The easy moist clementine cake is a fluffy and rich clementine-flavored cake, perfect to be served as a dessert or for breakfast. What does it make so special and delicious? Once baked, this clementine cake is pierced all over with a toothpick and sprinkled with clementine syrup. The result will be a creamy and tasty layer on top!
If you love clementine or you have a good supply of them, you have to try this recipe. In fact you need about 2 pounds of clementine: half of them will be used for the dough, using both juice and zest. The other half will be used for the syrup. You can also add some kind of liquor to the syrup: the clementine one is probably the best choice, but Cointreau or rum are good, too.
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Ingredients for a 8×8 inch clementine cake (about 8 servings)
For the base of the clementine cake
For clementine syrup
Tools
How to make the easy moist clementine cake
Wash carefully the clementines, pat them dry and grate the peel, taking care to avoid the white part because it’s bitter. You’ll need 1 tablespoon for the dough and 1 tablespoon for the syrup.
Squeeze the clementine juice. You’ll need 1/3 cup for dough and 1/2 for syrup. Then prepare clementine cake’s dough: cut the butter into cubes and let it soften for 20 minutes at room temperature. It should be soft as a cream.
Add the sugar and start whipping the mixture with an electric mixer. Once combined, add eggs and whip the mixture for a few more seconds, until the dough will be grainy.
Add flour and baking powder. Knead the dough for a few minutes, in order to mix the flour. Finally add 1/3 cup of clementine juice and a tablespoon of grated zest.
Keep going kneading the dough with the electric mixer or with the flat beater, until you get a smooth and thick dough.
Line a 8×8 inch tray with baking paper. You’ll obtain a high clementine cake, as the one you see in the picture. If you like a lower cake, you can use a 9×9 inch cake, reducing the baking time (no more than 5 minutes).
Pour the dough evenly into the tray. Use the back of a tablespoon to spread it to all four sides of the tray and to smooth the top.
Bake the easy moist clementine cake in a pre-heated oven to 356° F (180° C) for 35 minutes. While baking the clementine cake, start preparing the syrup: mix the remaining 1/2 cup of juice with 1/3 cup of sugar in a pan.
Add one tablespoon of grated clementine zest. Place the pan on the stove and let it simmer for two minutes, until you get a syrup.
When the clementine cake is baked, take it out of the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Then, prick all over the cake with a toothpick, without removing it from the baking tray.
Pour the clementine syrup with a tablespoon all over the cake. Let it dry completely before removing the cake from the mold.
Serve the easy moist clementine cake for breakfast or as a dessert.
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Tips and variation
You can use tangerines instead of clementines, in the same quantities. And for the sweet-tooth I suggest the chocolate variation: pour 1 cup of melted chocolate over the top of the cake, once the syrup has been absorbed.
Translation by Giacomo Meucci
Varied doses for servings