Tangerine Christmas Cake
6 servings
75 minutes
Mandarin Christmas cake is a true embodiment of coziness and festive spirit. This dessert with Italian roots combines the rich spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove with the delicate sweet-sour freshness of caramelized mandarins. The addition of vanilla vodka and red sweet wine gives the dough a special depth of flavor, while raisins add a pleasant texture. The cake is aromatic, moist, and rich, perfectly complementing a cup of hot tea on a winter evening. It is traditionally decorated with mandarin slices, powdered sugar, and rosemary sprigs, creating a unique festive appearance. This dessert not only delights the taste buds but also brings a sense of warmth and family unity, making it an ideal treat for Christmas dinner.
1
We peel the mandarins into segments and fry them in a small amount of vegetable oil and sugar. We place them on a paper towel.
- Mandarins: 3 pieces
- Vegetable oil: 10 ml
- Light brown sugar: 25 g
2
Beat the soft butter and sugar into a fluffy mass, adding the room temperature eggs one at a time.
- Butter: 110 g
- Brown sugar: 50 g
- Chicken egg (large): 2 pieces
3
Sift flour with baking powder and spices into the mixture, add pre-soaked and dried raisins in wine, and at the end of kneading, add fragrant vodka.
- Whole wheat flour (stone-ground): 140 g
- Baking powder: 2 g
- Ground cinnamon: 0.5 teaspoon
- Nutmeg: 0.3 teaspoon
- Ground cloves: 0.3 teaspoon
- Golden raisins: 75 g
- Sweet red wine: 50 ml
- Vanilla vodka: 10 ml
- Salt: pinch
4
Place half of the batter in a prepared mold (diameter — 18–21 cm), gently fold in 2/3 of the cooled mandarins into the batter, fill the mold with the remaining batter, smooth it out, and bake the cake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 30–35 minutes.
- Mandarins: 3 pieces
5
Remove the cooled cake from the mold and decorate with remaining mandarin slices, powdered sugar, thin citrus zest, or rosemary sprigs.
- Mandarins: 3 pieces