I found the recipe to this Walter Mitty Clementine Cake on a blog by Cathy Merenda. In her post she talks about how one of the through-lines in the film (Walter Mitty) is this cake. At the beginning of the story, Walter’s sister Odessa delivers him one on his birthday. It's his favorite cake made by his mother (the wonderful Shirley McLane).
I really like this cake because it is gluten free! It is flourless and has whole clementines in it. I also found it super easy to make!
CLEMENTINE CAKE
- 375 grams clementines (approximately 5 small)
- 6 eggs
- 1 1/4 cup (225 grams) white sugar
- 2 1/4 cups (250 grams) ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 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).
- 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.
GLAZE
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 3 tablespoons softened butter
- 1/2 cup clementine juice
- Mix everything in a bowl adjusting clementine juice and sugar to make a loose but thick glaze
CANDIED CLEMENTINES
- 3 clementines
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- 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.
You can also visit her blog to get her story on the cake. Click here.
