A Bit of Shopping and a Bit of Baking + Clementine Cake Recipe

On Friday I had a dream that if I did not brush my hair after washing it, I would have long ringlet curls like Shirley Temple had. This is funny because my hair is long and straight, stubbornly so. Who knows why I would dream about that.

This three day weekend is a calm, quiet one. On Saturday the boys went to the mountains. Ellie and I went shopping. She wanted to find a few things for Valentine's day. We also managed to find an amazing deal. We found a fake leather jacket, brand new, for $8. My mother would be proud. I thought that Remmie would go crazy for the fringe, but he does not seem to care about it. Toby, one of our cats, is another story. He will try to eat it, if he can.

She also tried on a few dresses. She likes dresses, but she does not wear them often. There is a dance in February so that could be a reason for a new dress. She said that some day she would like a sequin dress, but this one was too short to work. We thought about reconstructing the midsection, but that is iffy since the fabric is so fluid.

In the end we did not get a dress, but we had a lovely day together and lots of nice chats.

Once home I decided to make the clementine cake that is featured in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." I had wanted to make it since we say the movie earlier in the week. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is a gluten free recipe.

It begins by piercing and heating up whole clementines which are then pureed.

This is added to the cake mix.

While the cake is baking, I made the candied clementines and the glaze.

We were all excited to taste the cake so I removed it from the pan a bit too early. The result was not pretty, but it was very tasty. I had enough batter to make a few cupcakes as well. I will send a few of these to my gluten free friends.

We liked it. Ellie thought it tasted like orange marmalade.

Clementine Cake
via: Country Girl's Daybook
and Cathy Merenda Blog
Cake:
7 small clementines
6 eggs
1 1/4 cup white sugar
2 1/4 cups ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder

Glaze:
2 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar
3 tablespoons softened butter
1/2 cup clementine juice (I used orange juice concentrate)


CANDIED CLEMENTINES
3 clementines
2 cups sugar
1 cup water

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Butter and line an 8 or 9 inch springform pan with parchment.
Poke each clementine 3 or 4 times with a knife. Put the clementines in a bowl with a microwave safe cover or plastic wrap. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes. Cool slightly then dump the clementines (whole) in a food processor and process until smooth.

In large bowl beat eggs and sugar until light colored and doubled in volume (about 5 minutes). Add in chopped clementines and mix well. Then add ground almonds and baking power and mix until combined.

Pour mixture into pan and bake for about 45 minutes (when a skewer will come out clean).

While the cake is baking, make the glaze by mixing everything in a bowl adjusting clementine juice and sugar to make a loose but thick glaze.

You can also make candied clementines for decoration. Slice clementines very thinly.Put sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Add clementine slices and simmer on low for about 15-20 minutes. Pull clementines from sugar mixture and place on parchment or silpat until cool.

Cool in the pan on a rack. Once cake is cold, remove from pan and pull off any parchment.

Glaze and add candied clementines to decorate.