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Mandarin-Pistachio Ring Cake on a marble and wood cake stand
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Mandarin-Pistachio Ring Cake

From Victoria: Sicilians eat cake and cookies and ice cream for breakfast. What’s not to love about that? This is a table cake that’s especially suited for breakfast, since it’s made with whole raw mandarins—kind of like having your juice in solid form. If there’s any cake left over, it gets better and moister as it sits, and it is just as good with tea in the afternoon. You could use any type of mandarin or tangerine, Satsuma, or minneola for this.
Author: Victoria Granof

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter softened for the pan
  • 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar for the pan

Cake

  • 3/4 pound (360g) mandarins about 5
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. Fiori di Sicilia or vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup (100g) pistachio flour* finely ground
  • 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour or 1 cup (120g) 00 flour
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃). Grease a 10-inch (25cm) tube pan, bundt or ring mold with butter and sprinkle with sugar to coat.
  • To make the cake, cut the mandarins into quarters, peels and all. Remove and discard the stem nubbin and seeds. Puree until smooth in a food processor or blender, then set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, Fiori di Sicilia, and salt. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking as you go; then stir in the pureed mandarins and pistachio flour. In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda and add this slowly to the large bowl, continuing to mix until all the flour is incorporated.
  • Now scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45** to 55 minutes (this will depend on the pan you used), or until the cake is nicely browned and fragrant and the top is firm when you touch it lightly.
  • Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and transfer to a serving plate. The cake will keep, covered, at cool room temperature for up to a week.

Notes

Zoë's Baking Notes:
I made my own pistachio flour by blending the raw nuts with 1/3 cup of the sugar and a few tablespoons of the all-purpose flour and pulverizing in a food processor. Be sure to pulverize it into a fine powder or the cake will come out dense. I made the cake a second time with commercially ground pistachio flour and liked the texture of the cake better.
I baked the cake in a Bundt pan and it baked faster than the directions called for. I took it out at 35 minutes and it was perfect. The size pan will make all the difference in timing.