Mandarin Orange Cake
Mandarin orange cake is a surprising way to use this sweet fruit! This citrus fruit cake recipe uses the entire mandarin, peel and all, for a unique texture and delicious result.
This mandarin orange cake is the baby sister to my Sicilian whole orange cake that many of you are already familiar with.
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I’ve made so many different versions of this super popular orange cake, starting with a whole lemon cake, apple cake, peach cake and more. In fact, when I first published my Sicilian orange cake, it was the only whole orange cake on the internet in English.
It’s rough seeing how many others are online now, with zero credit to anyone, not even the original Italian blogger where my mother had found the original recipe. Since there’s nothing I can do, I choose not to focus on these things, but instead, I’m sharing another citrus version of this wonderful recipe with this mandarin orange cake which also uses the whole fruit (except the seeds.)
You can see its luscious texture and can imagine the sweet flavor! It’s really a showstopper of a cake when it comes to tasting it! It’s similar to this orange olive oil cake if you don’t like using butter.
Which Mandarin Oranges Should I Use?
When choosing your mandarin oranges, be sure to use organic because you’ll be ingesting the rind. You also don’t want a rind that is very hard or thick. It should be soft, fragrant, and full of moisture (dry fruit doesn’t work in this recipe.) Ojai pixie tangerines are very sweet, but sometimes their skin can be tough. Choose the right citrus, for the best results.
According to Robert Schueller from Melissa’s Produce, all tangerines are mandarin oranges. The difference is where the species of fruit originated.
“Mandarins and Tangerines are interchangeable words. Technically, mandarins are a tangerine from Asia and a tangerine is a mandarin from North Africa (Tangiers). However, over time the terms have been muddled for merchandising distinctions more than country of origin.” – Melissa’s Produce
I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do!
Check out these recipes for blood orange ricotta cookies, and a blood orange margarita, too!
It’s perfect for potlucks, picnics, special occasions and even for an afternoon snack.
Mandarin Orange Cake
adapted by Christina Conte serves 12
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Ingredients
- eggs
- sugar
- flour
- baking powder/Pane Degli Angeli powder
- butter
- Greek yogurt
- mandarin oranges
- vanilla (optional)
Glaze
- mandarin orange juice
- sugar
Special equipment: springform pan, or bundt pan or loaf tin
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
Make the Mandarin Cake Batter
Butter and flour an 8″ springform pan
Beat the sugar and eggs until thick and creamy.
Sift the flour with the baking powder or Paneangeli, then add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter.
Continue to mix until completely blended, then stir in the yogurt.
Blend the mandarin oranges in a food processor until finely chopped into a purée, then add to the batter. Mix well.
Pour into prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes until a cake tester or skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then run a thin knife around the perimeter and remove the side of the springform pan.
Glaze the cake if desired.
This is truly one of the easiest cakes you’ll ever make!
Just look at that crumb!
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Mandarin Orange Cake
Special Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 eggs free range, organic, if possible
- 1 ⅛ c sugar
- 1 ¾ c all purpose flour or plain flour in the UK
- 1 pkg Pane Degli Angeli vanilla baking powder or 2 ½ tsp baking powder
- ⅓ c butter salted, softened
- ⅓ c Greek yogurt (sour cream or labne also works)
- 4 mandarin oranges organic, sweet (3 or 4), washed, cut into pieces and seeds removed - weigh for best results
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ONLY USE IF USING BAKING POWDER
Glaze
- ¼ c mandarin orange juice from fresh mandarins
- ¼ c sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
- Butter and flour an 8″ springform pan
- Beat the sugar and eggs until thick and creamy.
- Sift the flour with the baking powder or Paneangeli, then add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter.
- Continue to mix until completely blended, then stir in the yogurt.
- Blend the mandarin oranges in a food processor until finely chopped into a purée, then add to the batter. Mix well.
- Pour into prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes until a cake tester or skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then run a thin knife around the perimeter and remove the side of the springform pan. Remove the bottom of the pan and place on a cooling rack.
Glaze
- Put the mandarin orange juice and sugar in a small pot and simmer for about 3 minutes until sugar is melted.
- Brush the glaze over the cake.
- Serve when cool on its own, or with some ice cream, custard or whipped cream.
Notes
- Using a scale will give the best results.
- It's difficult to say how many mandarin oranges are needed because they are never uniform in size and weight.
Nutrition
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The whole orange 🍊 cake has been in the rotation for several tears now- can’t wait to try the mandarin! Also going to give it a whirl with Cara Cara navel orange before they go away… perfect with a coffee made with my new MOKA COFFEE POT!🤞🏻
You are so right, good luck!
I have never tasted anything so delicious. My family loved it! Thank you so much for the recipe, it’s definitely a “keeper”!
Christina, this is a stunning mandarin orange cake. I love the flavors of citrus in cakes and other baked goods. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe with us.
Velva
THank you, glad you like it!
Christina—
Thanks so much for the Mandarin Orange cake recipe.
Mandarins are my favorite fruit & I know it will taste great with my coffee from my new MOKA COFFEE POT, hopefully!
Good luck, Claire!
I love your whole lemon and orange cake so you know I am excited to try the mandarin version. Thank you for explaining the difference between a mandarin and tangerine.
Thanks to Robert! :)
What amount of flour is in this cake?
Hi Mona, sorry about that! Just fixed it, not sure how I missed it, but thank you for letting me know! :)
Just a question. In the recipe you say to weigh the tangerines, but there is no weight measurement except (3 or 4). Is that 3 or 4 tangerines or 3 or 4 ounces per tangerine or total weight could use a cup measure after pureeing. When it comes to the baking powder I assume that it is 2 1/2 teaspoons. I know baking is kind of like chemistry, if you want consistency. A little extra of one thing can throw the whole formula off.
Hi Bradley, so this is a brand new recipe card format (I am switching all of my old recipes over to it) and so I apologize for any confusion. Regarding the weight of the mandarin oranges, you have to toggle the button for METRIC and you’ll see that the weight is 300 g. Regarding the baking powder, that is my fault, I forgot to add the tsp, but yes, you are correct, it is teaspoons.
Thank you for your patience, it will take me a bit to get the hang of using this new format, but I do believe it is better. Also, if you can buy Paneangeli, it gives the cake a wonderful Italian flavor (forgot to add that to the recipe!) Enjoy, and let me know if you try it!
Whole-orange cake has been a thing for decades, centuries even. Claudia Roden popularised it in English in her 1968 “A Book of Middle Eastern Food”. That recipe has been floating around the internet since at least the mid 2000s.
Of course, I’m not saying it was just created then, but when I published it, this SICILIAN whole orange cake recipe was the only one in English. It’s why I rank #1 on google for it. I think you misunderstood what I wrote, Pete. There are versions that boil the orange, etc., but this one is specifically Sicilian.
I think any confusion stems from the claim that your cake “was the only whole orange cake on the internet in English”. The reason the orange was boiled was to soften the skin for ease of puréing at a time without food processors (as well as tempering the bitterness).
You’re right, I’ll add Sicilian. I get used to saying whole orange cake, but there are different versions. I like to be fair, so thank you, Pete.
If it’s as good as the lemon and Orange cake, I can’t wait to try it.
Do you think it would work with grapefruit, peach, plum??