Mandarin and Almond Cake: Bake the Isolation Away

I’ve decided that cake is the best way to get through the coronavirus crisis.

It seems that every baker and their dog is using all this extra time at home to dust off old recipes, or invent completely new ones. Like all millennials, I’ve produced pancakes, baked bread, churned out chocolate-chip cookies, and even tried my hand at sourdough.

That last one is still a work in progress. My first sourdough starter, Clint Yeastwood, shrugged off this mortal coil last week. At first he was stretchy, then he was runny, and then was no more.

Hopefully, my new starter (the Yeaster Bunny) will be ready for baking in a few days. But until then, it’s cake all the way.

It takes no time to make, and most importantly, it doesn’t need yeast. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been able to find dry yeast for weeks! I also ran out of flour. Luckily, I had some almond meal squirreled away at the back of the pantry.

Normally, I’d use it to bake my favourite Spanish orange and almond cake. But I didn’t have any oranges either, so I decided to improvise! We’ve just come into mandarin season in Queensland (April to October), so I reckoned they’d work.

Along with some almond flour, a few spices, and some candied mandarin peel, the cake turned out better than I could have imagined!

Easy Mandarin & Almond Flour Cake

If you get it right, this cake sings with fresh citrus flavour. I don’t add spice to my orange cake, but I find that a bit cardamom and cinnamon contrast the fruit and almond for extra deliciousness!

You’ll notice that the batter is quite runny; that’s totally okay. Almond meal works different to regular flour, and the cake is going to be a bit more pudding-like than yo’ average sponge.

You can have it by itself, but I reckon it’s best when served with creamy and tangy Greek yoghurt.

Mandarin and Almond Cake Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Ripe mandarins: Any variety will do, as long as they’re sweet and juicy.
• Almond meal, caster sugar, eggs, and baking powder: Using almond meal makes the cake gluten-free, and also imparts a nutty taste and moist texture. The eggs and baking powder will help it rise and prevent pancaking!
• Cinnamon, cardamom, and sliced almonds: These sweet baking spices will contrast the mandarins nicely, and the almonds are going to toast on top for extra crunch.
• Water, sugar, and mandarin peel: This cake is best when it has a simple mandarin syrup poured on top before serving. The peel will give it flavour, and then become candied. You can use it to decorate the top of the cake along with more mandarin segments!

How to Make this Cake Recipe

You’ll be surprised how simple this mandarin cake recipe really is. (Even better, there’s not much washing up to do afterwards!). You can find the full, printable instructions and ingredients list at the bottom of this post as well.

1. Preheat the oven: to 170°C (340°F). Also grease and line a 24-centimetre springform cake tin with baking paper.
2. Prep the mandies: Cut four mandarins in half, and carefully remove the seeds. Roughly chop them, leaving the skin on. Place them in a large food processor together with 250g of caster sugar, and process until finely chopped.
3. Make the batter: Add 6 eggs, and process again until smooth. Add 250g of almond meal, a teaspoon of each spice, and another teaspoon of baking powder. Pulse until just combined. Be careful not to over-beat.
4. Bake the cake: Transfer to the cake tin, and evenly top with slivered almonds. Bake for 45 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean, and the top is golden brown. Cool for ten minutes, then take out of the tin and put on a rack.
5. Make the syrup: While the cake is baking, prep the mandarin syrup. Place half a cup of water and an equal amount of sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve. Boil for 5 minutes, until a thin syrup forms. Add the peel of two mandarins, finely sliced into thin stripped. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until thick and extra syrupy (about 8 minutes).
6. Prepare the cake: Top the cake with the mandarin syrup and the now candied peel. Top with the segments of the two mandarins from which you took the peel (make sure to get as much of the pith off as possible).
7. Serve: Serve, with Greek yoghurt!

Print Recipe

Mandarin and Almond Cake

This mandarin and almond cake recipe is the perfect way to celebrate citrus season! It's fruity, moist, and just gently spiced. Serve it with Greek yoghurt for best results!

Course

Dessert

Cuisine

Spanish

Keyword

baking, cake, dessert

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

50 minutes

Servings

slices

Ingredients

Cake

• 4 mandarins
• 250 grams caster sugar
• 6 eggs
• 250 grams almond meal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/3 cup slivered almonds

Syrup

• 2 mandarins
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 cup water

Course Dessert Cuisine Spanish Keyword baking, cake, dessert Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 50 minutes Servings slices Ingredients Cake 4 mandarins 250 grams caster sugar 6 eggs 250 grams almond meal 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground cardamom 1/3 cup slivered almonds Syrup 2 mandarins 1/2 cup caster sugar 1/2 cup water

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F). Line a 24-centimetre springform cake tin with baking paper.
2. Cut four of the mandarins in half, and carefully remove the seeds. Roughly chop them, leaving the skin on. Put the remaining two mandarins aside for the syrup.
3. Place the four chopped mandarins in a large food processor, along with the caster sugar, and process until finely chopped.
4. Add the eggs, and process until combined. Add the almond meal, baking powder, cinnamon, and cardamom and process to a smooth batter. Don't over mix, only process until just combined. The batter will be quite runny, don't worry if it looks too wet!
5. Place the batter in the prepared cake tin. Evenly spread the slivered almonds on top of the batter, and then place in the oven to bake. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean and the top is a golden brown. Cool for ten minutes and then remove from the tin and place on a rack to keep cooling.
6. While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup. Peel the remaining two mandarins. Separate the segments, and remove as much of the pith as possible. Slice the peel into thin strips.
7. Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to medium-high, and boil for about 5 minutes or until the consistency is like a thin syrup.
8. Add the slivers of mandarin peel to the syrup and reduce the heat to a simmer. Continue to cook for 8-10 minutes or until a thick syrup has formed.
9. Decorate the top of the cake with the candied mandarin peel, mandarin syrup, and fresh mandarin segments. Serve alongside Greek yoghurt for best results!