An addictive mandarin cake-style cobbler with adjustable sweetness and delightful, light, bitter-sweet undertones that pair well with coffee.
Equipment | Single burner and oven or just oven |
Difficulty | Easy |
There was a mandarin BOGO at my store and I overloaded! But then I had to find a way to use them... This cobbler recipe showcase the natural goodness of mandarin oranges.
Excellent breakfast cobbler because it pairs beautifully with coffee.
When this cobbler is fresh from the oven it has a magnificent crunchy sugar crust and gooey center. And the best part? It's a totally vegan recipe, so you can indulge guilt-free.
Bursting with vibrant citrus notes and a tantalizingly sweet aroma, this mandarin orange recipe is a symphony of tangy mandarin oranges mingled with the comforting warmth of a perfectly baked cobbler.
Cleaning tip.
If your cake pan doesn't want to come clean, soak it for a few hours. The sugar crust will dissolve and then wipe right out.
Substitutions?
I'm out of vanilla! What should I use? If you're out of vanilla you can replace it with maple syrup! If you are also out of maple syrup you can use bourbon. Be sure not to use a peated whiskey! In this recipe you could also substitute the plain milk for vanilla flavored, be sure it is still unsweetened!
I don't have any cinnamon! You can use a small amount of nutmeg instead, or omit it completely.
I don't have any baking powder! You can use self-rising flour in place of the regular flour, or you can use 1 tsp of lemon juice with 1/2 tsp of baking soda.
Gather the ingredients.
If you don't have a burner or fresh mandarins use canned mandarins and jump to prepping the cake pan.
If using fresh mandarins peel and segment them. Be careful to check for seeds by gently squeezing the sections and/or holding them up to a light. Clean as much pith as possible from the sections. The pith is what causes bitterness, so it is important to remove as much as you can. This will take roughly 15-25 minutes depending on how many mandarins are used and how thoroughly they are cleaned.
Heat a sauce pan on medium heat and add the 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup sugar, and mandarin sections. While heating your mandarin sections with the water and sugar, poke the sections with a fork. Stir occasionally and cook until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has just begun to bubble, then remove from heat. About 6-7 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the cake pan and batter.
This is what the cake pan should look like after it has been oiled and sugared. The rest of the oil and sugar go into the batter. You can use a spoon to sprinkle the sugar around on top of the oil.
Put all the ingredients for the batter into a mixing bowl by adding the 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup non-dairy milk, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp cinnamon.
Stir the ingredients together until just mixed, being sure to whisk out any lumps. Try not to over mix the batter so it doesn't become tough.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
Pour the mandarins and juices over the top of the batter, trying to spread it as evenly as possible.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until the cobbler is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
How can I serve this?
This would be a great addition to a full breakfast! Also goes well with:
Coffee
Tea
Big scoops of vanilla ice cream!
Storage.
This cobbler can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. After the first day it will lose the crunchiness of the crust, but it will come free from the pan easily and become more similar to cake.