Tangerine Cake

I have been dreaming up the delicious Tangerine Cake for a while now, and I finally got it out of my head. It is SO tasty, and exactly as I dreamed. Tangerines are my favorite citrus, and I think they are highly overlooked and just lumped in with oranges, but they are way better in my opinion.

It is a little sweet, a little tart, and a little bitter, just like good citrus. And the nutty dusting of pistachio gives a perfect crunch that compliments the tangerines beautifully.

Ingredients

This cake is coincidently gluten-free thanks to the use of almond flour and polenta. The latter keeps the cake soft and supple by absorbing the extra liquid that releases from the tangerines.

The eggs and baking powder give the cake its lift, and the marmalade and pistachios finish off the cake beautifully, making it bakery quality.

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of the post, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe card with ingredient measurements and instructions.

Method

I start by preparing the tangerines. Zest and peel two of them and juice the third. Slice up the peeled ones and you are ready to make the cake.

To make the cake, beat together the eggs, sugar, almond flour, polenta, baking soda, and salt until it becomes light and fluffy. Fold in the tangerine juice and zest and beat a few seconds longer. Then baking in a prepared baking pan, lined with parchment that has been buttered.

Arrange the tangerine slices on top of the cake and bake until just golden on top. A toothpick inserted should come out with dry crumbs on it. And while the cake is still warm, brush on the marmalade and dust with pistachios.

As the cake cools it will take in some of the tangerine juice and the marmalade and almost makes it a bit like a drizzle cake. The cake will get soft and wet in spots. That is not underbaked cake, it is all the juices being sucked up by the polenta. It will have a bit of a porridge-like consistency toward the middle of the cake, but again, it isn't under-baked.

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📖 Recipe

Yield: 10-12 slices

Tangerine Cake

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Ingredients

• Unsalted Butter, for greasing the cake pan
• 3 Tangerines or Minneola Tangelos, 2 sliced - 1 juiced
• 6 large Eggs
• 2 cups Almond Meal
• ⅓ cup fine Polenta, not instant
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt, Morton’s
• ¾ cup Granulated Sugar
• 3 teaspoons Tangerine Juice, fresh squeezed
• 3-4 teaspoons Orange Marmalade
• 1 teaspoon Tangerine Juice, fresh squeezed
• ¼ cup Pistachios, finely chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line an 8 or 9-inch cake tin with a parchment paper square, leaving the corners peaking up the sides. Grease the bottom and sides of the pan over the parchment with butter along with any exposed pieces of the metal pan if they peak out.
2. First zest, then peel, and slice two of the tangerines into about ¼-inch slices and reserve until needed. Juice the third, it should give you enough for the cake and the topping with some left for sipping.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the eggs, almond meal, polenta, baking powder, salt, and sugar, together, beat starting on low speed till combined then work up to high speed until fluffy and pale, 90 seconds.
4. Add the 3 teaspoons of tangerine juice and the zest and beat for 30 seconds longer.
5. Scrape the mixture into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top with a spatula.
6. Arrange the sliced tangerines around the top of the cake.
7. Bake for 45-50 minutes in the preheated oven until the edges of the cake begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a cake tester comes out with only a few damp crumbs on it.
8. Place the cake on a wire rack to cool.
9. In a small saucepan, combine the marmalade and 1 teaspoon tangerine juice and heat over low heat till well combined. You could also warm them gently together in the microwave in 30-second increments till soft and brushable.
10. Brush the mixture over the top of the cake and sprinkle the chopped pistachios and leave the cake to cool in the tin before removing it.
11. Slice the cake into 8 or 10 pieces.
12. You can serve with a small dollop of lightly whipped cream on the side if you like.

Notes

Notes & Tips

It is best to use a springform pan or a deep tart pan that has a removable bottom in it for this cake. That is why I line it with parchment so the batter doesn't flow out. Whatever pan you use, just be sure to use parchment and butter or it will stick.

It is important to really beat the ingredients in the first step together really well. Once they are combined in the bowl, turn the speed up to high and "whip it good"! This incorporates a lot of air into the cake giving it lift, and since it has no flour in it you really can't overwhip it or make it tough.

The cake can be stored in a cool house at room temp for up to two days. If your house runs warm, store the cake in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Substitutions

In place of the polenta, you could also use cornmeal. Polenta and cornmeal are basically the same thing, polenta is just ground a little less than cornmeal, leaving it a bit larger grain. Think of polenta as large-grain cornmeal.

I love tangerines for this recipe, but you could essentially use any type of citrus. Though sticking in the orange family, like clementines, or even grapefruit will yield the best results.

I prefer using orange marmalade for this recipe, however if you ever come across tangerine I would suggest using that. You could also use apricot preserves. The purpose is to lock in the moisture in the cake and give it a nice shine.

Citrus loves pistachios, you could also use almonds if you don't want to hunt down raw pistachios and toast them. If you do use prepared pistachios, I would suggest using lightly salted ones.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 264Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 177mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 3gSugar: 20gProtein: 8g

This is an estimated caloric value, actual numbers may differ based on the ingredients used.

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