Clementine Cake Recipe

When citrus is in season, make this gluten free clementine cake recipe! A moist and tender whole citrus cake bursting with orange flavor and drizzled in a dark chocolate glaze. This clementine cake recipe is made with whole clementines, and almond flour to make it gluten free. Just six simple ingredients is all you need!

 

As it continues to snow outside, and I mean SNOW a lot making a cake like this will transport you to warmer weather. 

I don’t know about you but I this time of year always have a large bowl of citrus laying around. It’s citrus season after all! And I can never resist a bag of those adorable clementines at the store. And let’s face it they will only be around and super awesome for a short time. So why not enjoy them every way possible. 

Like this moist clementine cake is bursting with orange flavor! Trust me this cake is a very good idea. 

Secret Life Of Walter Mitty Recipe

Now you may know this whole orange cake from the movie, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. In the movie, the clementine cake wasn’t topped with ganache but instead candied clementine slices, but I thought what goes better than chocolate and orange? So I added a chocolate glaze and put my own fun twist on the Secret Life Of Walter Mitty recipe! But you can totally top with candied orange slices. 

But just like the cake in the movie this cake is made with whole clementines. That’s what I love I think most about this cake is that you will use the entire fruit. So you get all the clementine zest and clementine juice in one by boiling and pureeing the whole fruit.

Some clementine cake versions are like an upside-down cake with a brown sugar topping and slices of clementines, but this version is a bit different and simpler if you ask me! The whole clementines are boiled down and then pureed in a food processor and combined with five more pantry stable ingredients.

See Also:

• Layered with fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream this vanilla sponge cake is a beautiful cake to make any time of year!
• If you’re looking for a showstopping cake, this Milk Bar cake is the perfect dessert to make for a birthday!
• Calling all peanut butter lovers with this super easy peanut butter cream cheese frosting to use on all your favorite cake recipes!
• This easy vanilla cupcake recipe uses melted butter so it comes together in minutes and no mixer is needed!
• When it’s summertime then you have to make these S’mores cupcakes with toasted meringue frosting and graham cracker bottom!
• Get a mixing bowl and make the easiest cake ever! This Tornado cake recipe (aka do nothing cake) made with crushed pineapple, coconut, and pecans!

Why This Recipe Works

• Uses in season clementines
• Bake the cake with the whole fruit
• Naturally gluten free
• Wonderfully moist and stores well!

Are Mandarin oranges and clementines the same thing?

Mandarins are in the citrus family and include tangerines and clementines. So although all clementines are mandarins, not all mandarins are considered clementines.

For this cake, I used 5 whole clementines, or those Cuties in the bag at the store.

Almond Flour

I love that this clementine cake uses almond flour.  It gives it another dimension of flavor, and also keeps it gluten free too if that’s your thing. Even if it’s not, totally use the almond flour.  A tad more expensive, but worth every penny I think. 

I recommend using almond flour vs. almond meal. Almond flour uses almonds without the skins on so it’s a finer in texture. If you only have almond meal you can use it but it may affect the texture, or try sifting it to remove the skins. 

Or you can use ground almonds instead of almond flour. 

Pro Tip: Store your almond flour in the freezer so it lasts longer!

Ingredients needed to make this clementine cake

For the full recipe, scroll down to the bottom for the recipe card.

For the cake batter:

• Clementines – You will need 5 whole clementines. You will use the entire fruit and boil them until they become soft so they can be blended.
• Eggs – Use room temperature eggs so they blend easily into the cake batter.
• Granulated white sugar – I used all white sugar, but you can swap some of the granulated sugar for light brown sugar.
• Salt
• Almond flour – Store your almond flour in the freezer so it doesn’t go rancid. Then allow to come to room temperature before using, so it doesn’t soak up all the moisture in your cake. I prefer to use almond flour rather than almond meal because its made from peeled almonds making for a finer flour.
• Baking powder – Make sure your baking powder is fresh so your cake rises. Read more here about baking powder vs. baking soda.

For the ganache:

• Heavy Cream
• Chocolate

How to make this clementine cake

Make clementine puree

Place whole unpeeled clementines in a large pot, cover with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently for 2 hours, adding more water as needed. 

Remove clementines with a slotted spoon and, once cool enough to handle, halve and remove any seeds or other hard bits. Place in the bowl of your food processor or blender and give them a quick blitz to turn into a puree and then set aside. Y

You can do this step up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated making this clementine cake come together easily after that. 

Prepare The Cake Pan

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking oil, line bottom with parchment paper and spray paper with oil.

Mix up the rest of the cake batter and bake

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs together with the sugar, salt and clementine purée.

Add the dry ingredients – the almond flour and baking powder and stir until just combined.

Pour into prepared pan and bake until edges are golden brown and starting to pull away from sides of pan, about 1 hour. Test with a cake tester and make sure there is no raw batter on there. You want a few moist crumbs on the cake tester letting you know its done.

Transfer to wire rack set over baking sheet. After 10 minutes, run a knife around edge of pan to loosen cake; remove cake from pan. Peel off parchment paper and return cake to wire rack to cool completely. Decorate with dusting of powdered sugar or with chocolate glaze or candied clementines.

Make the chocolate glaze

Heat a pan of water until simmering. Place all ingredients, plus 5 teaspoons water, in a slightly smaller metal or glass mixing bowl and set over the pan. Stir gently with a spatula until nearly all the chocolate has melted, then remove bowl from heat and set aside to finish melting, stirring occasionally until perfectly smooth, about 5 to 10 minutes. The glaze is ready to pour when it is between 88 and 90 degrees.

Pour the chocolate glaze onto center of the cooled cake and let it run down the sides. Gently tap the cooling rack up and down so the glaze coats the entire cake. Let set for at least an hour before serving.

Tips on making this clementine cake recipe:

• Puree in advance. If you can, I highly recommend making the clementine cake puree up to 2 days ahead of time. This makes the rest of the recipe quite simple and quick. 
• Add more water. During the boiling process you may need to add more water if the level gets too low. Just keep an eye on the pot and add more if it does. 
• Remove any seeds. From the clementines that is, after boiling. And any other hard bits that may be present before throwing it all in the food processor. 
• Use room temperature eggs. This helps with the mixture coming together easily and helps with cake lifting as well. I place mine in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before using. 

Top Of The Cake Ideas

• Top with candied clementines – Instead of a ganache you can top with candied clementine slices. Make a simple syrup and boil clementine slices in the mixture for 2 hours.
• Serve with whipped cream – This cake would be delicious with a dollop of fresh whipped cream on the side!
• Dust with icing sugar – Instead of a ganache, simply dust with powdered sugar

Recipe FAQs

More Recipes To Try

• Easy Lemon Bars
• Citrus Sour Cream Pound Cake Recipe
• Homemade White Cake
• Peanut Butter Quick Bread
• Oreo Cheesecake Cookies