Mad for mandarins: Flourless Chocolate Mandarin Cake

Nonna's mandarin tree is the tree that keeps giving. This week we picked three buckets and there's more to come.

Looking to create a citrus treat, I found a gluten-free chocolate cake. Every workplace now has someone who won't have gluten. It's the 'vegetarian' of years gone by. And I've always wanted to make a gluten-free dessert.

Flourless Chocolate Mandarin Almond Cake

 

I adapted a Flourless Chocolate Mandarin Cake to take away some of the tartness. It felt odd blending the entire mandarin, skin and all, but it gives the cake a nice moistness (I know people hate that word) and bitterness, which the nuttiness of the almond offsets. The chocolate and honey give it that hint of sweetness.

It's a really light cake that works great warm or cold with a side of mandarin flavoured cream (beat the cream with the juice of one mandarin).
 

You can boil the mandarins (peel and all) the day before.

Flourless Chocolate Mandarin Cake
8 mandarins
2 tablespoons honey

500g almond meal
12 eggs
500g caster sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup dark cooking chocolate

1. Place mandarins in a heavy based saucepan, cover well with water and bring to the boil. Boil for about 2 hours, drain and set aside to cool.
2. Grease and line 28cm cake tin. Set oven to 180°C.
3. Chop and seed mandarins and place in food processor with the honey. Transfer to another large bowl and add eggs, sugar and baking powder. 
4. Melt the chocolate and fold into the mixture with the almond meal.
5. Bake for approximately 1 hour or until firm to touch (in my oven I baked it for two hours).

NOTE: The purée can be made the day before.

The disappearing cake.

 

Mad for mandarins: Mandarin Mousse

Do not judge a book by its cover. Or in this case, a mousse by its photo.

Rather than look at my boring, dull photo, clear your mind and imagine feathers - light and fluffy. Now imagine the feeling of smooth silk - soft and cool to touch. Bring those two things together and weave through it the lightest zest of freshness. 

That would describe the Mandarin Mousse I made with my cousins yesterday.

The deliciously light, fresh and zesty mousse - image does not do it justice.

 

Mad for Mandarins: Homemade marmalade

I still have 20 of the mandarins Nonna dropped off last week, and I can only eat so many a day. I've always wanted to make jam and number 66 on my 101 in 1001 is just that.

Marmalade, jam - given the amount of sugar in both of them I figure they're practically the same thing. But making it wasn't as easy, or healthy, as I thought.

When life gives you mandarins...

Mad for mandarins: Zesty Mini Mandarin Muffins

I love this time of year, and its not because of the jackets and scarves that hide all of your sins. I'm obsessed with mandarins.

Those little orange orbs just brighten the boring winter fruit bowl and are so tasty.

Every year I vow to use the juicy fruit that overloads my grandparent's mandarin trees in my cooking. But we always seem to be overseas when they ripen.

This year I'm tied to the house thanks to Mini Me, so I can finally achieve this dream (sadly not one of my 101 in 1001 though). First up Mandarin Muffins.

Zesty Mandarin Mini Muffins