Baking Vegan

Vegan Clementine Cake

Moist and aromatic, this delicious sponge cake uses whole clementines - peel and all - so be sure to use fruit with thin peel. It's best the day after baking, so we recommend you let it sit overnight to even out the flavours from the citrus

20 minutes prep, 1 hour, 15 minutes cook

Ingredients

3–4 clementines (200g)

Plant-based milk, if required

100g margarine

270g sugar

150ml aquafaba

270g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 pinch salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F/gas 4. Grease and add crumbs to a round tin measuring 20–22cm in diameter, or prepare with baking paper.

Put the whole clementines in a small saucepan and remove the stalk from the top of each. Add water to halfway up the fruit, cover and let them simmer for 30 minutes. The water should not be allowed to evaporate as the fruit will burn. Remove the fruit from the saucepan, cut into pieces and remove the pips. Do this on a plate to save the liquid for the purée.

Blend the whole fruit and the juice from the plate into a smooth purée. Remove any pips that you might have missed. Pour into a measuring jug and if you do not have 150ml, top up with milk to the right amount.

Melt the margarine and mix with the fruit purée; mix to a fully emulsified purée. Whip the sugar and aquafaba until frothy. Carefully mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients and the fruit mixture to the frothy aquafaba and mix with a spatula until smooth without overworking.

Swipe the spatula around the sides of the bowl to incorporate any leftover flour. Pour the batter into the tin and bake in the centre of the oven at 175°C/350°F/gas 4 for 35–45 minutes. Test with a skewer until it comes out clean from the middle of the cake.