Almond St Clements is my absolute favourite gluten free cake. I’m a huge fan of almond, whether they’re raw, blanched, chopped or flaked, salted or coated, it’s my favourite nut by a mile! Combining almond and orange flavours in one cake is winning recipe. This Almond St Clements Cake is delicious, light and there’s always room for an extra slice.
I first discovered this cake while taking a baking course with Konditor and have loved it since.
For more almond based baking look no further than my Flourless Chocolate Cake.
Ingredients:
- 3 large unwaxed or organic oranges
- 1 unwaxed or organic lemon
- 5 medium eggs
- 250g ground almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 325g caster sugar
- 60g flaked almonds
Method:
Turn the oven 165C. Line the base of a 24cm springform cake tin with greaseproof paper. As the cake will shrink while baking, it’s unnecessary to line the sides.
Zest an orange and the lemon and set that aside.
Now juice two of the oranges and the lemon and set that aside. In a saucepan you place the two remaining oranges and cover them with water, bring it to a boil. Then let it simmer for about an hour and remove the oranges and leave them to cool.
Mix the dry ingredients; ground almonds, baking powder and only 250g of sugar, set aside.
Once cooled cut the oranges in segments and make sure there’s no pips. Now blend them to a pulp.
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs until light and fluffy, add the zest from earlier and the pulped oranges, whisk until smooth.
Mix the dry mixture with with the egg & orange mixture, mix until smooth.
Pour the mixture into cake tin, sprinkle the flaked almonds around the edge or as you see fit as they become the decoration on the finished cake. Bake for 35 mins until risen and golden brown.
Towards the tail end of the bake it’s time to make the syrup. Remember the juice you set aside at the beginning? Now it’s time to pour it into a saucepan with the remaining 100g of sugar. Bring it to a boil, while stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let it simmer for about 5 mins.
As the cake comes out of the oven, leave it to cool for a little bit before removing it from the cake tin. Sitting on a wire rack you can brush or gently pour over the syrup. Leave it to cool completely.
The final look should be golden, glistening and completely irresistible!
Almond St Clemens Cake
Ingredients
- 3 Unwaxed or Organic Oranges
- 1 Unwaxed or Organic Lemon
- 5 Medium Eggs
- 250 g Ground Almond
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 325 g Caster Sugar
- 60 g Flaked Almonds
Instructions
- Start with zesting the oranges and the lemon and set that aside covered for later
- Juice one orange and the lemon and set aside for later
- Place the two remaining oranges in a medium sized saucepan, cover them with water and bring to a boil. Let them zimmer for an hour.
- Remove the oranges from the saucepan and leave to cool
- Preheat the oven to 165C fan
- Line a 24cm loose bottom spring tin with greaseproof paper
- When cold, peel the oranges and cut them in pieces making sure there are no pips
- Using a stick blender or a food processor reduce them to a pulp
- Add eggs and the reserved zest to the oranges and mix until smooth
- Separately mix ground almonds, baking powder and 250g of the caster sugar
- Add the orange and egg mix to the dry ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon
- Transfer the mixture into your prepared tin.
- Add the flaked almond around the edge of the tin or in any pattern you prefer
- Cook for about 30-35 mins until golden brown and well risen
- At the end of the bake is when it's time make the syrup
- Add the remaining 75g caster sugar along with the remaining juice you set aside earlier to a small saucepan
- Bring this to the boil while stirring. Once boiling turn it down to a zimmer for 5 mins which will thicken it and make it into a syrup
- With the cake out of the tin, brush the top with the hot syrup and you'll end up a shiny golden surface