Friday, December 27, 2013

Clementine Orange Cake and Carmelitas

One old, one new, these are a few of my favorite things.  I have had some requests for recipes, so here  you go.  I'm too lazy to upload pictures right now though.

I tried the Clementine Orange cake today.  It has a very light texture.  I can't take credit for it- I used a recipe from food network, but I did change it slightly.  Here you go:

5 clementines
6 eggs
1 cup + 2tablespoons sugar
2 1/3 cup flour (this is where the tweak is.  you are supposed to use ground almonds, but I don't keep those on hand and I wanted to do this today.  The almonds make it a bit lighter and change the flavor slightly, plus make it gluten free).
1 heaping tsp baking powder

1. Boil the clementines for two hours.  I know this seems like a long time, and make sure to put plenty of water in the pot.  

2. Preheat oven to 375.  Grease a springform pan (mine is 10 inches, the original recipe says to use an 8 inch one).  I also put wax paper in the bottom of mine to help the cake slide out after baking.

3. When the oranges are cool enough to touch them, puree them (yes, peel, that white stuff and everything).  If you have big seeds, pull out the seeds.  I used my immersion blender for this, but it works in a food processor.  I've read that you can also just chop them by hand and you'll just have a chunkier cake.

4. Beat the six eggs in a separate bowl.  I used my immersion blender for this step as well.  

6. Add sugar to the eggs.  (I used my immersion blender on this too).

7. Add the baking powder and flour, mix until it is well blended.  You'll recognize cake batter.

8.  Fold in the orange puree.  

9.  Pour into springform pan.  Bake for 30 minutes (if you are using the 8 inch pan, bake for closer to 45).  

10.  Allow to cool and then remove cake from pan.  I drizzled a powdered sugar/milk glaze on it while it was still warm and it seeped into the cake, giving it a little bit extra sweetness and moisture.

Guys, this was good. 12/28/13 ETA: the next day, this is even better.  

The other recipe I've been asked to share is for Carmelitas.  I used some other recipes to guide me, but tweaked it enough to call it my own.  Here you go.

2 cups flour
1 3/4 cups oats
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix above ingredients.

Add 1 1/4 cup melted butter and squish together.  A crumbly mixture should form.

Press into a 13x9 pan and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.  

In the meantime, unwrap 1-2 bags of soft caramels (I use the werthers brand, so these bags are a bit smaller than the other brands).  

In a microwave safe bowl microwave caramels and 1 tbsp of milk for 30 seconds.  Stir well.  Continue in microwave in 10 second spurts until caramel is completely melted and blended with the milk.  Add 2 tbsp of flour.

Pull the crust out of the oven and cover with 1 bag of dark chocolate chips.  Then drizzle caramel mixture over the chocolate chips.  Top with the other half of the oatmeal mixture.  Bake for 18 more minutes.

Allow to cool (if you can resist) before you cut, otherwise they get really, really gooey.  

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