Serves: 12
Preparation time: 25 minutes, plus cooling
Cooking time: 2-2½ hours

This heavenly clementine and pomegranate cake by pâtissier and celebrity chef Éric Lanlard will make sure afternoon tea is a delicious treat even for the gluten intolerant amongst us.


Ingredients

  • 4 clementines or satsumas, unpeeled
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • Oil, for greasing
  • 6 large eggs
  • 225g (8 oz) light muscovado sugar
  • 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
  • 300g (10½ oz) ground almonds

For the syrup

  • 1 pomegranate, halved
  • 25g (1 oz) light muscovado sugar
  • 1 tsp orange blossom extract
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

To decorate

  • 3 tbsp apricot glaze (see Tip below)
  • Icing sugar, for dusting

Directions

1Put the unpeeled clementines or satsumas and cinnamon stick into a medium saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 1-1½ hours, then drain the fruit and remove the cinnamon stick. Leave to cool for 30 minutes, then halve the cooked fruit and discard the pips. Put the fruit, including the peel, into a blender or food processor and blend to a purée. Set aside.

2Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C)/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease a 23 cm (9 in) diameter, 9 cm (3½ in) deep cake tin and line with baking paper. Using an electric hand whisk, whisk the eggs and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water for about 5 minutes until pale and mousse-like. Take the bowl off the heat and add the baking powder, ground almonds and the fruit purée. Fold in gently but thoroughly.

3Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C (fan 140°C)/325°F/gas mark 3 and bake for a further 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

4To make the syrup, squeeze the pomegranate halves to extract the juice, setting aside the seeds, then pour the juice into a small saucepan. Add the sugar and bring to the boil, then simmer for 2 minutes. Leave to cool slightly (the liquid should still be warm), then stir in the orange blossom extract and vanilla paste. Using a pastry brush, ‘soak’ the cake with the warm pomegranate syrup and leave in the tin until completely cold.

5Remove the cold cake from the tin and place on a serving plate. Brush the apricot glaze all over the cake, including the sides. Just before serving, scatter the reserved pomegranate seeds over the top of the cake and dust with icing sugar.

CHEF’S TIP

To achieve a professional, glossy finish on cakes and tarts, use apricot glaze. To make the glaze, put some apricot jam into a small saucepan and gently warm through, then press through a fine sieve to remove any lumps. Using a pastry brush, brush the warm glaze over the finished cake or tart and leave to cool.

This comes courtesy of Taste of France Issue Two. For more great recipes, food news and interviews with top chefs, buy your copy here!

2 COMMENTS

  1. The cake is a variation of an orange cake recipe by Claudia Roden and latterly borrowed by Nigella Lawson. Each is more straight foreward to execute and delicous. EL’s recipe seems to take the cake to another level by the use of pom..granite, orange/rose water and baking powder, not to mention the glaze. I will surely give it a try

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