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Whole mandarin cake with poppy seed icing
Makes 1 x 20cm cake Cakes, Bread and Pastries
Ingredients
- 80g dried coconut shavings
- 180g whole mandarins (approx. 2 mandarins), unpeeled
- 280g coconut nectar syrup
- 100ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to grease
- 1 1/2tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/2tsp salt
- 230g plain white spelt flour
- 7g baking powder
- 3/4tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 5g homemade mixed spice (see recipe below)
- passion fruit pulp, edible
- flowers or dried orange slices, to top
For the poppy seed icing
- 150g raw cashews
- 80g coconut nectar syrup
- 50g cacao butter, shaved
- 50ml water
- 15g extra virgin coconut oil
- 2tsp lemon juice
- 1tsp vanilla bean paste
- 3tsp poppy seed
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/ 180C F/Gas 6. Line the base of a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper and grease the inside of the tin with olive oil. Alternatively, grease a 20x8x6cm loaf tin and lightly dust with flour.
Using a food processor, grind the dried coconut into a flour. Add the whole mandarins, along with the coconut syrup, olive oil, vinegar, vanilla paste and salt. Process until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice and blitz until just combined.
Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin and bake for 45-50 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to rest in the tin for 10 minutes, before turning the cake out to cool on a wire rack.
To make the icing, put all the ingredients, except the poppy seeds, in a high-speed blender and blitz until really smooth. Pour the icing into an airtight container and leave in the fridge to set for 1–2 hours until firm but not solid. You can make the icing in advance but remove it from the fridge to sit at room temperature for an hour or so until it is at a spreadable consistency.
When the cake is completely cool, add the poppy seeds to the icing and stir through by hand. Smooth the icing over the cake and decorate with passion fruit pulp, edible flowers or dried orange slices. The cake will keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
COOK’S NOTE You can make a batch of 6 smaller 10cmx7cmx4cm cakes if you prefer, but you will need to reduce the baking time to 35-40 minutes, making sure you remove the cakes when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Homemade mixed spice
Makes 25g
- 10g cinnamon bark
- 5g coriander seeds
- 5g whole mace
- 3g grated nutmeg
- 2g whole clovers
Put all the ingredients in a spice grinder and blitz until smooth. Store in an airtight jar in a cool cupboard.
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