Cooking with Love

with Gianna Conte    (Jan)

Fresh Lupini beans (good snack)

Lupini preparation:

Day 1: Soaking the lupini

Sort and rinse your lupini beans. You need to get rid of any blemished or discolored beans.

Soak the lupini beans for 24 hours in cold water, so that they may become reconstituted.

Place them in a glass bowl, ensuring that they are submerged by a few inches of water. Lupini can be kept on the kitchen counter at room temperature. 

Lupini beans ready to eat....after being soaked in water

Lupini beans ready to eat....after being soaked in water



Let's get baking!


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees


 1 whole thin skinned orange, remove the stem and cut in quarters. Keep the skin on the oranges.

In a clean large food processor, add the orange quarters, 1 1/4 cups of sugar, three large eggs, 1 tsp of vanilla, 1 tsp of orange extract, 1 tbsp of Triple Sec liqueur, optional, 2/3 cup vegetable oil. 


Pulse all ingredients in the processor and then puree until mixture becomes a batter with specs of orange peel.


Add to the processor:


2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt


Process all dry ingredients until they are entirely incorporated into the batter.


Bake in a greased and floured spring pan, using a parchment paper circle on top of the greased bottom.*


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place in the center rack of the oven.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven.


Remove from your oven and let it cool down completely. Dust with powdered sugar or make a drizzle of 1/4 cup powdered sugar and fresh squeezed orange until thick and smooth.  Pour onto the cooled fresh orange cake.


*if you don't have a large processor, you can use a blender.


Enjoy with some espresso and close your eyes and it will feel like you're in Sicily.