Recipe: Tangelo & Almond Cake

A good many of you have asked for this recipe after seeing it on my Instagram, so I thought that I would post this in lieu of a write up whining about the state of affairs. This is my adaptation of Nigella Lawson's Clementine Cake. It's a very basic and easy flourless cake originated in the Mediterranean; best of all, flourless means gluten-free (if you're into that sort of thing)! You can use any kind of citrus fruit on hand, depending on the season.  I used tangelos because I had a whole bunch of them from my CSA box, but I reckon this will taste equally good, if not marvelously beautiful with Spanish blood oranges. I ate half of this with a glass (okay, several glasses) of Prosecco and I am now thinking that this would make for a lovely Mother's Day brunch dessert. Note of caution, if you are not a fan of marmalade, this may throw you off somewhat since the cake is quite literally bittersweet.

I promise to be back with some circuitous post about de-cluttering, new purchases from Hope, etc. but in the meantime, go get thee some eggs and maketh this recipe.

Tangelo & Almond Cake
Adapted from Nigella Lawson

Cake
3 tangelos (or about 3/4lb of citrus)
6 eggs
2 1/3 cups fine almond meal
1 1/4 cups granulated (caster) sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp Grand Marnier
1 tsp vanilla extract

Marmalade Glaze
1/4 cup really good marmalade (I cannot stress the really good part enough)
1tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
1tbsp Grand Marnier

Optional: Crème fraîche to serve

1. Put the clementines in a pot with cold water to cover, bring to the boil, and cook for 2 hours. Drain and, when cool, cut each clementine in half and remove the seeds. Then finely chop the skins, pith, and fruit in the processor (or by hand, of course).

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (Nigella used 375F but I think that's too high)

3. Butter and line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper.

4. Beat the eggs. Add the sugar, almonds, and baking powder. Mix well, adding the chopped clementines.

5. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, when a skewer will come out clean; If the top if browning too fast, cover with foil after the 40 minute mark.

6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, in the pan on a rack.

7. To make the marmalade glaze, heat all the ingredients in a saucepan and mix well. Poke a few holes in the cake with a skewer and pour the warm glaze all over the top. Let set for a few minutes and it's ready to be served with some  crème fraîche.

*This cake can be wrapped in foil and frozen. To serve after it's frozen, just nuke it in the microwave for 30 seconds or let thaw to room temperature.