Clementine & Almond Syrup Cake

Dr. S asked me to make something sweet for a family event this weekend. The bag of clementines in the fridge led me to this citrus, nut and chocolate cake. It looked very impressive, but more importantly, had a great taste too. I split up the recipe, making the cake on Saturday evening, then frosting it on Sunday morning.

The recipe comes from Ottolenghi and Tamimi’s Jerusalem cookbook. Note that this is a clementine and almond cake, soaked in syrup, not clementine and almond syrup cake. I made it in a 9” non-springform cake tin.

With so much zest (from four clementines and one lemon), you know this cake will be fragrant. As with the most delicious lemon pound cakes, the glaze really moistens and enhances the citrusy flavour. This one is applied when the cake comes out of the oven, and is just sugar dissolved in clementine-lemon juice.

The next morning, I made the icing, pouring it over the cake already on a serving platter. This was a mistake, as it pooled on the bottom in an unattractive way. Once the glaze set, I carefully cut all around the base of the cake, and transferred it to another serving platter. This cake is definitely a keeper, as the orange-chocolate combo is classic.