Why Was My Almond And Orange Blossom Cake Oily?

Our answer

Nigella's Almond And Orange Blossom Cake (from HOW TO EAT) is a fragrant cake that can be made with either regular flour or gluten-free rice flour. The cake also includes butter and ground almonds (almond meal or almond flour), which makes the cake moist and tender.

We are not sure if the cake was made with regular flour or gluten-free flour, though this should not make too much difference. But when you are making the cake, make sure that the butter is not overly soft as if the butter is very soft then it turns to liquid very quickly in the oven, before the rest of the ingredients have set, and occasionally this can lead to a little oil seeping out of the cake. Butter that you are going to cream for cakes should be soft enough that if you press it with a finger then you will leave a small indentation but you should not be able to push your finger all the way into the butter. If the butter is very soft then you may need to refrigerate it for a while to let it firm up slightly.