This deliciously moist cake is great to brighten up a grey day with a cuppa.
It also freezes brilliantly so why not make a double back and keep one for another day.
Serves 12
Cooking Time: Hands on time 20 mins, simmering time 2 hours, oven time 1 hour
Ingredients
5 clementines
Vegetable oil for greasing
275g caster sugar
300g ground almonds
Seeds from 8-10 green cardamom pods, ground to a powder
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 large free-range eggs, lightly beaten
Juice 1 lemon
1 cinnamon stick
Method
1. Put three of the clementines in a pan of water, bring to the boil and simmer for about 2 hours until really tender, adding more water if necessary. Drain and leave to cool a little. Cut in half and pick out any pips, then whizz the fruit (skin and flesh) to a pulp in a food processor.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 23cm springform cake tin, then line the base with baking paper.
3. Put 225g of the caster sugar, the ground almonds, ground cardamom and baking powder in a large bowl. Mix together and then make a well in the centre. Put the pulped clementines, vanilla extract and eggs in the well and mix into the dry ingredients. Pour the mixture into the tin and transfer to the oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes.
4. While the cake is baking, squeeze the juice from the remaining two clementines into a pan. Add the lemon juice and the remaining 50g of caster sugar. Heat gently until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cinnamon stick and simmer for 3 minutes.
5. Remove the cake from the oven and pierce the top in a few places with a skewer. Drizzle over the syrup and leave for 1 hour to soak in. Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
