Can I Freeze The Cooked Clementine Pulp To Make Clementine Cake At A Later Date?

Our answer

Nigella's Clementine Cake is a gluten-free cake that is made from whole, cooked clementines that are then blitzed with the other ingredients into a cake batter and then baked to become a moist, citrussy cake. We suspect that it is possible to cook the clementines, puree them and then freeze the puree. Transfer the cooled puree to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.

When you come to make the cake you need to make absolutely sure that the puree is at room temperature, as otherwise the rest of the ingredients won't emulsify properly when you mix the batter. It is probably easiest to thaw the puree overnight in the fridge and then leave it to stand on the counter top for 1-2 hours, until it reaches room temperature. We understand that people have made this cake with regular oranges and also with lemons. But the most important thing is that the fruits need to be thin skinned, as too much white pith will make the cake far too bitter. Also limes don't seem to work so well for the cake as their skin seems to have a bitter note, even though they do not have much pith. However, as we have only made the cake with clementines, we unfortunately can't recommend alternatives ourselves.