Nigella Lawson Clementine Cake Recipes

NIGELLA LAWSON CLEMENTINE CAKE

Steps:

• Place whole, unpeeled clementines into a pot and cover with cold water.
• Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and let cook 2 hours (she doesn't say to add any additional water in her recipe, but I imagine you may need to add some if too much simmers away).
• Drain, let cool, then cut each Clementine in half, remove seeds, and place in food processor- skins and all.
• Chop the Clementines in the processor finely.
• In a bowl, beat the eggs.
• Add the sugar, almonds, and baking powder to the eggs, mixing well.
• Add the chopped Clementines by hand and mix to combine.
• Pour batter into a greased and parchment lined 8-inch springform pan.
• Bake in a preheated 375 F oven for 40 minutes, then cover loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning and CONTINUE cooking about another 10 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.
• Let cool in the pan on a wire rack overnight.
• VARIATION: You can substitute an equal weight of regular oranges or lemons for the Clementines; increase the sugar to 1 1/4 cups if you do so.
• OPTIONAL GLAZE: If you wish, you may make a glaze from a little powdered sugar mixed with a bit of lemon juice and water and drizzle it over the top (see my recipe for Cinnamon Bun Icing for a good glaze).

NIGELLA LAWSON'S CLEMENTINE CAKE

Steps:

• Put the whole clementines in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours. We used a small pan so the water was reasonably deep.
• Drain and allow to cool, then cut each clementine open and remove the pips.
• Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
• Butter the rim of a 21 cm diameter spring form tin and cover the base with greaseproof paper.
• In a food processor or power blender, blitz the clementines (skins, pith and fruit). Then add eggs, sugar, ground almonds and baking powder and blend again until smooth.
• Pour the cake batter into the tin and bake for an hour or until a skewer comes out clean. In Nigella's recipe she suggests covering the surface with foil or greaseproof paper after the first 40 minutes to stop the top browning; we didn't put our foil on soon enough so the surface browned more than Nigella's. I think it looks pretty though!
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin, on a wire rack.
• When cold, remove from the tin.

CLEMENTINE CAKE

Steps:

• 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, of course).
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Butter and line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
• Beat the eggs. Add the sugar, almonds, and baking powder. Mix well, adding the chopped clementines. I don't like using the processor for this, and frankly, you can't balk at a little light stirring.
• Pour the cake mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, when a skewer will come out clean; you'll probably have to cover the cake with foil after about 40 minutes to stop the top from burning. 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. I think this is better a day after it's made, but I don't complain about eating it anytime.
• I've also made this with an equal weight of oranges and lemons, in which case I increase the sugar to 1 1/4 cups and slightly Anglicize it, too, by adding a glaze made of confectioners' sugar mixed to a paste with lemon juice and a little water.

NIGELLA LAWSON CAKE AND FROSTING

Steps:

• Take everything out of the refrigerator so that all ingredients can come room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Put all the cake ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, cocoa, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream into a food processor and process until you have a smooth, thick batter. If you want to go the long way around, just mix the flour, sugar and leavening agents in a large bowl and beat in the soft butter until you have a combined and creamy mixture. Now whisk together the cocoa, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs and beat this into your bowl of mixture.
• Divide this batter, using a rubber spatula to help you scrape and spread, into the prepared tins and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, which should be about 35 minutes, but it is wise to start checking at 25 minutes. Also, it might make sense to switch the 2 cakes around in the oven halfway through cooking time. Remove the cakes, in their tins, to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before turning out of their tins. Don't worry about any cracks as they will easily be covered by the frosting later.
• To make this icing, melt the chocolate and butter in a good-sized bowl either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Go slowly either way: you don't want any burning or seizing.
• While the chocolate and butter is cooling a little, sieve the confectioners' sugar into another bowl. Or, easier still, put the icing sugar into the food processor and blitz to remove lumps.
• Add the corn syrup to the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla and then when all this is combined whisk in the sieved confectioners' sugar. Or just pour this mixture down the funnel of the food processor onto the powdered sugar, with the motor running.
• You may need to add a little boiling water, say a teaspoon or so, or indeed some more confectioners' sugar, depending on whether you need the frosting to be thiner or thicker. It should be liquid enough to coat easily, but thick enough not to drip off.
• Choose your cake stand or plate and cut 4 strips of baking parchment to form a square and sit 1 of the cakes, uppermost (i.e. slightly domed) side down.
• Spoon about 1/3 of the frosting onto the center of the cake-half and spread with a knife or spatula until you cover the top of it evenly. Sit the other cake on top, normal way up, pressing gently to sandwich the 2 together.
• Spoon another 1/3 of the frosting onto the top of the cake and spread it in a swirly, textured way (though you can go for a smooth finish if you prefer, and have the patience). Spread the sides of the cake with icing and leave a few minutes until set, then carefully pull away the paper strips.