Clementine & cranberry soft cakes

December is a period when tangerines become the top desired thing to see, smell and eat. I never celebrated Christmas outside my country, but here in Russia no one would consider it a holiday without huge boxes of sweet orange fruits. Personally, I love tangerines, especially clementines (hybrid between a manadarin and a sweet orange). And as you know, orange colour stimulates creative thinking and enthusiasm, while citrus smell is a top mood-booster. Great mood is what we need during holidays:)

Today's dessert is originally made with clementines and cranberries. But it is so flexible, that you can add any fruits you want! The taste will be great anyway. I tried pinapples, cherries, currants. They all worked good, just I think the original combination is the best.

Generally they are similar to muffins, maybe even softer. The texture is amazing, very airy, plus clementines and berries give their juice making the pastry melt in your mouth. Remember when you dip ladyfingers just a bit in coffee - that's the texture you would  feel eating these cakes.

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 180C

2. Grease 7-8 ramekins and line the bases with a disk of baking parchment

3. Peal clementines, cut into round slices, sprinkle each slice with a little sugar and place 1 in the bottom of each ramekin.

4. (Everything will be mixed in one large bowl)
 Put the butter (not cold) and sugar in a large bowl. Mix with an electric hand whisk until smooth and fluffy (about 1 min); add 1 egg - mix, add another egg - mix again; add 250g of flour, 2 tbsp of baking powder -mix; add clementines zest, 100 ml of milk, 100g of cranberry - gently mix with a whisk. You will get a very smooth mixture.

5. Fill the ramekins (clementines in the bottom) with a mixture and bake for 30 mins until risen, golden, and an inserted skewer comes out clean. (Time depends on your oven of course, just make sure they are ready). Leave to cool in the ramekins for 10-15 min while you make the syrup.

SYRUP:
Heat the clementine juice, orange liqueur (if you wish) and sugar in a small pan, swirling until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil for a few mins, until the liquid has reduced by about half. Pour into a shallow dish and leave to cool for 5 mins.

When cool enough to handle, turn the cakes out of their ramekins and peel away the parchment. Stand in the dish of syrup, spooning it over the little cakes until completely absorbed. I propose to leave the cakes for an hour so they are completely ready for serving. By the way, I prefer to cut them with a knife like a cake, and when they are absorbed and moist it's very easy to do.

It may look like there is much to do, but the recipe is very very simple. Ingredients are basic, we just mix them in a bowl and design the result a bit:) I hope you will love it and this dessert will be in your favoutites list:)