Clementine Lavender Cake | Inspired By "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty"

If you have seen the fantastic film "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty"- you'll remember the famous "Clementine Cake" baked by Mrs. Mitty. All throughout the movie you see it make special appearances. Slices of this cake made it from New York to Greenland on a fishing boat- and even brought peace to the Afghani war lords. Naturally, I had to look it up and bake one of my own. And let me tell you, Taylor and I still haven't recovered from the sheer amazingness of this cake.

The recipe is naturally gluten free- using almond meal in place of traditional flour. I made several other alterations to suit my taste (including the addition of lavender.) The most time consuming part is boiling down the clementines for the mix- and then candying the other clementines for the top.

Ingredients for cake mix:

6 eggs

1 cup coconut sugar (or regular sugar - I just prefer coconut for mine!)

8 to 9 clementines (5 to 6 for boiling down in the cake mix- and 2 to 3 for candying on the top)

2 and 1/3 cups of ground almonds (almond flour/meal)

1 heaping teaspoon of baking powder

1 T of food grade dried lavender

Method:

Put 5 to 6 of the clementines in a pot with plenty of cold water to cover, bring to a boil, and cook down for near 2 hours. (Be sure to check the pot every now and then to make sure the water level isn't too low) Drain fruit and when cooled- slice each clementine in half and remove the seeds. Then finely chop the skins, pith, and fruit in your food processor (or by hand, if that suits you better).
Preheat the jolly oven to 375 degrees F.
Butter and line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
Beat the eggs well. Pour in the sugar, almond meal, lavender, and baking powder. Mix mix mix! Adding the chopped clementines little by little. I suggest stirring by hand for this portion instead of the processor.
Pour the lovely cake mixture into the prepared pan and bake for approximately 1 hour, till a toothpick comes out clean. (You can even under bake it by a few minutes to keep it extra moist) I recommend covering the cake with foil after about 30-40 minutes to keep the top from burning.

Remove your beautiful creation from the oven and leave to cool thoroughly in the pan. When the cake is cold, carefully remove from spring foam pan. I personally think it tastes even more delicious the day after it's made, but I wouldn't complain about eating it anytime. Truly.

Ingredients for the glaze:

3 T of salted butter

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 cup clementine juice (or lemon juice works as well)

1 T clementine zest (or lemon zest)

1 T dried lavender for sprinkling on top

Method:

Soften butter- and mix together all elements in small bowl. For thicker frosting- add more confectioners sugar. For runny, add a bit of milk or cream. Gently spoon glaze over top of cake.

Ingredients for candied clementines:

2 to 3 clementines

1 cup water

1 1/2 cup raw sugar

Method:

Pour water into medium saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Pour in sugar and stir as it dissolves. Lower heat and place your thinly sliced clementines in the syrup. Simmer for 20 to 30 min. With a spoon, lift each clementine slice from pan and place on baking sheet to dry and crystalize.

And there you have it, folks! I hope you enjoy this cake as much as we do. Feel free to give feedback and the ways you personalized it for your own preference.

-Mckay