The mandarin bundt cake is an incredibly soft, aromatic cake, easy to make and very refined on the palate. It’s perfect for starting the day at breakfast with a homemade treat made with our hands; it is aesthetically elegant and presents well on the table for special occasions. In short, if like me, you love this fragrant and small citrus fruit, the mandarin bundt cake is just the dessert for you.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 15
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 10 mandarins
- 130 ml freshly squeezed mandarin juice (obtained from some of the mandarins above)
- to taste grated mandarin zest
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup potato starch (or cornstarch)
- 3 medium eggs
- 1/3 cup sunflower oil
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 1 packet vanilla baking powder
- to taste melted butter for the mold (can be lactose-free)
- 1 sheet parchment paper
Tools
- 1 Mold
Steps
1) To make our delicious bundt cake, let’s start by preparing the mandarin slices to place at the bottom of the mold.
2) Peel 3-4 mandarins and on a cutting board, slice them about half an inch thick (remove any seeds and filaments).
3) Grease the 10-inch diameter springform bundt pan very well.
4) Cut a round piece of parchment paper; it should be slightly wider than the mold itself. Make a hole in the center and place it in the mold, pressing it down well and greasing it on top as well.
I’m not very good at these things, and the paper always tears when I try to make a parchment paper bundt; so after cutting a round sheet, I cut it further into 4 equal parts and apply them to the bottom of the mold, making them adhere well both to each other and to the bottom thanks to the melted butter.
5) On the greased parchment paper, place the mandarin slices all around in a circular fashion. Fill any empty spaces with mandarin pieces.
6) Sift together flour, starch, and baking powder in a separate container.
7) Wash and brush the skin of a mandarin and grate it finely directly into the bowl where we will make the cake batter.
8) In the same bowl, add the eggs, oil, and sugar and mix them well (with a fork, a steel or electric whisk).
9) Squeeze 3-4 mandarins (depending on their size and juiciness) to obtain 130 milliliters of juice which we will add to the other ingredients.
10) Add the fine salt and the sifted flours.
11) Mix everything until the batter is smooth and creamy (it takes about a minute).
12) Pour the batter into the mold, completely covering the mandarin slices. Tap the bottom lightly to ensure the batter is evenly distributed and bake in the oven at 350°F for about 25 minutes, on the middle rack. To check for doneness, insert a long skewer into the bundt cake, which should come out dry. Depending on the oven and cooking mode used, the top of the bundt cake might remain light in color. If you want it more golden, you can place it under the grill for a minute.
Immediately remove the mandarin bundt cake from the oven to prevent the residual heat from drying it out too much, and wait for it to cool for at least 20 minutes before removing it from the mold, flipping it, and removing the parchment paper.
Extra Idea. This exquisite bundt cake is delicious as is, but we can decorate it to make it even more appealing and scenic.
Here are three decoration ideas.
a) Mix 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons of mandarin juice, and a bit of finely grated zest with a fork to obtain a delicious, fragrant, and slightly thick glaze, perfect for decorating, to drizzle over the cake with a spoon or a small parchment paper cone.
b) Melt 2.6 oz of dark chocolate with 2 tablespoons of milk in a double boiler, stir to combine, and when the mixture is completely melted, pour it over the bundt cake.
c) Sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of granulated sugar on the greased parchment paper before adding the mandarin slices. This way, we will get a sort of caramel that will cover the bundt cake.
Bon appetit
