream, mascarpone, or whatever your heart desires!
Mia xx
