Flora Shedden recipe: Clementine Cake

placeholder image — Clementine Cake. Picture: Flora Shedden

The third recipe from our new weekly columnist, Great British Bake Off star Flora Shedden, is a simple recipe for Clementine Cake for you to enjoy on these cold dark nights.

I adore in season citrus fruit. As with all things (berries, squash, tomatoes) nothing beats fruit and veg grown and harvested when it was meant to be. And in January it is all about the oranges. They will not be as juicy or sweet as they are right now for another year (sigh) so be it preserving, baking or simply peeling and eating them untouched, stock up and enjoy a small piece of sunshine on these short dark days.

This cake can be made completely gluten free by replacing the 75g of white spelt flour with a further 50g of ground almonds. Enjoy with a dollop of double cream and a cup of tea for a particularly good afternoon.

Ingredients

For the cake:
approx. 450g (roughly 4) clementines
150g ground almonds
75g white spelt flour
225g caster sugar
6 eggs
1 ½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla bean paster
50g flaked almonds
For the syrup:
100g orange juice
100g caster sugar

Serves: 4-6 Difficulty: Medium Time to cook: 80 mins

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 180C, then grease and line an 8” cake tin. Begin with the clementines.

2 Bring a deep pan of water to the boil, then add the whole clementines (skins and all) maing sure they are fully submerged. Cover and allow to boil for 15-20 minutes.

3 Once boiled, drain and cool for a few moments. Cut them in half to check for and remove any pips. Place all four fruits in a food processor (again skins and all).

4 Blitz for 2-3 minutes until you have a fairly smooth and slightly cooled orange pulp. Add all the remaining ingredients to the food processor.

5 Blitz again until the mix is fully blended and pale in colour. Pour into your lined tin. Finish with the flaked almonds, before placing in the oven to bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out the centre clean.

6 Towards the final five minutes of baking prep the syrup. Bring the orange juice and sugar to a slow boil, and cook until the liquid becomes clear and the sugar dissolved – around three to four minutes.

7 Keep warm until the cake is cooked, then, whilst still hot, pour over the top as you would for a lemon drizzle. I find make a few small holes in the cake helps the syrup distribute evenly. Allow to cool before slicing and serving.