Clementines Hiding a Cake

It's up to you.

9 detailed steps, from preparation to service.

1. Preparing the cake

   Turn the oven on at 170 °C in conventional oven setting (no fan). Cover the bottom of the mold with 18 cm of baking paper. Melt 80 g of butter and let it cool for 5 minutes. Weigh 100 g of flour and 4 g of baking powder separately; mix them with a spoon.

2. Mix without beating for a long time

   Break the 2 eggs in a bowl and remove any shell chips. Whisk them 1 minute with 80 g of sugar. Add the warm butter, 60 g of juice and 1 teaspoon of clementine zest. Fold in flour and baking powder into the spatula, just until white traces disappear.

3. Cook and then cool

   Pour into the pan and bake for 23 to 25 minutes in the middle of the oven. A point planted in the center must come out without raw dough. Pull out the mold with oven gloves, wait 10 minutes and then unmold on a wire rack. Leave to cool 1 hour; do not crumble a hot cake.

4. Making a crumb that is shaped

   Put all the cold cake in a bowl. Mix 100 g of mascarpone and 70 g of clementine jam, then incorporate them into the crumb. Press a small handle: it must hold like a soft paste, without flowing. Leave the mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before shaping it.

5. Form two stable fruits

   Divide the mixture into two equal masses. Tighten each mass in cling film to form a ball of about 9 cm. Slightly flatten the underside so that it rests without rolling. Refrigerate for 1 hour, then completely remove the film.

6. Preparing the orange skin

   Take 10 g on the 300 g of marzipan and colors them green with a touch of gel. Colour the remaining 290 g in orange, one tip at a time. Divide the orange paste into two. Powder the plan with a portion of 20 g of icing sugar and spread each portion in a 20 cm disc, about 2 mm.

7. Wrap without large folds

   Place an orange disc on each ball. Smooth from top to bottom with fingers, without shooting. Pinch and cut the small excesses under the fruit, then flatten the junction against the dish. Reserve the offcuts: they can be tasted separately. Use the rest of the icing sugar only if the dough sticks to the roll.

8. Creating Credible Skin

   Cools and then unfolds a clean piece of aluminum foil. Press it lightly on the marzipan to produce small irregular hollows; do not pierce the coating. Make a small depression at the top with the rounded tip of a spoon. Model two small green stars with the 10 g of reserved paste and stick them with a drop of water at the top.

9. Show the surprise

   Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Cut one of the fruits in half with a clean knife, wiped between the cuts. Put half in front of the whole fruit: you have to see a thin orange skin and a compact soft crumb, not real quarters of citrus. Go out 15 minutes before serving.