A poem I found;
Ode to Clementines
Oh, have you ever trifled with
a juicy tree treasure?
Oh, have you owned
an orange orb?
Oh, have you conjured
a clementine,
With all its juicy jumble?
The delicate flavors
tango on the tongue,
spraying their
supple sweetness.
Tangy but tart
tree treasure from
the earth—
the Courageous Clementine!
by Jacob, 3rd grade, www.witsblog.org
The characteristics of a Clementine, so eloquently put by an expressive and very talented young boy.
So onto my cake, I have heard around the traps that this particular cake is one of Nigella Lawson’s most popular and after making it I can see why. Including the entire boiled fruit gives the cake a wonderful texture and taste. It is perfectly moist, flavourful and very light. I served it to a (new) New York friend who popped over for afternoon tea yesterday, with a dollop of crème fraiche on the side – she loved it and so did I.
As Nigella suggested, I made up a little glaze with some powdered sugar (icing sugar) and a tiny squeeze of Clementine juice – I thought glazing the whole cake might be too much so I opted for a few random lines.
Given the nature of its ingredients the cake will go a lovely golden brown colour – this is not a sign of having overcooked it, although one thing to note is that my cake never made it to the 60 minute mark – it was certainly cooked at 50 minutes. Ovens can be very temperamental creatures so I would check on your cake regularly from 45 minutes.
4 to 5 clementines (about 375grams/.82 pounds)
6 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225 grams/7.9 ounces) sugar
2 1/3 cups (250 grams/8.8 ounces) ground almonds
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
Powdered sugar for dusting, or for making a glaze
Put the clementines in a pot with cold water to cover, bring to the boil, and cook for 2 hours. Drain and, when cool, cut each clementine in half and remove the seeds. Then finely chop the skins, pith, and fruit in the processor (or by hand).
Preheat the oven to 375f/190c). Grease and line an 8-inch spring form pan with parchment paper.
Beat the eggs in an electric mixer (I used a whisk which worked just fine). Add the sugar, almonds, and baking powder. Mix well, adding the chopped clementines. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 60 minutes, when a skewer will come out clean.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool, in the pan on a rack. When the cake is cold, you can take it out of the pan and dust it with powdered sugar or glaze.
Notes: You can actually substitute the clementines for oranges, just be sure the pith of the orange in very thin otherwise I am not too sure what the outcome would be – a very pithy cake perhaps?
Source: Nigella Lawson
© 2010, Michelle. All rights reserved.
