Upside Down Mandarin Cake

It’s been so long since I baked anything. And I think my poor Kitchenaid felt really neglected. But the packing, unpacking and moving has made it almost impossible to get any proper baking done. But now that we’ve settled in, I just had to put my little red engine to work and bake something.

It’s the mandarin season right now and I really wanted to use them. I don’t usually use much citrus fruits in my baking, in fact the first time I did and attempted to make a orange and poppyseed cake, it failed miserably. haha So I was really worried and nervous about how this was going to turn out.

Especially making an upside down cake, you never will know how it will turn out or if it will even be successful until you turn the baking tin upside down. I held my breath from the time I placed a plate over the baking tin, and over-turning it. Only after hearing the “plop” sound did I let out a sigh of relief! That turned into a smile or a grin rather, after I lifted up the tin and found a beautiful flower-like arrangement of mandarins on top of a dense but soft buttery cake. Mmm mm mm!

I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out! Especially since I was never a cake-baking person. I’m more suited to baking cupcakes! So this was a real accomplishment for me. (: *phew*

So head down to the nearest supermarket and get yourself some mandarins! You’ll definitely enjoy this like we did! Especially when it’s warmed and served with a scoop of ice cream and topping with a touch of nutella! NOMS!

Upside Down Mandarin Cake (adapted from Martha Stewart Living, January 2009)

Ingredients :

6-7 Mandarins, peels and segmented

226g unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

3 tbs freshly squeezed orange juice

1 1/3 cups, plus 1tbs of all purpose flour, sifted

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs orange zest

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup whole milk

Steps :

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees celcius. In a large pot of water, boil the mandarin segments for 3 minutes, drain and dry them on some paper towel.

2) Place 113g of butter in a 9-inch round baking tin. Mix 1 tsp of vanilla paste and 1/2 cup of sugar, then sprinkle over butter. Place in the oven until the butter has completely melted. This would take about 7 minutes. Carefully add 2 tbs of orange juice, mix till well combined.

3) Arrange the mandarin segments in a flower-like pattern starting from the middle and spiraling outwards. Set aside while making the cake batter.

4) Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Cream zest, remaining butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 tsp of vanilla paste in a mixer until light and fluffy. With the mixer running, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low. Add half of the flour mixture, then the milk and the remaining 1 tbs of orange juice. Beat in the remaining flour mixture.

5) Gently spoon the batter on top of the mandarin, and spread evenly. Bake the cake till it’s golden brown and when the cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the middle. This will take about 45-50 minutes. Allow the cake to cool in the tin on a wire rack.

6) Run a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen the cake. Place the plate on top and invert the tin. You can let it cool before you eat, or have it slightly warm with a scoop of ice cream! ENJOY!

The Mr absolutely loved the cake ! It’s no wonder how he now has a sweet tooth huh? (: