Clementine Cake Queries

Asked by masseydiane. Answered on 7th December 2014

Full question

Hi, just wondering how much water to use to boil the fruit in the Clementine Cake? Just cover and boil? Keep topping up the water? Thanks.

As soon as I left my Clementine Cake on the wire rack and in the tin to cool, it started sinking. From the picture on the website, it actually looks a bit as if the cake has sunk in the middle and so I am wondering if this is normal or if I have done something wrong? LF102.

Our answer

Nigella's Celementine Cake (from How To Eat and on the Nigella website) is made using whole fruits that are boiled until soft. The fruits are blitzed to a puree and then mixed with sugar and ground almonds (almond meal). We suggest that you find a saucepan that you can fit the clementines into snugly and then just cover them with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 2 hours. You can top up the pan with water from a freshly boiled kettle if the liquid level drops too low, or partially cover the pan with a lid. Lift the cooked fruits out carefully with a slotted or perforated spoon as they will be quite soft.

The Clementine Cake is gluten free so it may sink slightly in the centre as it cools (and you can see from the photo that Nigella's did dip a little in the middle). However the cake should not collapse dramatically and if it does then it is most likely under baked. The cake can brown very quickly on top so after 40 minutes it is wise to cover the top with foil or baking parchment (parchment paper). The cake is done when it is firm on top and a cake tester comes out clean or with one or two moist crumbs on it (but not uncooked cake batter).