I love Nigella’s Clementine Cake, which can be decorated with a sprinkling of icing sugar, or an icing drizzle. I have added dried clementine slices which add an extra tang to the cake, and I served it with a delicious citrus curd creme fraiche. It is great as an afternoon tea cake or with whipped cream, or ice cream as a fabulous dessert .
Ground almonds and the beautifully sweet clementines work so well in this single layer cake. It is moist and nutty and has proved to be a real crowd pleaser. If you like the taste of marmalade this cake is for you. I personally prefer it with the creamy addition of a citrus curd mixed with creme fraiche or mascapone. I used my Lemon Curd Recipe and added a few spoons to a tub of creme fraiche. But you can just as easily add whipped cream, as this cake already has a slightly bitter note to it from the clementine skins. If you use Gluten Free baking powder, which is readily available at most health shops, it makes it 100% gluten free.
To make the Dried Clementine Slices
- slice the clementines and using paper towels dry off as much of the juice as possible.
- lay them on a wire rack and place in a 90ºC/190ºF oven for at least 3-4 hrs or overnight until they are perfectly dry.
- this can be done beforehand and kept in an airtight container.
To make the Clementine pulp
- place the clementines with skins on, in a pot of boiling water and cook until they are soft . This will take about 40 minutes.
- drain the water thoroughly as you do not want any additional liquid. This is already a very moist cake.
- blitz the whole clementines, skins and pitch, in a food processor and set aside until needed.
- this can be done the day before.
Once these two steps have been done, making the cake is simple.
To make the cake
- whisk the eggs until frothy
- add the sugar and beat
- add the ground almonds and baking powder and beat well
- add the clementine pulp and beat until combined
- pour into a prepared baking pan and bake
The Cake recipe is by Nigella Lawson - I have added dried clementines (recipe in the blog post)
- 375 g clementines with skin on
- 225 g white sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 250 g ground almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder (use gluten free baking powder if needed)
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In a pan, cover the clementines (whole with skin on) with water and boil and cook for at least 2 hrs. Drain the water away and let them cool.
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Cut in half and remove any pips and then blitz in a food processor ( the skin, pith and fruit until it forms a thick pulp.
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Preheat your oven to 190ºC /375ºF . If you are using a thermofan oven set to 170ºC.
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Grease and line an 8inch/ 21cm baking tin.
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Beat the eggs and then add the sugar, almond almonds and baking powder, until well mixed.
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Add the clementine pulp.
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Pour into tin and bake for 40 mins to an hour or until cooked. If it starts to brown too much on top you can cover the top with foil after 30 minutes.
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Leave to cool in the tin before turning out.
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Decorate with a sprinkling of icing sugar or a icing sugar drizzle.
5 Comments
This sounds really interesting and as I try to live a gluten free life I think I will try this cake. Thank you for sharing
Oh my. This is fabulous. When you say ground Almond I am assuming you mean Almond flour right? I love Clementines. My mom and Aunt each have a clementine tree in California. The taste from their trees are just incredible. Far better than any store bought ones. I am going to show them this and ask them to make me one.
Why is it that all the fruit in California tastes better than from everywhere else??? Must be their beautiful climate. Actually, no I just grind the almonds. You could obviously use almond flour, as that is just very finely ground almonds, but somehow I prefer it made with the almonds ground up in my blender. I like the nutty little pieces that pop into your mouth every now and then, but that is not everyone’s cup of tea. With perfectly milled almond flour you would get a much smoother cake.
Not almond flour, just ground down almonds
I had seen these dried Clementines in a farmer’s market in Spain, so lovely to see how you have used it here. Very happy to learn how to make the pulp. Thanks Ev…