Can I Use Tangerines For The Chocolate Orange Cake?

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Orange Cake (from FEAST is a gluten-free cake that is made by simmering whole oranges until soft, then blitzing them, skin and all, in a food processor with the remaining ingredients. The baked cake has a damp texture and an intense chocolate-orange flavour. It is perfect as a dessert, but equally good with a cup of tea or coffee.

You can use tangerines or clementines rather than oranges. The recipe suggests using 375g of citrus, which is usually 1 large or 2 small oranges and should be 3-4 tangerines or clementines. As tangerines are usually smaller and thinner-skinned than oranges, you may not need to simmer them for as long as the oranges and we suspect they will take about 1½ hours. Start checking the tangerines after 1 hour and 15 minutes to see if they are completely soft. If not, simmer for a further 10-15 minutes and check again. Repeat until the tangerines are soft all the way through, then drain, cool and process with the other cake ingredients.