Ingredients
• Melted butter, to grease
• 8 mandarins, peeled (reserve five peels, see Cook’s tip below)
• 200g almond meal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 300g caster sugar
• 2 Tbsp black chia seeds
• Candied mandarin strips, to garnish (see Cook’s tip below)
• Double cream, to serve
Cook tip: To garnish cake with candied mandarin strips, use a sharp knife to remove all pith from inside of reserved mandarin peel. Put in a bowl, cover with boiling water and stand for 5 minutes to soften. Drain, then shred into fine strips. Put 1 cup caster sugar and 1 cup water into a small saucepan over a medium heat and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to the boil. Reduce heat to low, add shredded rind and cook for a further 20 minutes or until mixture is syrupy and rind is transparent. Remove from heat, and cool.
Method
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Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a round 20cm springform cake tin and line base and sides with baking paper. Put 3 mandarins in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover. Place a small plate on top to keep fruit submerged, then cook on a medium heat for 30 minutes or until softened. Drain mandarins crossways and allow to cool slightly. Halve mandarins crossways and remove seeds. Put in the bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl.
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Beat almond meal, baking powder, eggs and 1/2 of the sugar into the mandarin puree using a wooden spoon. Spoon mixture into prepared cake tin, smooth top, then bake for 30–35 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in tin, then transfer to a cake stand or serving plate.
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Meanwhile, to make syrup, cut remaining mandarins in half and juice. Scoop out pulp and discard, but keep mandarin peels to make the candied mandarin strips (see Cook’s tip). Put 1 1/2 cups mandarin juice and remaining sugar in a small saucepan over a medium heat and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 8 minutes or until mixture becomes syrupy. Mix through chia seeds, then remove from heat and stand for 20 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve over a small bowl, and set aside seeds and syrup.
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Spoon syrup over cake, then cut the cake into pieces and place a small pile of the chia seeds and candied mandarin on top of each slice. Serve with double cream and extra mandarin peel on the side.