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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas sunshine - from Nigella Lawson

This may be the world’s easiest cake to make—and one that never fails to elicit oohs, ahs, and recipe requests. It’s a moist and luscious dessert, bursting with bright citrus. This darling Clementine cake uses a mere five ingredients, and its lack of flour makes it a perfect treat for the gluten-wary.

Not only is this cake supreme in its simplicity, it keeps well and in fact tastes even better the next day. Serve it alone, or top it with crème fraiche or whipped cream.

1 pound clementines (about 4 or 5)
6 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar (or Sucanat, read about natural sweeteners here)
2 1/3 cups ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder

Use organic clementines if they are available to you. Scrub the clementines well and place in a pot with plenty of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for two hours.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Drain water off and when clementines are cool enough to handle, cut each one in half and remove the seeds.

Put the Clementine halves (skin and all!) in a food processor and briefly pulse, then add remaining ingredients and pulse to a pulp.

Butter an 8-inch springform pan and pour mixture in. It is a very wet batter.

After 40 minutes, cover with foil to prevent top from burning. Cake is done after about an hour total, or when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. Once cool, remove from pan. It can be served immediately, but improves after one day.

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