I'm not one to make any resolutions when a new year is upon us, but this year I decided to make an intention. Who knows if intentions are that much different to resolutions, but I tell myself they are...hahaha. My intention for 2022 is to be less wasteful, particularly when it comes to food. Before the pandemic I was always binning food that had expired or was spoiled. Often times it was because I'd forgotten about it or was just too lazy to cook or bake.
Out of necessity, especially in the early part of the pandemic in 2020, I was forced to change this behavior. When we were essentially in lock down I wasn't frequenting the stores as I normally would. Plus, certain ingredients were out of stock so I had to make do with what I already had. Pre-planning and creativity, I think, are key to this strategy.
With that mindset I made this Clementine Cake. I'd been staring at the same bowl of clementines since the holidays that were close to their last legs. The fruits were too dry to eat on their own so I had to think of a way to use them up. Guilt prevented me from tossing them in the compost bin. Initially I'd considered making marmalade, but upon realizing how much time (and sugar) went into the process I quickly changed my mind. I vaguely remembered watching an episode of Nigella Lawson where she made a clementine cake using every bit of the fruit, skin and all. Sounded perfect to me!
The recipe can be easily found on the internet and I had all the ingredients (clementines, almond flour, sugar, eggs and baking powder) on hand. The only changes I made to Nigella's recipe were to microwave the fruit for five minutes, instead of boiling it on the stove for 2 hours!, and also adding kosher salt and sliced almonds.
There was definitely some skepticism on my part about how good this cake would taste given how simple it was to make, but one bite and I was a convert. Nigella claimed this cake would be super moist and taste as if it had been soaked in syrup. She wasn't lying. You wouldn't believe the texture; not mushy at all and it had a custard-like texture. It actually reminded me of the cakes you would find at a breakfast buffet in an Italian hotel or bed & breakfast. It needs no embellishment other than a light dusting of powdered sugar. So delicious!
