Clementine cake is a flourless cake flavored primarily with whole unpeeled Clementine and almonds. It may originate from an orange cake in Sephardic cuisine.
Ingredients
Clementine cake is prepared with clementines, ground almonds or
almond meal, sugar, butter, and eggs.
Some recipes call for flour, but the cake is typically flourless.
Optional ingredients include orange juice, Orange Muscat, milk, white dessert wine, or Riesling wine,
Preparation
The cake is typically prepared by boiling the whole unpeeled clementines, removing any seeds, and
the whole fruit, then combining the pulped fruit with ground almonds or almond flour, eggs,
butter,
sugar, and
baking powder before baking.
The almonds used can be toasted or blanched.
Candied fruit clementine slices are often used as a garnish. Other finishes include sweet toppings such as a glaze or powdered sugar.
Clementine cake is dense and moist,
Variations
It can also be prepared as an
upside-down cake.
Cupcakes are a common variation.
File:Vanilla clementine cake.jpg|alt=A slice of vanilla clementine cake|A slice of vanilla clementine cake
File:Vanilla clementine cakes.jpg|alt=Vanilla clementine cake and cupcakes|Vanilla clementine cake and cupcakes
File:Clementine cake.png|A slice of clementine cake|alt=A slice of clementine cake
File:Clementine cake.jpg|Clementine cake
History
Clementine cake is probably related to a Sephardic orange cake.
popularized citrus cultivation in the Mediterranean region
in the 15th century and popularized the use of orange in baked goods. In addition to its Iberian flavors, the cake also has North African and Spanish roots.
Claudia Roden, writing for The Guardian, said that she'd traced the evolution of the dish, which she describes as a Sephardic Passover food, "from Andalusia, through Portugal and Livorno in Italy, to Aleppo".
Recognition and importance
According to the
San Francisco Chronicle,
Joyce Goldstein called it a "classic Judeo-Spanish cake".
In 2020, Jill Dupleix, writing for the
Sydney Morning Herald, called it "the now famous, never-bettered, flourless Sephardic cake".
called Roden's recipe "magnificent"
and created an adaptation.
In 2021,
Cook's Country said the cake was "having a moment".
In popular culture
Clementine cake played a minor part in the plot of the 2013 film
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and was included in the opening scene of the film and in a couple of additional scenes.
See also
-
Fruitcake
-
List of cakes
-
List of desserts
-
List of fruit dishes
External links
