for the cake:

1. pre-heat oven, 175 ºC / 350 ºF.
2. wash oranges thoroughly with peel on.
3. in a pan, place oranges in pan, pour water to cover oranges, bring water to boil, reduce to low heat, simmer 1 hour.
4. allow water fully cool down before removing oranges.
5. in a smaller bowl, while keeping the peels intact, carefully cut oranges in quarters, remove any seeds, remove the hard top & bottom crown.
6. coarsely grind oranges in a food processor, it should not be too liquidy. at this stage, you are still able to see the texture of skin & flesh, “INSTEAD OF” a fully blended smoothie.
   • tip 1: the key here is “during the entire process, try to preserve as much juice as possible”
   • tip 2: as an alternative to a blender, simply do a “hand-split” to divide oranges into small pieces to avoid loosing juice.
   • tip 3: do not worry about the remaining of the skin, they do add amazing pleasant aroma to the cake.
   • tip 4: if prefer, buy oranges with thinner skin.
7. in a large bowl, beat eggs & syrup, add vanilla & olive oil while mixing.
8. spoon dry ingredients (polenta, flour, baking powder, salt) & oranges into large bowl with egg / syrup mixture, spoon mix lightly.
9. line a springform tin with greaseproof baking paper, carefully pour mixture in.
10. at this point, cake mixture in tin should be somewhat liquidy, place tin in oven carefully.
11. bake until golden brown on top, about 30 ~ 35 minutes, insert toothpick into cake to test for doneness, if comes out clean, it is done.

for the syrup:

1. while cake is baking, in a small saucepan, heat orange juice, lemon juice & honey until honey dissolves completely, mixture should be slightly warm (not boiling).
2. when cake is out of oven, begin using toothpick to prick entire cake with many many small holes. this will allow “the syrup” to flow-into the cake & be fully absorbed.
3. pour syrup allover cake slowly.
4. allow orange cake to cooldown in mold. cover cake & store on a dry, cool place.
5. allow “syrup” to soak through overnight.
6. enjoy the divinely flavored pastry.