Fruit-filled clementine cake

Fruit-filled clementine cake

A beautiful, moist gluten-free cake packed with zingy citrus flavours, wonderful for Christmas

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 8 - 10

Easily doubled

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs 10 mins

Plus chilling
Vegetarian

Vegetarian, Gluten-free

Method

  1. To make the cake, place the clementines in a small pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hr or until tender. Drain and cool.
  2. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter a 20cm springform cake tin and line the base with a disc of buttered baking parchment. Cut the cooked clementines in half and remove any pips. Place in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not puréed.
  3. Combine the raisins, sultanas, currants, cherries and brandy in a bowl. Add the clementine pulp and mix well. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale. Add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, mixing well between each addition. In another bowl, combine the spices, ground almonds, polenta and baking powder. Fold into the creamed mixture along with the dried fruit and clementine pulp.
  4. Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 30 mins. Reduce the oven temperature to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3 and continue to cook for a further 40 mins. You may need to loosely cover the top of the cake with a sheet of baking parchment for the final 20 mins to prevent it browning too quickly. Cool in the tin for 30 mins before turning out onto a cooling rack.
  5. To make the topping, slice the clementines to a 5mm thickness. Tip the sugar into a saucepan with 140ml water and cook over a low heat, stirring often, until the sugar has dissolved. Put the clementine slices in the pan and stir through. To keep the clementines submerged in the syrup, cut out a circle of greaseproof paper to fit into the pan and place over the fruit. Cook over a low heat for 1 hr until glossy and translucent. Remove and spread out over greaseproof paper to cool.
  6. To serve, dust the whole cake with icing sugar, then arrange the clementine slices, overlapping, over the top of the cake.

Per serving

695 kcalories, protein 9.0g, carbohydrate 93.0g, fat 34.0 g, saturated fat 15.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 83.0g, salt 0.36 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2007.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo Kathryn

    07 December 2007

    Kathryn commented on this recipe

    Can anyone tell me were i can buy dry polenta the stores in my area only stock the ready made one or can i use an alternative.

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  • Binder photo JohnT

    09 December 2007

    JohnT commented on this recipe

    what is the amount of ground almonds that are required? Thay are mentione at point 3 but not in the ingredients list

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  • Binder photo jane's

    23 December 2007

    jane's commented on this recipe

    Jane My 7 year old daughter Joanna did this recipe for a christmas treat! We missed out the cherries and used clover instead of butter (use this for all of our baking). Didn't put the clementines on the top either as we forgot the extra fruit. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it!!!

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  • Binder photo jane's

    23 December 2007

    jane's rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    My 7 year old Joanna baked this as a christmas treat. We left out the cherries and clementines on the top. We also used clover instead of butter as we use this in all our baking. The consensus was a unanimous delicious.

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  • Binder photo maziminor

    31 December 2007

    maziminor commented on this recipe

    I tried this recipe and i added to the list of dried fruit a little Crystallized ginger it tasted great a very nice recipe indeed A*******

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  • Binder photo Ramjesandnic

    29 January 2008

    Ramjesandnic commented on this recipe

    Hi Kathryn, the dry polenta you can find in Sainbury's - they have a fantastic one it is a 500g , very pretty black bag. ASDA's used to have it as well ,coarse and fine but I do not know lately as I haven't been to ASDA's for at least couple of years, or any Turkish, Polish or Romanian grocery shop. Good luck in finding it- well if you did not find it as yet.

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  • Binder photo Becca

    05 January 2009

    Becca rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fantastic wheat free alternative to a traditional Christmas cake.

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  • Binder photo PC

    15 February 2009

    PC commented on this recipe

    I've just tried this recipe for the third time and I keep ending up with an undercooked centre, I followed the instructions and even tried the higher temperatures in my fan oven - where am I going wrong?

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  • Binder photo Lizzie L

    25 February 2009

    Lizzie L rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I had the same problem as PC the first time I cooked this. The second time I made it I extended the cooking time which gave a better, but not perfect, result. Despite this it is absolutely delicious and my family love it. Definitely one of the best gluten-free cake recipes I have tried, so I still give it 5 stars.

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  • Binder photo my good food

    12 December 2009

    my good food commented on this recipe

    Made this cake it looks lovely,may even marzipan and decorate it with royal icicng for alternative to xmas cake.

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  • Binder photo Marly

    16 December 2009

    Marly commented on this recipe

    This sounds delicious, but should I peel the clementines first, or really leave them whole at stage 1?

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  • Binder photo Lizzie L

    19 December 2009

    Lizzie L commented on this recipe

    Marly, I don't peel the clementines. I don't know if this is correct but it works for me!

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  • Binder photo Moominmummy

    12 May 2010

    Moominmummy rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    We've tried lots of G/F cake recipes since my other half was diagnosed coeliac earlier this yr. The many variants on choc mousse cake are lovely but very rich for day to day. This fruit cake recipe is the best general G/F cake we've found...its fantastic!

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  • Binder photo Deborah

    29 November 2010

    Deborah commented on this recipe

    How long will this cake keep for?

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  • Binder photo Paul

    28 December 2010

    Paul rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    I used only 3 clementines. I peeled them and cooked the flesh in microwave for 5 minutes or until soft and 'mashable'. Leaving the skins on the clementines makes the cake too bitter The cooking time for this cake is far too short. I gave mine 30 minutes at !60C (fan) and a further 65 minutes at 140c (fan); it was well received.

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  • Binder photo Becky

    31 October 2011

    Becky commented on this recipe

    How long does this cake keep for?

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  • Binder photo c.Anderson

    29 August 2012

    c.Anderson commented on this recipe

    Does any one know how far in advance you can make this cake

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  • Binder photo dancercook

    27 November 2012

    dancercook commented on this recipe

    Haven't made this yet, so not rated. Looking for cake to make this year. However, wanted to say, gluten free cakes don't keep very well so I would suggest making either a couple of days before you want it or, freeze (well wrapped), undecorated.

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  • Binder photo Clarachough

    13 December 2012

    Clarachough commented on this recipe

    My friend made this for my In- Laws 60th wedding Anniversary cake and it was so moist and delicious;not bitter at all. I'm currently stewing the whole Clementines ready to mix the cake and looking forward to it! Will let you know if I hit any snags...

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  • Binder photo Clarachough

    13 December 2012

    Clarachough rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Sorry, I forgot to rate this a minute ago!

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 8 - 10

Easily doubled

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs 10 mins

Plus chilling
Vegetarian

Vegetarian, Gluten-free

Gluten-free

Ingredients

  • 4 small clementines
  • 200g unsalted butter , softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 140g raisins
  • 140g sultanas
  • 140g currants
  • 100g glacé cherries , quartered
  • 2 tbsp brandy
  • 200g dark brown sugar
  • 3 eggs , beaten
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • pinch ground cloves
  • 140g polenta
  • 1 tsp baking powder (we used Fiddes Payne, which is gluten-free)
  • icing sugar , to decorate (most are gluten-free, but check the packaging)
  • 100g ground almonds

FOR THE TOPPING

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Per serving

695 kcalories, protein 9.0g, carbohydrate 93.0g, fat 34.0 g, saturated fat 15.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 83.0g, salt 0.36 g

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