A beautiful, moist gluten-free cake packed with zingy citrus flavours, wonderful for Christmas
Prep:30 mins
Serves 8 – 10
4 small clementines200g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing140g raisin140g sultana140g currant100g glacé cherry, quartered 2 tbsp brandy200g dark brown sugar3 eggs, beaten½ tsp ground cinnamon1 tsp mixed spicepinch ground cloves140g polenta1 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 almond
STEP 1To 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.STEP 2Heat 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.STEP 3Combine 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.STEP 4Spoon 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.STEP 5To 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.STEP 6To serve, dust the whole cake with icing sugar, then arrange the clementine slices, overlapping, over the top of the cake.
