Orange is the only foods which has a colour named after it! And it’s makes complete sense. I mean, just look at the colour! A beautiful vibrant orange coloured peel with equally beautiful organe coloured flesh.
Orange is my my favourite fruit to eat during winters. And I love using it in my cooking. As soon as you peel the orange or scrape a sliver of zest, the whole kitchen is fragrant and So it makes complete sense that I will bake with it too.
Clementine, a lovely kind of orange, is easy to peel and has a gorgeous sweet and tart taste,which I love as I like my oranges bit tart rather than sweet. And it’s beautiful to bake with. The clementine curd I made to go with this cake is gorgeous.
The poppy seeds in the cake provide a beautiful texture, mascarpone frosting a beautiful creaminess and clementine curd a smooth silkiness. So each bit of the cake feels like an explosion of flavours in your mouth.
I hope you make this amazing cake made with clementine and poppy seeds cake layered with mascarpone cheese frosting. A perfect cake for winter months or a christmas feast. Let’s get baking!
Happy winters day! and merry christmas!
Ingredients
Cake
- 150 gram plain flour maida or all purpose flour
- 125 gram sugar
- 120 gram butter
- 3 eggs small
- 25 ml clementine juice or orange juice
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp clementine zest fresh or orange zest
- pinch of salt
Clementine / Orange curd
- 75 ml clementine juice or orange juice
- 1 tbsp clementine zest or orange zest
- 1 egg
- 75 gram sugar
- 75 gram butter unsalted, cut into 1cm cubes
- 1/2 tbsp corn starch or arrow root powder
Frosting
- 225 gram mascarpone or cream cheese if mascarpone is not available
- 125 gram double cream or heavy cream or pouring cream
- 150 gram icing sugar or frosting sugar
Instructions
Cake
- Grease a 6inch baking round baking
- Sift flour and baking powder
- Beat together the sugar and butter until it's white and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes. Add in the eggs, orange juice and beat on a medium speed until it's fluffy, another 2-3 minutes
- Slowly add in the flour mix until it's fully incorporated
- Mix in clementine zest and poppy seeds
- Bake at 175C for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle
- Remove from oven, let it cool for 10 minutes. Let the cake cool over a wire rack
Clementine / Orange curd
- Beat the eggs and set it aside
- Mix in clementine juice and cornstarch until it's smooth paste
- Set a thick bottom pan on low heat and add in sugar, clementine juice and cornstarch
- Cook, stirring it constantly, until the mixture thickens and is bubbling. About 2-3 minutes
- Pour the hot mix in the beaten eggs while whisking furiously (it's super important to make sure the eggs don't turn into solids)
- Return the mix to the heat until it thickens, about 2-3 minutes. Keep stirring continuously
- Remove the mix from the heat and add in butter. Whisk until the butter melts
Frosting
- Beat icing sugar and butter until fluffy and white, about 3-4 minutes
- Add in the cream and mascarponse and beat for another 2-3 minutes until it's firm and fluffy
Assemble the Cake
