Modern take on a traditional mandarin cake - this one has a gooey caramel layer, and a cake base with cocoa. Perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
6 - 8small mandarin orangesI use the seedless varieties - cut into ½-inch slices
1teaspoonorange zest
2tablespoonbaking cocoa powderoptional
2tablespoonolive oilfor greasing the pan
For the sauce:
5tablespoonsbuttermelted
½cupbrown sugarloosely packed
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 350 F
Slice the mandarin oranges into nice slices - see note above for a trick to make sure they stay together (save a few peels for the zest)
Make the cake batter
In a mixing bowl or stand mixer, add ¾ cup of softened butter and sugar and stir well. Then, add the flour, eggs, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, cocoa powder, orange zest and milk and stir into batter like consistency
Make the caramel sauce
Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, melt butter and add brown sugar - wait until the sauce starts actively bubbling and take off the heat
Grease a 9" cake pan with olive oil (and don't forget the sides) - almost until it looks like there's too much oil (but don't worry, it isn't!)
Assembling the cake
Butter the cake pan and pour the caramel sauce into the base of the pan. Once the caramel has settled, add the orange slices in a nice mosaic at the base of the pan - you can use the smaller pieces that didn't stick together to fill the gaps here. Then, pour the batter on top of the orange slices and spread gently to make sure it's evenly covered
Pop in the oven for 40 minutes and once it's done, remove from oven and set aside for 10 minutes
Run a butter knife across the sides of the cake pan to make sure the cake isn't stuck to the sides. Cover the cake pan with a plate larger than the pan and invert at once; then slowly remove the cake pan and revel in the glory of the delicious mandarin cake!
Notes
No need to stir the caramel sauce - it'll just stick to your spatula. If you just let it simmer until the sauce starts bubbling, you should be good to go!
You can substitute the milk with almond or pecan milk for a nuttier flavor that goes well with citrus