This clementine cake is easy to make and naturally gluten-free. A delicious citrus flavor, festive glaze & wonderfully moist.

This post may contain affiliate links, where we earn from qualifying purchases. See more details in the policy page.

I'll be the first to admit, Holiday desserts is somewhere we are not that flexible. Granted I've not been eating Thanksgiving meals all my life. But of the years I have, we've always had pumpkin pie. Christmas, if we're in our house or my parents at least, is also always rounded off with a Christmas pudding. But I appreciate others might like some ideas to change things up.

And by different, I specifically wanted to not make a pie. After all, even if it's not pumpkin, let's face it a pie is on most Thanksgiving tables. Instead, I have gone for this clementine cake with cranberry glaze and I am so glad I did. It's wonderfully moist and has a lovely citrus flavor. And just wait until you hear how it's made.

A cake to fit a tin

Every now and again, I get a new tool to add to my kitchen collection. It's not all that often - for one thing, our kitchen seems to really lack storage space and so I prefer to add useful things. Well, mainly. Earlier in the year I bought a bundt cake pan for the first time.

I did make more cakes (and we all loved the sour cream apple cake) but I still didn't use the bundt tin. Bundts have that festive feel to them, and so I thought the Holiday dessert theme was the push I needed to use it. This clementine cake is something I have made a variation of before and seemed the perfect fit. With the cranberry glaze, this makes a stunningly festive dessert.

I first came across orange almond cake years ago and was intrigued by how it was made. My first attempt at it was a bit off the mark as I over-reduced the sugar. However I liked the general idea. We got some incredibly delicious clementines recently and for some reason they sparked my memory of that cake.

I decided I wanted to make it as a clementine cake, and this time I loved the result. Moist, flavorful and so easy to make, it's definitely one I'll make again. It's not a super-rich cake, so it's also the sort of cake great to serve with tea or coffee if you have people over.

How to make clementine cake

This is what makes this cake unusual. This clementine cake is made with the whole fruit, skin and all. You boil the clementines to soften up the skin and pith and take out any bitterness. Then you whizz them up with eggs, almond flour, baking soda, sugar and honey. No more ingredients than that. Bake it then leave it to cool before glazing.

You don't need to glaze it, but personally I kind of think you do. Not only does it take it from pretty to stunning, it tastes really good too.

This clementine cake is flavorful and so moist. It's not wildly decadent, but personally I think with everything else you might have over the Holidays, it's a nice change. It's easy to make and while I have made it in a bundt tin, you don't have to. It works just as well in a regular cake tin. But to really show it off, I do think the mould helps.

A zesty citrus flavor, not too heavy and a delicious cranberry glaze to top it off, this clementine cake is perfect on any table. It might even sneak onto ours over the Holidays.

Try these other cake recipes:

Austrian apricot cake
French pear cake
Apple snack cake
Strawberry bundt cake
Plus get more dessert recipes in the archives.

I used my Nordic Ware Heritage Bundt Pan to make this which worked really well.

See more of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store.

Clementine cake with cranberry glaze (GF)

Print Recipe

5 from 6 votes