Monday 19 July 2021

Mandarin Olive Oil Cake

This cake is the third in my series of olive oil cakes, and it's a ripper.  I had some mandarin-pressed oil lurking in my pantry so this was a fab way to use it.  I'm an olive oil obsessive as regular readers will know already.  I have lemon-pressed, and lime-pressed and mandarin-pressed; oh yes and now I have yuzu-pressed, plus all sorts of EVOO from various farms and groves.  

A few years ago we were holidaying down in South Australia, and headed to wine country to check out the wineries and olive groves.  So off we trotted to a farm in the Barossa Valley (or Clare Valley says Mr P.).  We found the farm, and drove up the long, gravel driveway to the homestead.  We saw the farmer's wife (I presume) on the front verandah, who upon seeing us, ran off into the paddocks never to be seen again!  So we headed back to our cottage, which was this smoke-ridden, tiny stone building stuck out in a field in the middle of nowhere.  Fun times, my friends :-)  Anyway, let's enjoy cake ... 



tangy and citrus-y


(Recipe from Taste.com.au by Katrina Woodman, with a few tweaks)


Serves 8:


ingredients:


155g. (3/4 cup) caster sugar

4 large eggs, separated

3 mandarins, zested

125 mL (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil (I used mandarin-pressed)

60 mL (1/4 cup) fresh mandarin juice

115g. (3/4 cup) plain flour

85g. (3/4 cup) almond meal

icing sugar, to serve


Method:


Turn the oven to 180C/360F to heat up

Grab a 22cm/9 in springform pan, grease base and sides, and line with baking paper

Reserve 2 tbs of the caster sugar!  And beat the egg yolks, mandarin zest and the rest of the sugar (in a large bowl) with electric beaters until thick and doubled and leaves a ribbon trail when you lift the beaters

Whisk the oil and juice in a jug

Combine the flour and almond meal in a small bowl

Add the olive oil mixture to the egg yolk mixture in a slow stream, alternating with the flour mixture in batches, till everything is just combined

Make sure your beaters are super clean! and beat the egg whites and the 2 tbs reserved sugar till you have firm peaks

Then fold in half the egg whites into the flour mixture (with a big metal spoon) till just combined

Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites, and then pour the batter into your prepared pan

Bake for 35-40 minutes till a skewer comes out clean, and let rest for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely

Dust with icing sugar when serving, and add a dollop of mascarpone!


Notes:


Being the lazy gal I am, I peeled the mandarins and chucked the rind into a food processor rather than zest by hand - who has time for that? :-)

And I used bought mandarin juice!  Yep crazy since I had fresh fruit there, but it's darn difficult to juice mandarins and I already had the 100% juice in the fridge, so I ate the fruits - tee hee



beat the egg yolks, zest and sugar together

whisk the oil and juice together

all ready to combine into a tangy batter

beat the egg whites and sugar till thick, and firm peaks abound

fold in the egg whites

into the oven at 180C for 35-40 mins.

golden and gorgeous

cool it right down, baby

see, I've sliced into it already ...


© Sherry M.


(Joining in with Marg from Intrepid Reader blog for Weekend Cooking)


39 comments:

  1. I always enjoy a good citrus cake. This one sounds amazing with mandarin pressed olive oil, which I have never had. I would love mine with a giant dollop of mascarpone, please :-))

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    1. hi angie
      yes i love a citrus cake too. definitely good with mascarpone!

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  2. I saw the title and came on running over to check it out, sounds wonderful. I will have to make it one day.

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  3. Looks like a neat recipe -- loads of flavor. I'll have to search out mandarin pressed olive oil -- haven't used it, and don't think I've ever tasted it. Sounds yummy, though.

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  4. Oh wow, this looks so yummy! I was today old when I found out you could get fruit infused olive oil! I love baking with mandarins. I made mini muffins with whole mandarins the other day - so yum - I bet this cake would work well using whole mandarins too seeing as you're using the peel anyway - so little waste and so much flavour. Nom nom!

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    Replies
    1. your muffins sound superbe sammie. phew a bit of a tongue twister there :) Well actually you're meant to juice them for the cake but i was too lazy. my excuse is they are too difficult to juice...

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  5. Mandarin pressed olive oil sounds amazing! This looks so tasty!

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  6. I like citrus based sweets and really like the moist density of a good olive oil cake, so I will be trying this recipe. Thanks for posting it.

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    1. yes i like olive oil cakes too. and i love citrus.

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  7. Ph my goodness this sounds delicious. I am bookmarking it for our fall!

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  8. This just sounds awfully good!

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  9. I'm getting ready to make an orange cake too. So much citrus and apples around at the moment!

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    Replies
    1. yes it's a great time of year for citrus and apples - which i love.

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  10. I love olive oil cakes! And I feel like they are perfect for you, Sherry, since you love to bake and you love to collect olive oil. :-) This version sounds fantastic! I don't think I've ever seen mandarin juice at the store, but I'll have to take a look now!

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    1. they're so moist aren't they? yes i often buy pure mandarin juice. a fave of mine! it's 100% juice.

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  11. I usually prepare LEMON and olive oil cake which tastes pretty good but I definitely need to try some mandarin, I bet it tastes lovely :)

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    Replies
    1. yes just about any citrus goes well in an olive oil cake!

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  12. Sherry this looks delicious and I will save this recipe for when our mandarin tree fruits later this year hopefully. Because we had so many mandarins I was juicing them on my little electronic juicer, delicious juice. I should try to get some of the citrus based olive oil, as I bake so many citrus products. Are you finding the EVOO is ok to bake with and not too strong for cakes? I used to use the everyday olive oil, but I'm thinking EVOO gives it the flavour and moisture. Take care,Pauline

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    1. hi pauline
      we use EVOO in everything so i think we are inured to the taste :-) i think it may be too strong for some, but we love it. cheers S

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  13. I love baking with olive oil for the extra added moisture, richness, and flavour.
    And with the addition of citrus notes, that's even more delicious!

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    Replies
    1. hi ben
      yes olive oil is fab in baking. so moist and delish.

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  14. Olive oil is one of those " let's add some everywhere" ingredients and it's so tasty and healthy ! Thank you very much Sherry !

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  15. Your cake sounds lovely and I love all the wholesome ingredients in it.

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  16. The zest plus the mandarin-pressed oil must make this incredible. Still have yet to make an olive oil cake... no excuses!

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    Replies
    1. thanks david. yes it is a good combo of flavours.

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  17. This sounds so good! I don't think I have made an olive oil cake before!

    And youhve rmeinded me that I intended to make a whole orange cake a few weeks ago. The oranges are long gone but I should put it back on the list.

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    1. olive oil cakes are wonderfully moist Marg. worth a go.

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  18. Buonissima e profumata la tua deliziosa torta! Complimenti!

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