Clementine Cake

Asked by Rosie Mc. Answered on 30th January 2013

Full question

I would like to make Nigella's Clementine Cake and wondering if instead of boiling the fruit for 2 hours, could the clementines could be cooked in a pressure cooker? If yes, then for how long and at what pressure?

Our answer

Nigella's Clementine Cake (from How To Eat) uses clementines that have been boiled for 2 hours, until very soft. The whole fruits are then pureed and used in the cake batter.

We believe that it may be possible to cook the clementines in a pressure cooker. There are similar recipies for cakes using oranges that have been cooked in a pressure cooker and some people prefer to use a presure cooker to cook orange peel when making marmalade. However it is not something we have tried ourselves so cannot vouch for the results.

It is extremely important that you follow the instructions in your pressure cooker handbook or manual as that will be the best guide for your cooker and it should give you instructions on how to calculate the pressure and cooking time. Similar recipes suggest cooking whole oranges at full/high pressure for 30 minutes, so we would guess that clemetines are likely to take 20-30 minutes but we would emphasize this is not something we have tested and also that cookers may vary by make and model. Make sure that you strictly follow all of the safety instructions for your pressure cooker.