Summary: Oh so citrusy! This cake is dense and moist and gooey. This is Mummy Asks new favourite! It is a quite different to a usual cake. You will need about 3-4 mandarins for the cake. You could use tangerines, oranges or tangelos instead. This post was updated in 2020 with a new photo
Ingredients
- 250g whole mandarins
- 85 g butter, melted
- 100ml flavourless vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/3 cups caster sugar
- 200g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tblsp baking powder
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 180C.
- Wash the mandarins and add the whole mandarins to a small saucepan of water and bring to the boil. Allow mandarins to boil for 30 minutes and then drain and cool until cool enough to touch.
- Cut the mandarins in half and remove pips. Puree mandarins (skin still on) in the food processor.
- Add the butter, oil, eggs, sugar to the mandarin puree and mix well.Add flour, salt and baking powder and process until just mixed.
- Pour the batter into a greased and lined cake tin. I used a large loaf tin originally and a high sided 8″ round in the recent pic.
- Bake in the oven for 50 mins (this may vary depending on the juiciness of the fruit so check at 40 mins) until a skewer comes out clean. Mine was perfect after 50 mins. It should be very brown and may crack on top, that’s fine.
- Allow to cool in the tin for 15 mins then cool on a tray. Dust with icing sugar and serve.
UPDATE:
A while back, Shirley asked if this cake froze well. I wasn’t sure, so passed on some links about freezing cakes. Shirley got back to me with this great pic of her cake and says:
I made and froze a slab of this cake and 2 slabs of chocolate cake. Defrosted them months later, layered with white chocolate ganache filling, then smothered the whole thing in milk chocolate ganache frosting, then covered top with drizzles down the side with dark chocolate ganache glaze. All for a special boys 21st. Was a great hit.
Thanks Shirley!
27 Comments
I’ve made this cake so many times successfully and given away quite a few to rave comments. I still have heaps of mandarin on the tree.
Oh I’m so glad you have had good results! I really loved this cake and I’m so thrilled to hear that you loved it too! Thank you so much for coming back to leave a comment. S xxx
I made this cake tonight and it smells beautiful. I substituted 1/3 flour for almond meal. This recipe is light like a butter cake but smells glorious. I prefer it to the all almond meal version.
Thanks for letting me know Andrea! I love hearing that people are making delicious thing and it’s great to hear substitutions too. I really glad you enjoyed it xxxx
Made this cake a number of times in a round tin. Always magic and I am by no means a baker. Another bonus is the flour as most mandarin cake recipes call for almond meal and I hate the taste.Thanks for a foolproof, wonderful recipe
Hi Sarah.. great cake.. I substituted half organic spelt flour – and used dark brown sugar and only 1 cup – then candied some mandarin peel thinly sliced in water and jaggery (Indian unprocessed sugar) till it was dark candied .. put a little of that on top of the cake before cooking – then served it with some more of that on the side and creme fraiche. It dropped a bit when it came out of the oven.. but was delicious. Will definitely make it again.. thanks for the inspiration.
I am so glad you enjoyed this cake and that all your changes worked well – they sound delicious!
This is a beautiful receive. Replaced 1/2 the flour with almond meal and only added 1 cup dark brown sugar. My husband is not a sweet/cake eater however has just asked for me to make this cake again. Thanks
Do you think this cake would freeze well? Would like to bake a few while I have the mandarins
I can’t see why it wouldn’t freeze! If you need more info on freezing cakes, I found this useful. Happy baking!
Thanks, made a double lot yesterday and half is in the freezer, other half has been demolished. Glad you put the weight of mandarins in the recipe. My 3-4 mandarins weighed over 500gms , not 250 :). Don’t know what would have happened if I had just counted them!
So great to hear that you have enjoyed this recipe! I do take care with my directions and measurements so the the results are easily repeatable. Your comment made me so happy! All the working out is worth it xxx
I made and froze a slab of this cake and 2 slabs of chocolate cake. Defrosted them months later, layered with white chocolate ganache filling, then smothered the whole thing in milk chocolate ganache frosting, then covered top with drizzles down the side with dark chocolate ganache glaze. All for a special boys 21st. Was a great hit. Would include a photo but don’t seem able to.
That sounds awesome! Please email me a picture and any info you’d like to accompany it and I will add it to the post! S xx
Absolutely loved this cake! Made it in my Thermomix. Sliced it and froze for my boys lunches. Freezes really well. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you
Oooh! Good to know it freezes well. I’m so glad you enjoyed it xxx
I made this Mandarin cake and gave some to my next Door Neighbour who described it as “Spectacular” and has put in an order for another one! Very pleased with how easy it was to follow!
I am so glad you like this recipe, it has been very popular! I have lots of cake recips but you might like my stupidly easy carrot cake too. Happy baking!
Fantastic recipe, so easy and delicious. Kids love it! One observation, I’ve baked using baking powder and when I didn’t have baking powder just using self raising flour. Both version turned out well but thought self-raising flour raised better. Have you tried this as well? What are your thoughts?
Glad this has been popular in your house! I haven’t tried self raising as I don’t usually have it on hand but its a great tip and I might add a note to the recipe.
Happy Baking xx
Amazing recipe!! I was so sceptical about baking cakes in general until I tried your mandarin cake… made it in a round cake tin… it turned out sooo moist and utterly delicious and has undoubtedly become our household favourite! Tried it again within a fortnight and it came out just as delicious!… easy recipe to follow with amazing results!!… shared it with my neighbour and she loved it too!!… Baking a delicious cake has been on my bucket list for a while now and you helped me tick that one off proudly!!!!!… thanks heaps x
Oh it makes me so happy that you have found cake baking joy with this recipe! If you are looking for another one to add to your reportoire, you might like my carrot cake too! Thanks you for the comment and happy baking xxx
I made this cake today and just had a slice for sweets. It is a really delicious and moist cake that was easy to make. Thankyou for sharing the recipe.
Oh I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this! Thank you for letting me know. Happy Baking xxx
I’ve made this cake multiple times now, it’s delicious!!
I’ve previously added 1/4 cup of poppy seeds , and it provided a lovely texture.
Just about to attempt with lemons as I have them in surplus supply atm. Wish me luck!
Poppy seeds would make a lovely addition and I cant wait to hear how your lemon version goes!
What a wonderful recipe! Had a lot of mandarins and wanted to use them up before they spoiled. Had to make do with what I had in the pantry (currently in lockdown due to the covid virus). Found this recipe and it was so simple. So I replaced the flour with the self-rising equivalent and used brown sugar. It was so delicious and came out just as described. My husband just loved it and it was so comforting to eat especially during this tough time. Thank you!