Hello! It's been a while, I know! I haven't been creating many new recipes recently, it mostly been me remaking my favourite ones which is why you haven't seen anything new on here for a while.
Anyway, it's winter here in NZ which means citrus is in abundance. We recently moved house and we are lucky enough to have a mandarin tree in our backyard. For a little tree it's given us a heap of mandarins! Much more than we can eat! Short of giving it to every man and his dog, obviously cake is the next option. I love fruit in cake. I'd choose a fruit flavoured cake over chocolate cake any day and that is saying something because I'm quite the chocolate lover.
Anyhoo, this cake is a traditional pound cake which has been flavoured with the zest and juice of mandarins. If you don't have mandarins by the bucket load in your house, you can use oranges, tangelos or any other sweet citrus. Like most pound cakes, this recipe makes a big one, so it's best for sharing. Also, you don't have to use a bundt pan, a regular round cake tin will work fine. Feel free to decorate as you see fit. I decorated mine with some whipped cream, more mandarins, mint and some pistachios.
Mandarin Pound Cake (Inspired by Preppy Kitchen)
Serves 14-16
226g (1 cup) butter, softened
¾ cup mandarin juice
342g (1.5 cups) granulated sugar
5 large eggs
375g (3 cups) AP flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest of 3 mandarins
½ cup sour cream or Greek yoghurt
1 tsp orange blossom water, optional
Preheat to 175 C. Grease your bundt pan well. You can also use a large cake tin if you don't have a bundt pan. You will need to grease this too.
Zest and juice your mandarins. You'll want 3/4 cup of mandarin juice. Pour your juice into and bowl and add the sour cream/yoghurt and orange blossom water if using. Whisk to combine. Set your wet ingredients aside.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set your dry ingredients aside.
In another medium bowl cream together your butter, sugar and mandarin zest until light and fluffy. You can do this with a hand mixer or wooden spoon. The mixture should turn a pale yellow colour before you move on to the next step.
Next, add in eggs one at a time while beating in between additions. Make sure each egg is fully incorporated before you add the next one.
Now it's time to add in your wet and dry ingredients. We are going to alternate wet and dry ingredients until all is combined. First add in some of the dry ingredients and mix. Then add in some of the wet ingredients and mix. Keep going until everything is combined.
Pour your batter into your bundt pan and bake for about 1 hour. test for done-ness by inserting a skewer in the middle of the cake. It should come out clean.
Let the cake cool to room temperature before frosting/decorating. You can eat the cake as is if you prefer. It's great with a cup of tea!
Enjoy!
xx
Ugeshni