SERVES 12 I DIFFICULTY Easy
COOK TIME 30 I PREP TIME 25
Ingredients - Cake
- 1/3 cup poppy seeds
- 2 tbsp milk
- 150 g butter
- 3 tsp finely grated mandarin rind
- 1 cup raw caster sugar 4 large eggs
- 1 cup self-raising flour 1 cup almond meal
- 1/4 cup mandarin juice
Ingredients - Sticky Mandarin Syrup
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- zest & juice of 3 mandarins
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan- forced). Lightly grease a 12-hole muffin pan & line the bases with baking paper rounds.
- Combine poppy seeds & milk in small bowl; stand for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, beat butter, rind & sugar with electric mixer until light & fluffy; beat in eggs, one at a time, until just combined between additions.
- Stir in sifted flour, almond meal, juice & poppy seed mixture.
- Place 1/4 cup of mixture into each prepared hole; smooth surface with metal spatula.
- Bake cakes in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Meanwhile to make the sticky mandarin topping, place the sugar, water & vanilla bean in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the mandarin juice, zest & simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove cakes from oven & while cakes are still hot prick the top all over with a skewer.
- Drizzle the mandarin syrup over the cakes. Allow the cakes to cool slightly before serving with cream.