Maple, Raspberry & Clementine Cake

This is officially the first baked good that I’ve made where I didn’t use another recipe as a guide. This was entirely a creative project that serendipitously ended up in a moist, delicious cake. Phew! I’m so excited to share this recipe. The flavours are fresh, but still highlight some winter fruits (i.e. clementines) and it isn’t too heavy.

This cake gets its beautiful pink hue from beet powder! I love using natural colouring in my food, and the beet powder adds a gorgeous colour without adding any flavour.

This cake is grain free, gluten free, mostly dairy free (but-for the butter) and naturally sweetened. I’d love to say that it could be made into a vegan cake, but eggs are too important in this recipe (sorry!). One day, I’ll try my hand at a vegan cake.

Ingredients:

For the cake -

3 eggs

1/2 cup maple sugar

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups almond milk

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups almond flour

1 cup arrowroot flour

zest of 2 clementines

For the Swiss buttercream frosting -

2 egg whites

1/2 cup maple sugar

1/2 cup room temperature butter

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

1/2-1 tbsp beet powder

For the filling -

1/3 cup fruit juice sweetened raspberry jam

juice from 1/2 a clementine (or a whole one if they’re small)

1/2 cup fresh raspberries, sliced in half

Cooking Instructions:

Start by making the cake. You’ll need to pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease two 18 cm spring form cake pans. 18 cm cake pans are mini cake pans. I’m a big believer that we eat baked goods in portions that are far too large, given that baked goods generally don’t contain many healthy ingredients and they contain a lot of sugar. We all could stand to bake less, but if you love baking (like me) then I think smaller sizes are critical. This cake is petite, and it produces cake slices that are 1/2 or 1/3 the size of a normal slice of cake.

Begin by adding the eggs and the maple sugar to your stand mixer (or a bowl with electric beaters). Whip the eggs and maple sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture becomes thin and pale, and you can make a ribbon with the whisk. While it mixes, put the almond milk in a bowl and add the 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar. Doing this makes a sort of buttermilk, which will help add tenderness to the sponge.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients, including the almond flour, arrowroot, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Once you have ribbons in your egg and maple mixture, alternate between adding the dry ingredients and the almond milk. Once mixed, add the clementine zest and then mix just until blended. Split the cake batter between the two cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

While your cakes bake, take a break. You’ll need time for them to bake and cool, so this isn’t the time to start your frosting. Do that once the cakes are out of the oven!

When your cakes are baked, take them out of the oven, let them cool for about 15-20 minutes and then pop them in the fridge to cool completely. Now prepare your filling and your frosting.

The filling is super easy. Add the jam to a bowl and then add the clementine juice. You don’t want too much clementine juice, because a thin jam will run out of the sides of the cake. You want it to stay thick, but you also want it to take on some clementine flavour.

For the frosting, put about an inch of water in a small pot on the stove, and then place your mixing bowl over the pot with the two egg whites and the 1/2 cup of maple sugar. Over the double boiler with simmering water (gently simmering!) and whisk until the mixture reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. I suggest using a thermometer for this. Once it reaches the desired temperature, add the mixing bowl to the stand and whip on medium-high speed until firm peaks form. Doing this on medium speed will take a while (up to 20 minutes) but you’ll have a much more stable frosting if you’re patient. When firm peaks form, start adding the butter tablespoon by tablespoon, letting each chunk of butter incorporate before adding the next. Once the buttercream is light and fluffy (a few minutes), add the vanilla, the salt (only if using unsalted butter) and the beet powder. Once the beet powder is incorporated, you’re ready to decorate!

To assemble, take your first layer of cake and slice a thin layer off the top. I like to do this so that the jam has the ability to soak into the cake a bit, making it ultra-moist. Once you’ve layered on the jam, add the sliced raspberries. Place the second layer on top, and then frost with the Swiss meringue buttercream. Now you’ll notice that you don’t have a ton of buttercream, and that is intentional. We eat way too much sugar in North America (even natural sugars) so I’m a big fan of using frosting in moderation. I’ve iced this cake in a sort of “naked cake” fashion, so that the amount of icing is limited. I also don’t like things that are too sweet, so this is preferable for people like me who don’t like cloying desserts.

Once you’re done frosting, add a few sprinkles or whatever other decoration you like, and enjoy!!