September 8, 2014

Clementine Cake

I love when birthdays roll around — it gives me an excuse to whip up a special cake that might seem too weirdly decadent when the only other occasion is “It is Tuesday.” This month, my wonderful friend Samantha celebrated her survival of another year, thanks in no small part to the absence of overnight zombie apocalypses and/or spontaneous raptor attacks (though I also suspect she’d handle herself juuuust fine in either of those scenarios).

Samantha is also living the gluten-free life, so I made sure her birthday cake was devoid of those pesky flour products. But I didn’t want to just make a cake that tastes good “for a gluten-free dessert,” which is like saying that Leprechaun: In the Hood is good for a movie about a leprechaun in the hood. Just because something is good for what it is doesn’t mean it’s actually good. In my eyes, a truly successful dish is one that is great and wonderful all on its own, to the point where you don’t even notice it is vegetarian, or dairy-free, or is made entirely of kale and corrugated cardboard. Now that is a culinary homerun.

That is why I arrived here at this lovely citrus cake by Nigella Lawson — it is gluten-free, but it isn’t just delicious for a gluten-free cake — it is delicious in general. And that, my friends, is how you do it. And to add to the list of Reasons Why You Should Make This Cake, consider this novel concept: to get all that juicy clementine flavor, this cake uses three entire clementines, peel and all. Whoa.

The result is a super moist, almost custardy cake packed with subtle orange flavor. It’s not too sweet either, so while it may not be a big hit with the kiddos, it would be excellent with a nice cup of tea. Or ice cream. You know. And though you’re using the peel, there really is no bitterness at all. Witchcraft? Probably. But it’s tasty, tasty witchcraft. I also like to think that because you use whole clementines, it’s also really healthy. Shhh. Just let me have this.

Keep the prep time in mind when you make this — you do have to boil the clementines for two hours to soften them (and I suspect to rid the peel of its bitterness), and then allow them to cool. All of that before you even think about preheating the oven, but I promise that it is so worth it.

Clementine Cake
Barely tweaked from Nigella Lawson

Yield: 1 cake
Prep Time: 2½ hours
Cook Time: 45-60 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes (not including cooling)

~3 clementine oranges (approximately 13 ounces)
6 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar OR 1 cup sugar + 1/4 honey
2 1/4 cups almond meal/flour
1 tsp baking powder (make sure it is gluten-free if that is a concern)

Cover the clementines in cold water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 hours. You may need to refill the water a few times. Don’t worry if any of the clementine peels split during the process, but keep the fruit as intact as possible.

Remove the clementines from the water and cool on a towel until you can safely handle them. Cut them in halves or quarters so you can remove all the seeds.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Dump the clementines — peel, fruit, and all (everything but the seeds) — into a food processor and blitz it until it is a smooth puree. With the food processor running, add in the eggs one at a time until completely incorporated. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and run the food processor until it’s well combined.

Prepare a springform baking pan with parchment paper on the bottom, and give the entire inside of the pan a good buttering. The original recipe says to use an 8″ pan, but I used an 9″ and nothing went horribly awry, so either one seems to work just fine.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake on the middle rack for 45-60 minutes. You may want to check on the cake half an hour in, though, to ensure it’s not browning too quickly. If it is, cover the top with foil and continue baking until done.

When the sides are golden and a cake tester comes out clean, let the cake cool in the pan on a rack. Once it’s completely cool, run a knife around the edges, and unmold the cake. Serve with ice cream or a dusting of powdered sugar. Or both. Ahem.