This mandarin orange cake is one of the best and most flavorful cake recipes I have made. I love both mandarin orange and poppyseeds, and the mix of them was incredibly delicious.
Since the day I first made this cake, it became one of my favorite all-time cake recipes.
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Mandarin orange: a must have ingredient in this cake
From your early morning sunshine smoothie to a late sweet dessert at the end of the day, the combinations you can have are quite diverse!
Secrets to make a successful mandarin orange cake
Here are a couple of things you should know about this mandarin orange cake recipe:
It is important to use eggs at room temperature. It is a hint I have learned from my mom that gives me always great results.
Always sift the flour with the baking powder for a perfect distribution, even if it is a flour with baking powder incorporated.
To accentuate the taste and make the cake soft, I recommend soaking the hot cake with the lukewarm or almost cold mandarin cream prepared in this recipe.
In this recipe, I have used fresh mandarins, but you can use any other oranges from their family. The only condition is to use oranges with thin skin so that you will not end up with a bitter cake.
Best Mandarin Orange Cake
Ingredients
For the batter you will need:
- 3 eggs
- 2 medium mandarin oranges
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup melted butter mixed with vegetable oil (you can also use only butter or oil)
- zest and juice of one lemon
- 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 14 g baking powder
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds to sprinkle over the cooking pan (optional)
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- A pinch of salt
(Optional) For the mandarin cream, you will need:
- The juice of 4 mandarin oranges
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp corn starch
(Optional) For the caramelized orange skin, you will need:
- The skin of 4 or 5 mandarin oranges
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
- water
Instructions
Prepare the cake
- To prepare the mandarin orange butter you will need, first, to soak the oranges in hot water and cover them for around 30 minutes.Then, cut the oranges into small pieces while keeping the skin, remove oranges seeds if any before blending them in your food processor.
- Mix well the wet ingredients: eggs, sugar, butter and oil, and lemon juice and zest.
- Add the orange mixture and mix until everything is perfectly combined.
- Now add the flour mixed with the baking powder and mix gently using a spatula. when incorporated, the poppy seeds and the vinegar and mix again.
- Grease a loaf pan using butter or oil spray, sprinkle it with poppy seeds, then transfer the mixture to it.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for around 40 minutes. You can check the cooking by inserting a toothpick. When it comes out clean, the cake is perfectly cooked.
- When the cake is cooked, let it rest for 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan and let it cool in a wire rack.
- Serve it topped with mandarin orange cream and garnished with caramelized mandarin skin.
Prepare the orange cream
The orange cream is not necessary for the cake, but it really adds an intense flavor to it. Here are the steps to make it:
- Put the orange juice and sugar in a saucepan. Then add the cornstarch and stir well with a whisk.
- Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring often.
- When it becomes perfectly creamy, remove it from the heat.
- Allow it to completely cool before using it.
Serve your mandarin orange cake !
This mandarin cake is perfect to start the day. You can serve it at your breakfast along with a Moroccan tea, a lemon smoothie, a lemonade, or any drink of choice.
I serve it quite often with a bit of the orange cream to get more freshness
Enjoy my dears!
More easy recipes
If you love easy and tasty Moroccan and Meditarian food and you are looking for new recipes, consider trying the following ideas:
2 thoughts on “Best Mandarin Orange Cake”
This is so pretty! really tempting
Thanks you 🙂
I’m glad you like it