The Clare Valley in South Australia has an abundance of wonderful food and wine. It is known for its riesling and outstanding small-producer olive oils. Here is a superb olive oil cake that is perfect as a dessert with ice cream or by itself with a cup of tea.

2 large oranges

2 lemons

1 tablespoon sugar

7 extra slices of orange

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 1/3 cup flour, sifted

3 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup ground almonds

2/3 cup olive oil

Glaze:

2 tablespoons orange marmalade

Bring a pot of water to boil over high heat. Place oranges and lemons in pot and simmer, stirring occasionally to turn the fruit, for 30 minutes or until very soft. Remove oranges and lemons and let cool.

Once oranges and lemons have cooled, scoop out and discard flesh, reserving rind. Use a spoon to scrape out white pith. Finely chop rind in a food processor and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grease and line an 8½-inch spring form pan with parchment paper. Sprinkle base with 1 tablespoon sugar and arrange extra slices of orange over.

Beat eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer and gradually add remaining sugar, beating until mixture is thick and pale and forms a ribbon.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Stir in almonds. In a separate bowl, combine olive oil and chopped rind. Fold flour mixture into egg mixture, alternating with oil mixture.

Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a rack to continue cooling.

Brush orange slices with orange marmalade. Serves 8.