St. Clement’s Cake

Oranges are in season at the moment and I love to use them in all sorts of dishes, from salads, to baked suppers to cakes.  This is one of my most-used gluten free cake recipes. You can easily adapt it back to using wheat flour by replacing the flour with plain flour. Everyone loves this cake, as its intense fruity flavour comes from the whole fruits used in the recipe. Simply remove the stalk and pips and use every little bit of the fruit and peel.

The easiest way to make this cake is to make an electric food processor, so that the cooked fruit is blended to a fine, smooth pulp, which will make a silky smooth, light, almost mousse-like cake.

For the best results, use a really good quality non-stick cake tin. The finish of the cake is much nicer when paper isn’t used around the sides. I used a 24″ round springform tin from Le Creuset. The non-stick coating is really effective and the cake effortlessly releases from the tin. Highly recommended.

This cake makes a delicious dessert served with some crème fraîche.

St Clement’s Cake

Makes one 24” round cake – serves 10-12 people

N.B. recipe uses UK metric cups

Ingredients:

2 small oranges
1 lemon
1 cup Doves Farm plain white flour
1 Tablespoon gluten free baking powder
4 eggs at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups golden caster sugar
1 1/2 cups ground almonds
2/3 cup olive oil

Zest of 1 large orange and some flaked almonds to decorate

Method:

1)     Cut the lemon into quarters and throw out the pips. Cut the orange into eight and discard the pips

2)     Put the oranges and the lemon in a large pan and add enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, then simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.

3)     Drain and allow to cool.

4)     Put the citrus into a food processor (the Vitamix is amazing here) and chop it up finely, then set aside.

5)     Preheat oven to 160 C (350 F)

6)     Sift flour and baking powder together into a bowl and set aside.

7)     In the electric mixer, combine eggs and salt, beat until foamy for 2 – 3 minutes

8)     Gradually add in the sugar, and continue to mix. Gently fold in the flour mixture using a spatula. Stir in chopped oranges and lemon, almonds, and olive oil until just incorporated.

9)     N.B. Mix very carefully and quickly as it is easy to over mix.

10)   Pour the batter into a greased tin.

11)   Bake for about 40-50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean and the top is nicely golden.

12)   Allow to cool on in the tin for 20 minutes, then remove the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack for a further hour. Decorate just before serving