Clementine almond cake

Do you go through crates of clementines every winter like I do? I can't get enough of them before Christmas, and can easily eat ten a day. After Christmas, though, I find I don't care for them nearly as much. They still taste good, but they just don't call out to me the same way. Every year I buy a box in January and they hang around until I have to throw the last few away. This year I decided to make a cake with some of them, and if the batter was any indication, I'll be buying a lot more clementines. (It's still in the oven as I write this)

This is a Nigella Lawson recipe, which I found on the Food Network website, as well as on Smitten Kitchen. The recipes are the same, but the SK site has the weight measurements, and lots of good tips about baking the cake. Do you read the comments when you look up recipes? I always do, because (a) I'm nosy, and (b) I like to know what other bakers thought. It's funny that the same cake got rave reviews and people were generally enthusiastic about it on the SK site, but many on the Food Network thought it was a lot of work, and not sweet enough. Different audiences, I suppose. I thought this was an incredibly easy cake to make. 2 hours of unattended boiling for the clementines, a quick whirl in the food processor, and the rest can be mixed together by hand. I even blanched my own almonds and ground them, but that's only because I'm a nut. Actually, I have a store nearby that sells the freshest and tastiest nuts, and I'd rather use them than some flavourless, overpriced dust.

I managed to leave the cake overnight before tasting it, and it was well worth the wait. It was very moist, orangey, sweet enough, but with a very slight marmalade bitterness, and a bit crunchy from the almonds. I saw Meyer lemons on sale the other day, and I think they'd be marvelous here too. I served it with some candied orange peel, but only because I have a quart jar of it in the fridge and need to use it up. You really don't need anything but a fork.

Clementine cake
Source: Nigella Lawson via Smitten Kitchen
4 or 5 clementines (mine weighed about 400 grams, or just under a pound)
6 eggs
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar (225 grams)
2⅓ cups ground almonds (250 grams), or whole, blanched almonds
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

1. Cover the clementines with cold water, bring to a boil, and simmer for 2 hours. Drain and cool to room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 375℉. Grease an 8" springform pan and line with parchment. (I used a 9" pan)
3. If you are beginning with whole almonds, combine them and the sugar in the food processor and process until finely ground. Add baking powder and pulse to mix. If you have purchased ground almonds, go to the next step.
4. Cut clementines in half and remove any seeds. Add the cooked clementines, peel and all to the  food processor and process until reduced to a thick orange puree. This will only take a few seconds.
5. Beat eggs and add almonds, sugar and baking powder. Add the clementines and mix well.
6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. You may need to cover the cake with foil after 30 minutes or so to prevent over-browning. I took mine out after 50 minutes, but I discovered that it was still a bit squidgy in the very centre, and I should have used the foil and left it in the oven a few more minutes.
7. Cool in pan on rack. Unmold when cool. This cake is best made the day before, and it keeps well. You may sprinkle the top with icing sugar or make a simple icing sugar and clementine juice glaze, but it really doesn't need it. 

I have submitted this for Sweets for a Saturday.