Spiced Mandarin Cake and a huge chocolate giveaway
Also known as clementines, mandarins are a little understated in the citrus world I think. They’re not as big and impressive as an orange, not as glam as a grapefruit, and are without the universal appeal and appreciation that lemon and limes attract. But, the humble mandarin has a load of great qualities. Delicious. Portable. Easy to eat – I mean it’s like mother nature has pre-sliced this little delight for us and wrapped it in a gorgeous orange coat. Did I mention delicious? They also bring a little more excitement as a flavour than traditional orange.
The fact that they are in season right now (in Australia) is no accident. Mandarins are loaded with vitamin C and vitamin A. These two vitamins are major contributors to our immune system, improving our general immunity and also helping to reduce the severity and duration of colds. They also have a lovely amount of fibre, helping to keep our digestive system happy.
Mandarins are a delicious and slightly unexpected flavour in cooking and baking. I was super excited to come across a recipe for mandarin cake by the goddess herself Nigella Lawson, which I have adapted to make this lovely rendition. It’s gluten free, dairy free and gorgeously moist. It would work just as nicely with oranges if you prefer. I have also used some of Loving Earth’s chocolate to top this off. And because it is so wonderful and I love you all so much, after the recipe below I will let you know how you can win an entire box of 11 bars of their gorgeous raw, organic, fair-trade chocolate – wooo! Thank you Loving Earth for your generosity. And delicious chocolate!
[headline]Spiced Mandarin Cake with Super Simple Icing[/headline]
3 large or 5 small mandarins (around 350g)
6 free range eggs
2 cups almond meal or ground almonds
1 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
A pinch of ground cloves
For the icing
1 tin of coconut cream, full fat with no additives or emulsifiers
1/2 tsp maple syrup
50g good quality chocolate (I used Loving Earth Mandarin chocolate)
Firstly, put the tin of coconut cream in the fridge and leave for 4-6 hours, or overnight if you can. Doing this will allow the cream to separate from the water, forming a lovely thick layer of cream at the top half of the tin.
Place the mandarins in a saucepan, cover well with water and simmer for 2 hours.
Drain and remove the hard little stem nib (I just asked my husband what I should call that hard part where the mandarin attaches to the tree – we decided stem nib was the way forward – hope it makes sense).
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / 350F and grease a 22cm spring form tin. Alternatively, use two smaller tins as I have done here.
Once slightly cool, blend up the mandarins, skin pips and all, with a stick blender, or in a blender or food processor. I like using the stick blender for this recipe as it’s much less washing. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs for a good minute – again I use a stick blender. Add the coconut sugar and beat until well combined.
Stir in the almond meal, baking powder and spices, and transfer the mix to your baking tin/s.
Bake for around 1 hour, or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool slightly in the tin and then remove and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the icing, remove the tin from the fridge without shaking. Open and scoop out the lovely cream that has formed at the top into a bowl. You can use the leftover water in smoothies or your breakfast. Whisk in the maple syrup and viola – done!
Once the cake is cool, coat in a thin layer of the coconut cream, and then top with melted chocolate. Enjoy!!
And here we have the chocolate in question! With it’s beautiful new packaging. To win this selection of 11 different flavours, all you need to do is comment below with your all time favourite chocolate flavour. The winner will be announced Tuesday evening (23rd June) so be sure to check back then to see if you are the lucky one. **COMPETITION CLOSED**
PLEASE NOTE: the winning prize can only be sent to an Australian address – sorry international friends. Good luck! x
Mint is my all time favourite 🙂 brings back memories of my childhood!
So good isn’t it! x
I have just made this cake, going to eat it tonight to say farewell to my sibling’s roommate 🙂
My favourite ever chocolate flavour is hazelnut…can’t go past it! Must be those childhood nutella memories…
I LOVE Mint chocolate, its the BEST!!!!! 🙂
I’m NUTS for any chocolate with nuts in it!
Love raspberry chocolate – a match made in heaven! 🙂
I love Hazelnut Chocolate!
I love hazelnut chocolate! Yum yum
Salted caramel…. can never go wrong, but yet to try mandarin and it could just top caramel!
Ha ha, yes it’s a tough decision Karly 😉
First of all this recipe looks unreal! I want to try it with half mandarin and half grapefruit for some tang. Secondly in regards to chocolate I cannot go past dark chocolate and mint!
Thanks Meg – and great idea using some grapefruit. You will have to let me know how it goes if you try it. x
Love love love mandarin chocolate 🙂
my favourite would have to be mandarin chocolate .. the perfect choice to compliment the delicious spiced mandarin cake. citrus and chocolate are two of my favourite winter treats
Dark choc choc. The original and best. 🙂 xo
The salted caramel loving earth choccy is definitely a winner in my eyes- it’s so indulgent and delish mmmm. Also this cake looks absolutely fantastic by the way and I can’t wait to give it a try for my birthday cake in a few weeks!
Oh great Amber – I hope you love it! It was a big hit here 🙂
Salted caramel is my favourite
The coconut mylk flavour is my absolute favourite! Crazy delicious!
Caramel. Amazing!
Who can go past mint?!
Hard to choose, but I lreally ove Hazelnut chocolate!
Thanks for the recipe Meg! Using whole mandarins sounds quite interesting…
My fav chocolate is the Coconut Mylk flavour. Its has such a rich creamy taste… Love it!!
You’re very welcome Sharda. Yes, it seems daunting to use the whole fruit but it really is lovely. x
Anything caramel!!
l can’t go past salted caramel.
which flavour to choose from, it really is a hard choice to be honest good quality chocolate is superior.
if i had to make a choice i would go for caramel as i have never had a caramel chocolate before.
my children and i are playing around with caramel ice cream.
yum yum
Tough one, love them all!
Maybe caramel or hazelnut or mint?
Btw meg, am def making this cake on the weekend, have so many mandarins from mums tree 🙂
Ooh you lucky duck!! I haven’t noticed it before, will have to be more observant next time, ha ha. I hope you love the cake. xx
Hmmmmm, a tough decision but the hazelnut would have to be my fav from this selection, although I do love chocolate & citrus or chocolate & raspberry or…….
I love the sound of this recipe and am looking forward to giving it a go on the weekend.
In relation to the chocolate question, I do love just plain dark chocolate – rich and satisfying, only need a little piece to make your life better 🙂
I love Mandarin Chocolate and Raspberry chocolate!! Yum! Thank you for the recipe. I’m going to a cake party next week and have been racking my brain on what cake to bake. This is the one!! xo
Nuts about nuts! Looooove hazelnut!
Plain dark chocolate with a few pecan always satisfies my palate!
Has to be hazelnut! Gets me every time :0
Caramel- creamy, sweet, and brings back childhood memories.
Creamy is the one for me! I didn’t realise they did a mandarin one though, I’d love to try that one.
Caramel!
Hazelnut! Tastes like nutella! Mmmmm!
Salted caramel is my current favourite!
I adore the hazelnut flavor. A row of that, paired with an almond milk or hazelnut latte, is the most scrumptious treat.
You can’t go past mint!
This looks absolutely incredible! Mandarins are one of my favorite fruits. And I love that this is gluten free, too!
Thanks Kristie. x
I’m drooling at the pictures! I can’t go past hazelnut chocolate, the crunchiness of the nuts do it it for me
Salt. Salt & chocolate….practically my 2 favorite tastes
Mmmmm, salt 😉
Crunchy Mint Dark Chocolate – Love it melted on top of my home made mint ice-cream made with avocado. 🙂
Sounds delish Helen!
Salted caramel, caramel anything!
Am I the only one who loves lemon flavour?! Obviously ALL the flavours are awesome, but I do love some citrus tang! Good-luck everyone 🙂
Chocolate and salt.
Call me a straighty 180 but I just can’t go past plain old mylk chocolate.. Perfection in it’s simplicity
I love cherry and / or coconut chocolate but most underrated would have to be pineapple. I think a pina colada chocolate would be pretty ace. .
what can I say… dark!! Simple but the best.
Caramel is divine!
I love all chocolate but if I had to pick a favourite I would have to say Hazelnut!
Caramel chocolate
My all time favourite is dark chocolates with chilli
Chocolate Orange i.e. Terry’s, absolutely smooth and tasty, remember the orange Kit Kat limited edition, omg amazing, it’s like having fruit and chocolate at once!! 🙂 Okay fruit and chocolate should not be mentioned in the same sentence, sorry!!!
Dark Chocolate and coconut
Mint chocolate is one of my favourites 🙂
dark coconut
Without a second thought, hazelnut chocolate all the way!
Dark chocolate with roasted almonds 🙂
Plain, good old milk chocolate all by itself is my all time favourite.
Lemon chocolate! Delish!
Mint, love the after taste it leaves in your mouth
LOVE Hazelnut Chocolate, it’s so delicious!
I can’t go past orange chocolate YUM!
Smooth and velvety the finest highest quality plain milk chocolate is divine!
Mint Choc! Love how those flavours go together so well.
Dark chocolate with macadamia!
Mint!
MINT
I love any chocolate with berries in particular so can’t wait to try this raspberry flavour.
Hazelnut – definitely!!
I am a fan of raspberry ,combined with chocolate there is nothing better!
I love dark chocolate you only need a little bit and it solves my craving..
Love any chocolate with hazelnuts, yummo!
My fav is hazelnut followed so closely by raspberry.
Ooo it’s hard choice but I love toasted coconut in chocolate – it’s such a moreish flavour, and a real Winter warmer that reminds me of fires on chilly nights ^^
Thanks for the chance, the packaging of these is just gorgeous!
Cookies and cream chocolate. There’s no dessert cookies and cream flavour isn’t good in!
Peanut Butter……Mmmm
Mint chocolate, who doesn’t like that?!
Hazelnut! Oh, wait, I do love mint as well. Actually, make that Caramel. Come to think of it, I do love dark chocolate. Pleeease don’t make me chose!
I really can’t go past DARK
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Dark chocolate is always a winner! 😀
My favourite is caramel, when I get a box of chocolates from the kids, I have to quickly get the caramel ones out before they eat them 🙂
Chocolate Coconut I cant go past!
Thank you so much to everyone who entered and for your excellent comments! Mint seems to be high on the priority list, and I have to say that I think choc mint is probably one of the greatest inventions ever. CONGRATULATIONS to Tash (plant powered tash), winner of the box of 11 Loving Earth blocks of chocolate!! Please email me at meg@mywholefoodromance.com with your address details so we can send out your prize. xxx
congrats to the lucky winner
Love Mint while being naughty eating it all myself may as well have a nice fresh mint breath
Hazlenut…. yum… I love hazelnut milk and I am sure this chocolate would be better than that!
Thanks Meg for all your wonderful recipes!
Thanks Cheyenne! x
Meg, I was just wondering what size springform did you use and did you have to double the recipe?
Salted caramel, is the ants pants