Mandarin Cake

Now that mandarins are in season why not try this, moist gluten free treat for your friends and family, ideal desert recipe for those on restricted diet to manage IBS, low Fodmap.   I packaged up a slice for a good friend to take home and she later told me it never made it, she ate it in the car. Thanks to Donna Hay for this desert cake and the absolute bounty of my homegrown organic mandarins.

Ingredients

2 small mandarins unpeeled
1/2 cup instant polenta
3/4 cup almond meal (make your own by whizzing up whole almonds in a food processor)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs best if at room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar

Mandarin syrup

2/3cup caster sugar
2 tablespoon water
1/3 cup mandarin juice

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Line base and sides of a greased 20cm springform tin with baking paper.
Cook mandarins in a small saucepan, cover with water placing a saucer on top to keep mandarins submerged, for 30 minutes or until soft.
Cool slightly and then process in a food processor to make a purée.
Combine polenta, almond meal and baking powder, mix to combine.
Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer for 10-12 minutes until thick and tripled in volume.
Fold in the dry ingredients into the eggs, in two batches.
Pour into prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes and cooked through testing with a skewer.
Cool completely in the tin.
For the mandarin syrup, combine sugar and water in a small saucepan stirring until combined.  Bring to the boil, cook without stirring swirling the sugar mixture until it caramelises approx 7-8 minutes.
Slowly add the mandarin juice, stirring until combined.  Cool to room temperature.
Remove cake from tin and spoon over the syrup.

Yum yum.
Mama Marmalade