And so it begins.

Another year. Another year of learning to cook. Another year of baking adventures. Another year of trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up.

Whilst pondering these questions, I thought I’d start 2013 with a cake I have long wanted to make: Nigella Lawson’s Clementine Cake from her cookbook How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food.

I remember watching an episode of one her cooking programs where she made this luscious cake (if I remember correctly she made it at night and was wearing a silk robe …). Many Christmases have passed since and I’ve promised myself many times that I’d try this cake and I finally got around to it.

With just five ingredients (no flour among them), this is an easy cake to put together and there’s something supremely seasonal and satisfying about poaching the clementines. The aroma in your kitchen is worth it alone.

Serve it with a dollop of something tangy like Greek yogurt or creme fraiche.

It’s rich and moist and tangy – here’s hoping that 2013 is as well. Happy New Year.

(You can find the recipe for this delicious cake on Nigella’s site.)