Mandarin Orange Bundt Cake
Moist and citrusy this Mandarin Orange Bundt Cake is buttery rich with bits of mandarin pieces baked in the batter for delicious bursts of flavor.
Servings 12
Calories 491kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 4 Tangerines Satsumas washed and dried. About 8 ounces, and 6 ounces peeled.
- 3 cups Cake flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter softened, 2 sticks
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
Mandarin Orange Icing
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F. Thoroughly grease and sugar the bundt pan.
- Zest the four mandarins over a piece of waxed paper or a small plate, using a microplane grater.
- Remove the peel from the zested 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 scissors. You should have about 1 ¼ cups of slices and juice.Try to make the mandarin pieces pretty small to avoid large wet spots in the baked cake.
- 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 softened 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 cake flour, baking soda, and salt, then scrape the bowl.
- Beat in the sour cream and scrape the bowl again.
- 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 ¼ to 1 ½ hours until a cake tester at the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes then turn out the cake on a cooling rack to cool.See the tips below for removing the cake from the pan.
Icing the Cake
- Mix the powdered sugar and milk together until smooth. Spoon the icing over the cooled cake
Keeping the Cake
- This cake can be kept covered on the counter for 3 days.
Notes
Zesting the mandarins - the peel to the mandarins is very loose and soft. This is easier to do if the fruit is cold and just go slowly when zesting. Using a microplan/citrus zester is easier.
Mixing the sugar and the mandarin zest - releases the citrus oils and flavors the sugar.
Dicing the mandarins - It helps to cut the mandarin slices into pretty small pieces. If the pieces are large they could cause areas of the cake to be too wet and not get baked properly.
Making the cake with canned mandarins
- For this method, use a 15-ounce can of mandarins.
- You will be using just granulated sugar, unless you have an orange to zest into the sugar as directed above.
- Drain the mandarins and then measure out a heaping 1 cup (7 ounces), you will have a few mandarins left.
- Cut the mandarin segments into smaller pieces.
- Add 1/4 cup of the drained mandarin juice and the diced mandarins together. This is what you will add in the last step after the batter is mixed.
- 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.
Nutrition
Serving: 12 | Calories: 491kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Fat: 22g | Cholesterol: 131mg | Sodium: 300mg