It’s mandarin season, and if you’re looking for ways to use more of them than simply eating them straight from the fruit bowl, let me introduce you to my Mandarin Coconut Butter Cake.
Recently, I decided to experiment with a recipe that traditionally uses crushed pineapple. If your garden or fruit bowl is overflowing with mandarins, don’t be afraid to get creative. Some of the best recipes begin as happy accidents.
One of the things I love about this recipe is that it uses almost the entire fruit (almost – just not the seeds)! I simply wash the mandarins (while they are homegrown and I don’t use sprays, best to wipe away dirt etc), remove the little stem end, cut them into quarters and flick out any seeds. Then the whole lot, peel and all, goes into the blender. You can read more about the process in my Skin-on Mandarin Puree blog.
Mandarins add moisture, sweetness and acidity, much like crushed pineapple does in many cakes. The peel also contributes natural pectin, which helps create a beautifully soft crumb. Combined with Greek yoghurt, coconut and butter, the result is a cake that stays moist for days… and also can be frozen in portions (in an airtight container).
The flavour is bright and citrusy without being overpowering. The coconut softens the tang of the mandarin and adds a lovely texture throughout.
Easy Ways to Adapt This Recipe
Once you’ve made it once, there are plenty of ways to put your own spin on it.
- Turn It Into a Loaf
Bake the mixture in a lined loaf tin instead of a cake tin. The result is a lovely tea loaf that’s perfect sliced and buttered, or served alongside a hot drink. - Add a Citrus Glaze
For an extra burst of mandarin flavour, mix icing sugar with a little freshly squeezed mandarin juice and drizzle it over the cooled cake. - Make Muffins
The batter can easily be divided into a muffin tray. Reduce the baking time (I suggest approx 18-22 minutes) and you’ll have portable Mandarin Coconut Muffins that are ideal for lunchboxes or morning tea. Note they will be leaning towards a moist dense texture (not light as air sponge)! - Create an Upside-Down Cake
Arrange thin slices of mandarin in the base of the tin with a little brown sugar and butter before adding the batter. Once inverted after baking, you’ll have a beautiful citrus-topped cake that’s impressive enough for guests.
Mandarin Coconut Butter Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole mandarin puree (approx 4 whole mandarins with seeds removed)
- 1 cup Greek yoghurt
- 1 egg
- 1 cup white sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 75g butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups plain flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup desiccated coconut
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Grease and line a cake or slice tin.
- In a large bowl, combine the mandarin puree, Greek yoghurt, egg, sugar, salt, melted butter and vanilla. Mix well.
- Sift flour, baking powder and coconut directly into the wet mixture. Stir until just combined. The mix will be quite thick (and that’s okay) but feel free to add a dollop of milk if necessary to help combine the remainder of the dry ingredients.
- Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the top.
- Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the top has a lovely golden coconut crust.
- Allow to cool before serving… if you have almighty patience. It is delicious warm!
