A Clementine Cake for a Prosperous New Year
Happy New Year’s Eve! I finally got around to making that Walter Mitty-inspired clementine cake. Christmas may have passed, but I think this cake is actually more fitting as we usher in the new year. In the Chinese culture, oranges are a sign of prosperity and good fortune. You can read more about it here. I’ve also always associated the new year with those Terry’s orange chocolate balls. If you know, you know. It’s the one that is wrapped in orange foil and in the commercial, you smack it against a hard surface to reveal chocolate slices shaped like orange wedges and flavored with orange extract. This triple-layer clementine cake is the perfect mashup of the two to wish you a prosperous new year.
This recipe is definitely a bit more time consuming, but when it comes together, it’s all very satisfying. I love the sweet, clementine milk syrup that adds an extra level of moistness to the cake and the candied, chocolate-dipped orange slices are the perfect after-dessert dessert. I’m signing off to spend some time preparing myself mentally for the upcoming year. I hope you have an amazing night and I’m looking forward to sharing with you more beautiful experiences in the new year!
Clementine Cake + Candied Oranges
Serves 10-12
ingredients + TOOLS (CLEMENTINE CAKE, three-Layer)
Parchment paper
Baking spray
15 medium clementines, 2 clementines set aside
18 large eggs
3 cups sugar
3 tsp salt
6 cups almond flour
6 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp powdered sugar
6 Tbsp milk
STEPS (Clementine Cake, Three-Layer)
Place unpeeled clementines in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently for 2 hours. Add more water as needed.
Remove clementines with a slotted spoon and when cool enough to touch, remove any seeds and hard bits.
Purée in a food processor or blender and set aside.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cake pan and sides with baking oil spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs together with sugar, salt, and clementine purée. Add the almond flour and baking powder and stir until just combined.
Pour the cake batter into the three prepared cake pans.
Bake until the edges are golden brown and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 1 hour.
Let the cake pans cool for about 10 minutes and then run a knife along the edge to loosen the cake.
Flip the cakes onto wire racks and let cool completely before assembling.
In a small bowl or ramekin, combine powdered sugar and milk. Squeeze the juice of two clementines and add to mixture.
With a serrated knife, slice the top of two of the cakes to create a flat surface.
Using the milk mixture and a pastry brush, brush it on the surface to slightly soak the two cakes. This creates a more moist and flavorful layer.
Make the vanilla glaze icing. (recipe below)
To assemble, start with a few tablespoons of the glaze icing at the center base of the cake stand. Place the first layer on top of the icing. This helps secure the cake.
Spread a thin layer of vanilla icing on top of the moist cake. Place the second layer of cake and add another thin layer of icing. The last layer should have the intact cake top which will allow the glaze to set properly. Place the final layer on top.
Set aside 3-4 tablespoons of the icing to use as a glue for the candied orange adornments. (recipe below)
Thin the remaining vanilla icing glaze with milk to create a more syrup-y finish. Add this glaze to the top of the cake and allow a few drips to fall down the sides of the cake.
With the icing that you set aside, use that to attach the chocolate dipped orange slices to the side of the cake.
ingredients (Vanilla Glaze Icing)
8 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 cups powdered sugar
6-8 Tbsp milk (to desired consistency)
3 tsp vanilla extract
STEPS (Vanilla Glaze Icing)
Melt the butter in a saucepan or a bowl in the microwave.
Sift the powdered sugar into a large bowl.
Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla to the powdered sugar.
Beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add more milk, as needed.
ingredients (Chocolate dipped-candied oranges)
2 medium oranges, washed
2 cups water
2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup set aside
Dipping chocolate
STEPS (Chocolate dipped-candied oranges)
Bring water and sugar to a simmer in a large sauté pan.
Slice oranges crosswise into 1/4 inch slices and discard the end pieces.
Add 8-10 orange slices to sugar water and simmer on medium for 1 hour, flipping every 10-20 minutes until the rind the orange is translucent.
Remove the orange slices and lay out on parchment paper.
Sprinkle both sides of the orange slices with sugar. This helps reduce the stickiness of the slices as it dries.
Set the oven to 170 degrees.
Let the orange slices dehydrate in the oven and flip every 30 minutes for 2 hours.
Remove from the oven once the orange slices are firm, dry, and chewy.
Slice the orange slices in half and dip the candied oranges to preference.
