Clementine cake from How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food (page 75) by Nigella Lawson

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Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • Eat Your Books

    See recipe for lemon variation.

  • eliza on March 17, 2026

    I made this cake again to take to a group of friends. I substituted 1/3 of the ground almonds with all purpose flour and this time I liked it. I was happy that my friends all loved the cake, and everyone asked for an extra slice to take home, so I call that a win. I will make again this way.

  • eliza on February 04, 2026

    I made a half recipe of this in a 6” round pan to try it out. Very easy; I cooked the clementines in my instant pot 20 min and then used the food processor. The cake was not too sweet and very moist, almost pudding like. Baked at about 340 convection and it took a total of 45 minutes, covered with foil for last 10 minutes. I really didn’t love this cake, sadly, just found it too damp and the texture was off for me. I made extra oranges which I’ve frozen, and so I will try again, substituting half all-purpose flour for half of the almonds.

  • kshell on January 18, 2024

    My family loves this cake. We've been making it every January for many years now. I just made it again yesterday and feel compelled to add a few notes: I find no discernible difference between the clementines pulped by hand vs. pureed in the food processor. The former looks chunky but the end result when you eat the cake is effectively the same. If you have very dry hands I do not recommend pulping by hand, it will burn. Ditto if you pop the cooked clementines in the fridge to finish later, your hands may hurt while mashing them cold. This year I found a third option: use a potato masher. Because it takes 2 hours to boil and the clementine season is so short I have taken to doubling the clementines, mashing them up, and then freezing half for a cake at a later date. The thawed pulp does not seem to suffer in any way for being frozen.

  • stef on November 17, 2019

    This is an excellent moist cake. We really enjoyed that bit of bitterness. Instead of boiling the clementines I high pressured them for 20 minutes in my instant pot. Will repeat.

  • Foodycat on December 16, 2017

    My husband actually requested this cake - which is weird because he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth at all and hardly ever asks for cake. The whole boiled fruit in this gives a nice bitter edge. I used a 2lb loaf tin, which I thought might be a bit small but was actually perfect.

  • Queezle_Sister on January 09, 2014

    Zosia, you always find such excellent recipes! This sounds great, as I am a big fan of the bitter notes from citrus zest. This goes on my "to make" list!

  • Zosia on January 09, 2014

    Moist and easy cake with a flavour reminiscent of marmalade, sweet and citrus-y but with slightly bitter notes. I baked as individual cakes in 90ml moulds for 25 minutes.

  • Jane on December 02, 2012

    This is an incredibly easy cake. You do have to plan ahead as the fruit needs to boil for 2 hours but once done it is just mixed with the other ingredients then baked for an hour. The cake is very moist with a lovely citrus flavor.

  • cassiemcgannon on November 14, 2012

    I made this with two mandarins and a lemon, as it's hard to get clementines where I live. It's dense and moist. Although it takes a long time (two hours to boil the citrus), you can ignore it for most of that. It's not going on my list of all-time favourites cakes, but the next time I need something that's both low-fuss and wheat-free, I'll be making it again.

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Reviews about this recipe

  • Running With Tweezers

    The smell that wafts through your house while the clementines are cooking is dreamy, making this the ideal dessert around the holidays or for parties.

    Full review
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