Fondant Icing For Clementine Cake

Our answer

Nigella's Clementine Cake (from HOW TO EAT) is a popular moist, gluten-free cake. The cake is actually better a day or so after it is made as it seems to improve over time. Unfortunately as the cake is very moist it is not an ideal cake to cover with fondant (rolled fondant or ready rolled fondant icing) as the moisture in the cake will make the fondant become sticky over time. However if you covered the cake with a thin layer of marzipan first then this should help as it will provide a barrier between the cake and the icing. We would suggest icing the cake no more than two days in advance as the moisture in the cake will eventually start to soften the marzipan.

The cake tends to sink slightly in the centre so you will need to flip the cake over and use the flat base as the top of the cake. An alternative would be to make a glace icing from icing (confectioners') sugar and clementine juice and drizzle this over the cake before serving it.