Have you seen them yet? The sweet little mandarins are back in season and piled high in the stores produce bins. Seriously, eating mandarins are a bit addictive and it’s almost like eating candy. They are so good! Not only are mandarins good for snacking on but they are perfect for adding to desserts like this Easy Mandarin Orange Bundt Cake.
Mandarin Orange Cake
moist with a dense tender crumb
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Bundt cakes, oh how we love these simple cakes with the decorative flutes and icing dripping down the sides. Bundt cakes are easy to make, no messing with cake layers and loads of icings. Sometimes a simple dusting of powdered sugar is all that is needed to decorate these cakes, after all, why cover up such a pretty molded cake.
Even with bundt cakes simplicity, you can turn them into marvelous rounds of luscious cake.
This Mandarin Orange Bundt Cake has a moist tight and tender crumb that is deliciously rich, dense and buttery. The best part of this cake is the bits of fresh mandarins baked in the cake for a delightful citrusy flavor.
Baked with bits of mandarin pieces in the batter
Mandarin Orange Bundt Cake Ingredients
- Cake flour for a tender crumb
- Baking soda and salt
- Mandarin Oranges, Zest, and juice for a wonderful mandarin flavor
- Sugar – white sugar brings out the citrus flavor of the mandarins
- Butter and Sour cream – both add flavor and moistness
- Eggs
- Powdered sugar for the icing drizzle
Tips and Tricks for Making A Bundt Cake
It is best to use a good quality bundt pan.
Bundt cake pans have a lot of nooks and crannies plus the center tube so make sure you thoroughly grease and flour the pan, otherwise, your cake may get stuck. Use eighter cooking spray or vegetable shortening for the best results. After you dust the pan with flour if there are any areas not covered flour simply redo these areas.
Instead of flour, you can instead dust the pan with sugar which leaves a nice flavor and crunch to the crust of the cake. I always use sugar.
Bundt pans come in many sizes, this recipe is for a 10-cup bundt pan.
After you fill the bundt pan with batter make sure to tap it several times against the countertop to get rid of any air pockets in the batter
Bundt cakes have a long baking time and this cake takes 1 hour 15 minutes to bake. Test the cake with a cake tester and when it comes out clean it is done.
Once your cake is baked let it sit for 15 minutes then flip it over onto a cooling rack. You want the cake to still be warm when you flip it since it will release better. If you let the cake completely cool in the pan it just might get completely stuck.
Before flipping your cake over jiggle the pan a little to loosen the cake, and if necessary slide a knife down the sides to coax it loose and jiggle the pan. Let the pan sit on the cake upside down for about 5 minutes before removing again until the cake releases.
A slice of Mandarin Cake goodness
Gold Nugget Satsuma Mandarin Oranges
Grown in Northern California
What are Mandarins?
Mandarins are a smaller type of orange with thin skins that are easily peeled. The inside fruits are segments that are usually seedless.
There are over 200 varieties of Mandarins.
The Mandarine flavor is sweeter and less acidic than an orange.
These three types of Mandarins are the most popular and easy to find in stores
- Satsumas (a personal favorite) These are the juiciest of the Mandarins and usually the fruit that you find canned. The thin, leathery skin is easy to peel. These fruits are in season October – February and are grown in Northern California and Southeastern U.S. With there sweet flavor and juiciness, Satsumas are not only perfect for snacking but can be added to both sweet and savory baked goods, dishes and drinks. Satsumas bruise easily so they don’t travel well and are really found in more local growing areas.
- Clementines – Known as Cuties or Smarties by their brand names, they are the smallest and sweetest of the Mandarins. These tiny little seedless fruits can be found in bags in the markets and make a great snack.
- Tangerines – Honey Tangerines are the most popular. In season January through April, this super juicy fruit contains some seeds with a thicker bright orange colored peel that is less sweet and a bit more tart.
How to bake a delicious Mandarin Orange Cake?
Start by zesting the mandarins over the sugar with a microplan zester, then mix the zest and sugar together. 
Mixing the zest in the sugar brings out the oils in the mandarin zest and flavors the sugar in a glorious way.
Next, separate the segments and using a serrated knife cut into small slices. I suggest doing this on a rimmed plate to catch all the juice.
Make the cake batter by beating the butter, adding the sugar/zest mixture then the eggs one at a time. Mix in the dry ingredients followed by the sour cream. The last step is mixing in the mandarin slices and the juice by hand. That’s it. I love how simple this bundt cake is to make.
Pour the batter into the greased and sugared bundt pan, tap it on the counter to remove any air bubbles and bake.
Look how fabulous this cake looks out of the pan.
You have options for finishing your cake because options are always good. You can give your mandarin orange cake a light dusting of powdered sugar or add a little bling to your cake with a little drizzle of icing. I’m going for the icing drizzle today because I like icing!!
You can add a little or a lot of icing, it’s up to you. Here is a tip when icing a bundt cake, to keep your cake plate clean tuck some wax paper underneath and simply remove it when the icing is set.
Bundt cakes are simply elegant and perfect for parties, they are easy to slice and serve. Set on a pedestal cake plate for a lovely presentation.
More of my favorite mandarin orange recipes
For a rich and creamy dessert, this Mandarin Orange Creme Caramel is easy to make and tastes amazing.
Sweet Mandarin Orange Scones are a family favorite with Satsuma mandarins baked right in. Tender and delicious.
Here’s your easy Mandarin Orange Bundt Cake recipe.
Mandarin Orange Bundt Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 4 Tangerines Satsumas washed and dried
- 3 cups Cake flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
Mandarin Orange Icing
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbls. milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F. Thoroughly grease and sugar the bundt pan.
- Zest the four mandarins
- Remove the peel from the mandarins and clean off most of the white pith. Separate the sections. Using a rimmed plate to catch the juices, cut each section into small slices with a serrated knife. You should have about 1 1/4 cups of slices and juice.
- In a small bowl combine the sugar and the mandarin zest. With your fingers mix the sugar and zest until well combined and the sugar has turned orange.
- In a large mixing bowl beat the butter for two minutes. Add in half the sugar/zest mixture, beat again for two minutes then add the remaining sugar/zest mixture and beat for four minutes. Scrape the bowl occasionally.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating each until just combined.
- On the lowest mixer setting beat in the dry ingredients then scrape the bowl.
- Beat in the sour cream.
- With a rubber spatula, fold in the mandarin segments and the juice.
- Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours until cake tester at the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes then turn out the cake on a cooling rack to cool.
Icing the Cake
- Mix the powdered sugar and milk together until smooth. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake
Keeping the Cake
- This cake can be kept covered on the counter for 3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Simple and Sophisticated Mandarin Orange Cake
Useful tools for making this wonderful cake.
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Hi! Can I change the Sour creme for yogurt? When you tell cake flour, do you mean all purpose? Thank you
Hi Rafaela, you can definitely use yogurt instead of sour cream in this cake. Aa cake flour and all-purpose are two different types of flour. I like to use cake flour in recipes like this one which makes the cake more tender and not as dense or chewy as using all-purpose flour. But by all means you can substitute all-purpose flour if you can’t find the cake flour.
Citrus cakes are so good, we made it yesterday, used APP instead of cake flour and made the cake in a pan, cake was so yum, thank you for sharing this recipe.
A bundt cake is always impressive. I love how easy it is to bake this cake. I’ll be baking this for Chinese New Year since orange is one of our lucky food to serve during the celebration. 🙂
Oh, I remember our neighbor giving us oranges for Chinese New Year. This cake will be perfect to celebrate with.
So I made this for my kids because they LOVE mandarin oranges. Whoa, did they (and me too) ever love this cake! So much flavor!
So glad you liked the cake. It really has a kid-friendly flavor.
I am in love with this bundt cake. I love using seasonal fruits, and now mandarins are in season, so I made your cake. I have to say this is the best mandarin cake I have ever tasted. I am making it again for NYE dinner.
So glad you made this great cake. It’s such a tasty cake with all the mandarins.
Citrus in cakes really brightens up my taste buds! This is fabulous!
You can’t go wrong with orange or a lemon cake for great flavor
I’m so excited to find this recipe! I love this winter citrus fruit and now I can have it in a wonderful dessert too.
Mandarin Oranges are my favorite and I drool with the thought of it. They are juicy and yum and definitely this cake is amazing with all the flavors. The Glaze definitely gives it that special touch.
I agree Mandarins are the best. Im going to the orchard to pick some after Christmas. I will be thinking of you.
Mandarin oranges are my favorite and this recipe didn’t disappoint. Delicious!
Seriously, such a good fruit.
You have just combined two of my most favorite things; mandarine oranges and bundt cakes! I love this addition of the fruit – it makes it feel healthy to eat, right?
You are so right, considering there are 4 of them in the cake.
This bundt cake has all the ingredients to make it a perfect one. I love working with cake flour and the texture of the cake is just amazing. What a great idea to mix the zest with sugar. I have not tried that before and will be trying it next time for sure. Also, I have used orange juice but never pieces of fruit. What great tips!
Mixing the zest and the sugar really does add some flavor. I am going to start experiment with other bakes doing the same.
This cake looks wonderful. Love the mandarin orange in this.
This bundt cake looks all kinds of yummy, moist and delish! Added to my inbox to make for sure Thanks!
Thanks, hope you find it delightful
Love how festive this cake is! Not to mention, it’s beautiful!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I love how simple and elegant this cake is.
This looks amazing! I bet the mandarin adds a really nice flavor!
I love bundt cakes and this mandarin orange flavor is great!
This is one of the best recipes I have found! Thank you so much for sharing, we thoroughly enjoyed it!
So glad you enjoyed the mandarin orange cake.