Super Easy Clementine Cake! A moist, delicious triple citrus cake that’s a one bowl wonder! An ideal simple, quick & easy but very delicious holiday dessert!
Super Easy Clementine Cake
Here’s a great Holiday dessert that you can make at any time of year when clementines or other thin skinned oranges are in season.
There is a very popular gluten-free version of a clementine cake out there. It was popularized years ago, on one of Nigella Lawson’s Christmas specials if my memory serves correctly.
That one uses ground almonds in the mix. This one does not.
Super Easy Clementine Cake
This recipe os more akin to a quick coffee cake recipe. I’ve often used yogurt or sour cream in those sorts of cakes in the past, so I thought that was a good place to start in developing this recipe.
A moist, long lasting cake.
The yogurt and oil make this quite a moist cake. The citrus syrup that gets soaked in at the end also adds flavour and keeps the cake fresher and moister for longer.
Pouring the syrup onto the cake
This cake is great to serve simply as a holiday dessert or to slowly enjoy over Christmas week, cut in small slices and shared with visitors.
Either way, there’s something about clementines that just say the Holidays to me. Friends and my sister sampled this cake and all immediately asked for the recipe.
I think this one will show up on a lot of tables this season. Merry Christmas to you all!
Super Easy Clementine Cake, so quick and easy!
Need more seasonal baking inspiration?
If you are looking for more Christmas baking inspiration, we have gathered a collection of our Most Popular Christmas Recipes of the past 12 years
Like this Super Easy Clementine Cake recipe?
If you’re looking for other food gift ideas for the Holidays or just lots of seasonal recipe suggestions for both cooking and baking, be sure to browse our Christmas Recipes Category.
Super Easy Clementine Cake
It’s easy to keep up with the latest home style cooking & baking ideas from Rock Recipes. Be sure to follow Rock Recipes Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram.
Plus you’ll see daily recipe suggestions from decadent desserts to quick delicious weekday meals too.
Super Easy Clementine Cake
You can also sign up for our FREE newsletter to know immediately when we add new recipes. You’ll also get weekly suggestions for great family friendly meals and desserts too!
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Super Easy Clementine Cake!
Super Easy Clementine Cake! A moist, delicious triple citrus cake that's a one bowl wonder! An ideal simple, quick and easy but very delicious holiday dessert!
Ingredients
For the cake
- 4 clementines (see note)
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2/3 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking power
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the citrus syrup
- 1/3 cup orange or clementine juice
- Peels of 2 clementines cut into small strips (or just the zest if not making candied peel garnish)
- 1/3 cup water
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1 1/2 ounces orange liqueur, (optional. Orange Brandy, Cointreau or Triple Sec work well.)
For the glaze
- 1 cup icing sugar
- zest of one or two clementines
- 1 tbsp milk, approximately
For the candied clementine peel
- 1 cup sugar, approximately
- the simmered peels from the syrup
Instructions
To prepare the cake
- Add the 4 clementines to a microwave safe bowl.
- Cover the bowl with a plate or plastic wrap. If using plastic wrap, poke a few holes in it to release steam.
- Microwave on high for 3 minutes.
- Uncover and allow the clementines to cool slightly before adding them to a food processor or blender and pureeing until smooth.
- Grease a 9 inch springform pan or 3 inch deep pan and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Add the eggs to the processor with the pureed fruit and pulse only until just combined.
- Add the yogurt, oil and vanilla extract and pulse until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and pulse again, just until the flour is completely combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for about an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Mine took about an hour and 10 minutes. I began checking it at 50 minutes. Rely on the toothpick test to make sure it is fully baked.
- Cool the cake in the pan.
While the cake is baking prepare the syrup to soak the cake when it cools.
- Add all of the ingredients, in the syrup, except the liqueur, to a small saucepan.
- Simmer very slowly for just a about 5 minutes until the sugar is fully dissolved.
- If it gets too thick, just add a little water or juice to thin it, or if adding an orange liqueur, add it after the syrup comes off the stove.
- Strain the candied clementine peel pieces from the syrup.
- When cake is cool or still slightly warm, poke holes in the surface of the cake with a metal or wooden skewer.
- Spoon or slowly pour the syrup all over the surface of the cake.
- A squirt bottle gives good control over this step. Add it in a couple of additions letting it soak for a few minutes in between if you like.
- Cover the cake pan and leave the syrup to soak in for several hours or overnight.
To complete the cake
- Transfer the cake to a cake plate, flat side up.
- Mix together the glaze ingredients until very smooth.
- This should be a relatively thick glaze, but thin enough to drip. If your glaze is too thin, just add a little more icing sugar or too thick, a few more drops of milk, until it gets to the right consistency.
- Pour gently on the cake, teasing it over the edge with a small spatula.
- Garnish with candied clementine peel.
Notes
Note. There is plenty of clementine flavour in this cake but I am an addict of intense citrus flavour. I add one or two additional clementine peels when heating the fruit in the microwave.
This is optional and should probably be attempted on your second time trying the recipe. There is more than enough citrus flavour in the recipe without the addition.
Nutrition Information
Yield
16Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 435Total Fat 12gSaturated Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 47mgSodium 95mgCarbohydrates 76gFiber 1gSugar 51gProtein 6g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.