Clementine Cake with Spiced Honey Ice Cream
Time & Yield
Time: Start the day before for sorbet and if you are making your own puff, but the cream will only take about 1.5 hours
Yield: 1 Cake; 12-14 Servings
Ingredients
CLEMENTINE CAKE
4 to 5 clementines (about 1 lb. total weight)
6 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
2⅓ cups ground almonds (or almond flour)
1 heaping tsp baking powder
CANDIED ORANGES
1½ cups Raw Cane Sugar
¾ cup water
2 Navel Oranges, sliced into ⅛" rounds (a sharp mandolin works great for this)
WHIPPED VANILLA BUTTERCREAM
1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
4 ½ cups (540g) confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
Salt, to taste
TO GARNISH
Kumquats
Fresh Mint
SPICED HONEY ICE CREAM
Custard Base
8 egg yolks
¼ cup granulated sugar
1½ cups heavy cream
1½ cups whole milk
1 tsp salt
¾ cup wildflower honey
½ tsp vanilla bean paste
Spices
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch of ground cardamom
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground star anise
Recipe
SPICED HONEY ICE CREAM
Start the ice cream by preparing the custard base
Whisk together the egg yolks (8), sugar (¼ cup), and salt (1tsp) until smooth but not overly whipped
Pour the cream (1½ cups) and milk (1½ cups) into a pot and scald it by bringing it up to 180°F. Remove it from the heat and remove one cup of the liquid
Pulling from the separated cup, add one tablespoon at a time of the scalded dairy into the egg yolks – whisking vigorously with each addition. While still whisking, slowly stream the rest of the scalded dairy into the egg yolk until completely incorporated
Transfer the custard base back into the pot and place it over low heat. Stirring constantly in a figure 8 pattern, heat the custard base until it reaches 170°F and is thick and silky. If you heat it too high, you’ll curdle the eggs, so make sure to watch your thermometer closely
Place the honey (¾ cup) and vanilla bean paste (½ tsp) in the bottom of a bowl. Remove the custard base from the heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve over the honey and vanilla. This will remove any chunks or curdled bits of eggs and melt the honey at the same time
Once strained, stir together the custard base and honey until the honey is dissolved. Cover the custard base and refrigerate overnight
Mix together the spices (½ tsp ground cinnamon, 1 pinch of ground cardamom, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ¼ tsp ground star anise) and set aside
Pour the custard base and the spice mix into an electric ice cream maker. Follow the manufacturers instructions for making the ice cream
Once the ice cream has reached a thick soft-serve consistency, remove it and transfer it to a freezer safe container and allow to freeze before serving
CLEMENTINE CAKE
Next, begin the clementine cake by putting the clementines (4-5, leave them whole!!) in a pot with cold water to cover, bring to the boil, and cook for 2 hours. Drain and, when cool, cut each clementine in half and remove the seeds. Then finely chop the skins, pith, and fruit in the food processor (or by hand, of course)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
Butter and line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper
Beat the eggs (6). Add the sugar (1 cup plus 2 tbsp), ground almonds/almond flour (2⅓ cups), and baking powder (1tsp). Mix well, adding the chopped clementines
Pour the cake mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, when a skewer will come out clean; you'll probably have to cover the cake with foil after about 40 minutes to stop the top from burning. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, in the pan on a rack. When the cake is cold, you can take it out of the pan
CANDIED ORANGES
To create the candied oranges for presentation, place the sugar (1½ cups) and water (¾ cup) in a saute pan and stir until the sugar is dissolved
Place pan over medium/high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium/low and add the orange slices (from 2 oranges) to the sugar mixture, spreading them evenly over the surface of the syrup. It's alright if they overlap a bit. Let the orange slices cook for 1 hour, making sure that the syrup is only gently bubbling. After one hour, pull each orange slice out of the syrup and lay on a silicone mat or piece of parchment paper
VANILLA BUTTERCREAM
Next, create the whipped vanilla buttercream. With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter (1 cup) on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes.
Add confectioners’ sugar (4 ½ cups), heavy cream (1/3 cup), and vanilla extract (2 tsp).
Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium-high speed and beat for 4 full minutes.
Add up to 1/4 cup more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin or another Tablespoon of cream if frosting is too thick. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. (up to 1/8 tsp salt.) Frosting should be extra fluffy.
ASSEMBLY
Assemble by cutting your cake in half – I recommend after it has been in the freezer for about 20 minutes because it makes it easier to cut and we recommend using a serrated knife. Add buttercream in between the layers and cover your cake entirely.
Spray or coat the blade of a knife with oil. Use it to cut the candied orange slices in half. Place the candied orange slice halves on the cake as shown in the photos. They will stick right to the cake due to the buttercream, but if you need to dredge them in the syrup you made to get them extra sticky, feel free. To place them over the top of the cake you'll need to cut a small wedge off of each half that you place around the perimeter - the cut sides should face out, lining the edge.
Top the cake with sliced kumquats and fresh mint leaves.
Best eaten the same day baked.
NOTES
Don’t have vanilla bean paste? No problem, switch it out for vanilla extract
Freshly ground spices will give you the best flavor, but store bought pre-ground will work almost as well
You could also made this with an equal weight of oranges and lemons, in which case you would increase the sugar to 1 1/4 cups and slightly anglicize it, too, by adding a glaze made of confectioners' sugar mixed to a paste with lemon juice and a little water
For the buttercream, I usually start with about half of the confectioner’s sugar that is recommended, as I don’t like the frosting very sweet, then I taste and decide how much more I want to add
Source:
Clementine Cake: Food Network
Ice Cream: Food Above Gold
Presentation: The Kitchen McCabe
Buttercream: Sally’s Baking Addiction