CLEMENTINE CAKE WITH FENNEL SEEDS

Prep time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Serves 6-8

There are several variations of this dense cake, which makes the most of winter’s citrus fruit glut. Some use olive oil but I prefer the softness of butter here.

INGREDIENTS –400gor4 clementines, plus zest of ½ clementine – 200g light-brown

caster sugar

– 2 tsp fennel seeds,

crushed

– 150g unsalted butter, softened

– 250g ground almonds – 50g coarse polenta

– 1 tsp baking powder – 4 eggs

For the syrup

– 70g light-brown caster sugar

METHOD

In a large pan, add the four clementines whole and cover them with water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the fruit and reserve 150ml of the water to use for the syrup.

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. Line a 23cm round cake tin with baking paper.

Place the boiled clementines in a food processor, along with the sugar and crushed fennel seeds, and blend into a purée. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the softened butter, ground almonds, polenta and baking powder, and mix.

Add the eggs one at a time, stirring between additions, then combine everything until smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Lower the oven heat to 180C/160C fan/ gas mark 4 and bake for 50-55 minutes.

While the cake is baking, make the syrup. Add the sugar to the saved clementineboiling water, bring it to the boil and let it simmer on a low heat for 15 minutes to thicken and reduce, before removing from the heat.

Insert a skewer or knife into the centre of the cake – if it comes out clean, the cake is baked. Switch off the oven and leave the cake inside for 5-6 minutes. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before turning it out on to a serving plate. Remove the baking paper.

Next, make holes all over the cake with a skewer or cocktail stick, and pour over the sugar syrup. Scatter the clementine zest all over the cake and serve on its own, or with vanilla ice cream or plain yogurt.