You know that feeling when you smell something that transports you back to your childhood, Mandarins take us straight back to our Yiayia and Papou’s house they had the prettiest mandarin tree ( as you can imagine a big Greek backyard) and everyday after school we would run to pick as many as we could. We would sit on the grass under the clothesline and eat our mandarins whilst Yiayia would be inside cooking our favourite spaghetti bolognese, Papou painting portraits in his studio.
Seasonal eating is about learning to use more local foods in season, having fun in the kitchen and getting creative. This recipe is simple and full of flavour.
H&V
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Ingredients
170ml good quality extra virgin olive oil (we love to use Moro El Primero Extra Virgin Olive oil)
5 freshly picked bay leaves, plus extra to serve
5 small mandarins, zested and juiced, reserve 1 mandarin and thinly slice
220g plain flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
Pinch of bicarbonate of soda
2 green apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
1 ripe pear, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
80ml soy milk (you can use full cream milk or butter milk if you like)
3 free range eggs
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160°C, grease a cake tin and line with baking paper.
- Place the apples and pear in a deep saucepan over medium heat with a splash of water and cover and cook until apples and pears are soft. Once the apples are soft place them into a blender and blitz to a puree.
- In a small saucepan heat the olive oil with the bay leaves and infuse over low heat until the bubbles start to form.
- In a large mixing bowl, place the flour, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate soda.
- Combine the cooled infused bay leaf olive oil, mandarin zest and juice, apple and pear puree, soy milk and eggs in a large bowl and mix, add to the olive oil mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, lay the sliced mandarin on top of the cake and bake for 45-50 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool before serving. Serve with yogurt or labne
