Name: Mandarin Upside-Down Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: ½ cup + 2 TBSP sugar; ¼ cup sunflower oil ((olive oil is great too)); ½ cup Greek-style yogurt or crème fraîche; ¼ cup mandarin juice ((you can cut slices first and use the ends to squeeze out the juice)); 2 medium-size eggs; 1 tsp vanilla seeds or vanilla extract; 1 cup all-purpose flour; ⅓ cup hazelnut flour ((or finely gorund hazelnuts)); 1 tsp baking powder; ½ tsp powdered cardamom; pinch of salt; 3-4 mandarins; 2 TBSP sugar for sprinkling; butter for greasing the cake tin

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This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It’s super simple to make!

I just love the season of mandarins! They take me back to my childhood when we spent afternoons with my family eating them and having a good time. They come at the perfect time when the autumn is getting moodier and cooler. So we get to hang out together, talking and playing games over healthy snacks, and also add have some extra vitamins.

I feel like this is even more important this year than any other. An extra dose of vitamins is super important. I hope you’re doing well! Please take care of yourself and the people around you. One way to do that is also by baking this delicious mandarin upside-down cake.

This mandarin upside-down cake is super simple!

I know I say this with most of my recipes, but this is probably the simplest cake ever. You can make it in only one mixing bowl. This means less cleaning, and this is a big win for me already 🙂

It’s a little denser and moister than a regular sponge cake, which I find perfect for colder days. Together with some warm tea or mulled mandarin juice, it makes for a perfect afternoon dessert.

I used some yogurt, which I use a lot when I want to make a sponge a bit juicier and when I want to add that milky flavor. Because yogurt already makes it a bit denser and heavier, I used oil instead of butter. And the end result was amazing.

Imagine baked caramelized mandarins on top of a delightful cake. I can’t imagine anything better to have right now. I hope you try the recipe and enjoy it just as much as we did.

Mandarin Upside-Down Cake

Course Dessert

Keyword cardamom, mandarins, spiced cake, sponge cake

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 1 7-inch cake

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

½ cup + 2 TBSP sugar
¼ cup sunflower oil (olive oil is great too)
½ cup Greek-style yogurt or crème fraîche
¼ cup mandarin juice (you can cut slices first and use the ends to squeeze out the juice)
2 medium-size eggs
1 tsp vanilla seeds or vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup hazelnut flour (or finely gorund hazelnuts)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp powdered cardamom
pinch of salt
3-4 mandarins
2 TBSP sugar for sprinkling
butter for greasing the cake tin

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Cut mandarins into 0,5cm (1/5 inch slices). Save the ends and use them to sqeeze out the juice. Save it for later.
Butter a 7-inch cake tin and place mandarin slices on the bottom in one layer.
Mix sugar, oil, yogurt, and eggs at a high speed until well combined.
Add mandarin juice and vanilla (if using vanilla extract) and mix again.
In a separate bowl mix together flour, hazelnut flour, baking soda, cardammon, vanilla (if using vanilla seeds) and salt.
Add flour mixture in two increments and mix on a low speed.
Sprinkle the mandarins in the cake tin with sugar and add the cake batter.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
Wait to cool completely, before removing the cake from the tin. If the cake has a big dome, cut it away, before turning the cake around.