Moist mandarin tea cake: sturdy, reliable and long-lasting

I made this moist mandarin tea cake using a puree made from mandarins which had seen better days.

Sometimes in our house, fruit languishes a little too long in the bottom of the fruit bowl. No one wants to eat over-ripe, slightly brown, slightly wrinkled fruit, and I don’t blame them!

This cake is a good way to use them up and minimise food waste.

I love this cake because it’s sturdy, reliable and long-lasting. While cakes usually taste best warm from the oven, this is a cake which holds its shape well and lasts for a few days without losing its flavour.

Extra virgin olive oil: a great substitute for butter in baking

Extra virgin olive oil is a great substitute for butter when baking cakes.

It makes cakes very moist. Plus, it pairs well with both nuts and fruit.

Adding yoghurt to cakes

Yoghurt, when used in cakes, lightens the batter. It also adds creaminess and a delicious tang. I love to use it in my baking.

You can use any type of natural yoghurt. However, I like to use Greek yoghurt for its thick, creamy consistency, and its sharp tang.

The origin and distribution of mandarins

Mandarins are native to the tropical and sub-tropical regions of Asia, with 70% of global production in China. They’re also grown in Japan, India and the East Indies.

In Australia, mandarins are predominantly grown in Queensland and Mildura in NSW.

Mandarins were introduced to the west by the Chinese at the turn of the 19th century.

Historically, “mandarin” was an English reference for Chinese government officials, so is the most likely explanation for their name.

Australian mandarin varieties

Did you know that mandarins are a non-climatacteric fruit? This means that unlike apples and bananas, they can only ripen on the tree.

There are many different hybrids or varieties of mandarins. The hybrids vary in size and colour, with some being seedless.

There are more than ten different varieties of mandarins grown in Australia.

The imperial mandarin, with its lovely sweet flavour, is one of the most popular varieties. This is largely due to its thin skin, making it easy to peel. For this reason, they’re also sometimes called kid-glove or loose-skin oranges.

Imperial – A small to medium sized fruit with smooth, thin-skinned. Easy to peel with a lovely sweet flavour.

Honey Murcott – A deliciously sweet, late maturing fruit with a distinctive honey taste. Similar in size to an Imperial, but seeded and not quite as easy to peel. It has a high sugar content, making it the sweetest of all varieties.

Afourer – A deep orange-red colour, very easy to peel. Flavoursome, with a high juicy content. Usually seedless.

Hickson – This variety is reported to have originated near Roma, Qld, Australia. It has a slight neck, and a smooth, yellowish-orange rind. The fruit is juicy and flavoursome, with 12-15 seeds.

Sumo – The Australian-grown, seedless Sumo Citrus mandarin is known for its sweet and juicy flesh, but particularly its large size and identifiable “top-knot”.

Empress – These are a new variety of mandarins similar to a Honey Murcott, but highly coloured. They have a moderate number of seeds. They’re not as easy to peel, but they’re juicy and sweet.

Daisy – Daisy produces a medium-large, mid-season mandarin with a dark orange rind. It’s moderately seedy, with one to three seeds per section.

Citrus fruit purees

Citrus fruits, such as mandarins, oranges and lemons, lend themselves well to purees, which are made simply by boiling the fruit in water (with the optional addition of spices), then pureeing them.

You could try boiling the citrus with vanilla beans, cardamom pods, star anise or ginger, for example.

I usually freeze the puree in small portions to add to cakes.

Serving suggestions

The moist mandarin tea cake is delicious just as it is, served warm from the oven. The sprinkled raw sugar and allspice gives the top of the cake a lovely crisp texture (this will soften if you eat the cake the following day or two).

You can also serve it with a dollop of Greek yoghurt or double cream.

More cake recipes

Both these recipes for a lemon olive oil cake and a persimmon ricotta tea cake use fruit purees.

Best wishes,

Amanda

PS: If you’ve tried this moist mandarin tea cake or any other recipe from At Amanda’s Table, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below.

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