Last weekend Christoph and I spent our Saturday night in, which is usually how we spend our Saturday nights anyway. We get up to a lot during the week so we’re usually pretty tired by the end of it. Plus, we’re lazy and it’s winter here in Toronto. As usual we tried to find something good on Netflix and this time it was The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Usually, I’m not much for Ben Stiller movies since most of them tend to be goofy comedies. Not saying that I lack a sense of humour but I’m more into the dark comedy types. If you’ve seen The Secret Life of Walter Mitty then you’ll know for the most part that the movie isn’t a typical Ben Stiller flick but instead has a lot of great shots and scenes as well as a pretty great story. You’ll also know that this clementine cake plays an important role in the movie.
Ever since I was a child I found that food within movies or stories has always stuck with me. Even if I can’t remember a plot of a movie I always remember the food. As in the chocolate cake from Matilda, a bavarian cream cookie from Stranger Than Fiction, or even the donuts with goose livers from Fantastic Mr. Fox. Yes, I’ve thought about eating donuts with goose livers.
But back to the cake. This recipe comes from Nigella Lawson’s Clementine Cake which is made from whole clementines and almond flour. It’s naturally gluten free and oil free. To be honest the cake wasn’t exactly what I was looking for and doesn’t exactly match the cake seen in the movie but it’s definitely close. It’s extremely simple to make, has a lovely damp texture, and a very interesting slightly bitter note from the clementine skins. It also gets better the longer you keep it.
Clementine Cake (gluten free, oil free)
Recipe found here
Clementine Icing
Makes enough icing for one cake
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 TBSP fresh clementine juice
pinch of salt
Mix ingredients together until smooth and quite thick. Smooth on top of the cooled cake and gently push over the sides.
Candied Clementines
1 medium clementine
3 TBSP caster sugar
1 TBSP water
Slice the clementine into thin slices and lay flat in a medium sized pan. Sprinkle over the sugar and water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes or until the sugar and water has thickened. Take off the heat and let cool.
cored + diced 