Chocolate Clementine Log Recipes

CHOCOLATE CLEMENTINE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans.
• Finely grate zest from 2 clementines and set aside. Juice all 4 clementines into a measuring cup; add enough water to reach 1 cup.
• Pour clementine juice into a large bowl. Add zest, cake mix, eggs, oil, orange extract, vanilla extract, salt, and red food coloring. Blend with an electric mixer until batter is smooth, about 2 minutes. Divide batter into greased cake pans and smooth the top.
• Bake cakes in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 24 to 29 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack, about 30 minutes more.
• Transfer cakes to a flat surface. Carefully trim the tops of the cakes with a sharp knife to level them; cut each layer in half horizontally. Transfer one cake layer to a serving plate and spread with 1/2 cup of the frosting; top with another cake layer and 1/2 cup of frosting. Scatter chopped clementine over the frosting. Stack and frost third and fourth cake layers. Arrange clementine wedges around the perimeter of the top layer.

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED CLEMENTINES

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel and segment clementines, set aside. Gently melt chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave or over a double boiler. Working in small batches, dip segments in chocolate and transfer to parchment-lined sheet. Immediately sprinkle segments with a few grains of salt before the chocolate begins to set. Once all pieces have been dipped, set the sheet aside until chocolate hardens. To quickly harden chocolate, transfer baking sheet to the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

CLEMENTINE AND CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a fluted tube pan (such as Bundt®).
• Puree clementines and apple in a food processor or blender. Place in a large mixing bowl or on in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add sugar, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Mix well. Add whole wheat and all-purpose flours, baking soda, and salt. Blend and then add chocolate chips for a quick incorporation. Transfer to the prepared cake pan.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

CHOCOLATE & CLEMENTINE LOG

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a roughly 37 x 25cm tin with baking parchment. Melt the chocolate over a pan of barely simmering water. Set aside to cool while you get everything else ready. Whisk the yolks and brown sugar until pale and thick enough to hold a trail. Whisk in the cocoa, chocolate, clementine zest and juice. Whisk whites until stiff, whisk a third into chocolate mixture, then fold in the rest. Transfer to tin, gently spread to corners and bake for 16 mins until firm to touch.
• Meanwhile, dust a large sheet of baking parchment with a little cocoa. When the cake is done, turn it out onto the parchment. Don't remove the paper stuck to the bottom of the cake - just roll the cake up with the paper inside from one of its longer sides. Leave to cool. This can be made a day ahead: wrap it in cling film or keep in an airtight container once cool.
• For the frosting, melt the chocolate, cream and icing sugar together in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Cool and chill until spreadable. Or chill for up to 24 hrs, then leave at room temp until spreadable again.
• For the clementine cream, whisk the cream, crème fraîche, icing sugar, clementine zest and juice until thick. Chill for up to 24 hrs.
• To make the decoration, melt the caster sugar with 100ml water in a small pan and gently bubble. Peel the zest from the clementine with a vegetable peeler. Thinly shred into strips, then drop into the bubbling syrup. Simmer for 2 mins, then turn off and leave for another 2 mins. Scatter a little extra sugar onto a plate. Lift out the shreds with a slotted spoon and toss in the sugar. Set aside to dry.
• To assemble, gently unroll the sponge and peel off the paper. Squeeze over juice from final peeled clementine. Thinly spread with a tiny bit of the chocolate frosting, then spread with half to two-thirds of the clementine cream. Carefully roll back up and trim each end. Transfer to a serving plate and cover with the rest of the chocolate frosting, using a round-bladed knife to stripe the surface. Scatter with the sugared clementine peel and silver balls and/or stars, if you like. Serve with remaining clementine cream.