Mandarin Almond Olive Oil Cake
Source: Jen Musty, Batter Bakery
Recipe Type: Desserts | Seasons: Autumn, Winter
This recipe was demonstrated in the Foodwise Classroom on December 6, 2025, and was brought to you with generous support from the Almond Board of California.
This versatile cake batter can be baked in many different forms to fit all of your holiday gifting and entertaining needs! Muffins, loaves, decorative bundts, or traditional round cakes will all showcase seasonal citrus, almonds, and the addition of any other favorite touches. I particularly like fresh cranberries for an extra tart punch, or poppyseeds for a more traditional loaf. Chilling the batter before baking will make it less runny, as olive oil solidifies when chilled. This recipe yields a large amount of batter, ideal for holiday baking and entertaining, but can easily be halved if you are just baking for yourself!
INGREDIENTS
Cake
1 pound olive oil*
14.5 ounces sugar
1/3 cup orange/mandarin zest (from approx. 12 mandarins)
4 teaspoons almond extract
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 eggs (1 lb)
1 pound, 4 ounces sour cream
1 1/3 cups orange/mandarin juice
13 ounces millet flour**
11 ounces corn flour (not meal!)**
4.5 ounces almond flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/3 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon psyllium husk powder
Decorative Glaze & Toppings (optional)***
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup mandarin juice
¼ cup almond or regular milk
dash almond extract (optional)
1 cup toasted sliced almonds
Fresh cranberries as needed
PREPARATION
- Pre-heat your oven to 350°F, or 375°F if you prefer a more golden cake crust.
- Whisk together olive oil, sugar, zest, and extracts in a large bowl.
- Add eggs, sour cream, and mandarin juice, combining well.
- In a separate small bowl, combine the flours, leavening, salt, and psyllium husk.
- Combine your dry and wet ingredients, mixing well. There is no risk of over-mixing a gluten-free batter!
- If using decorative molds, spray with a non-stick spray and preheat the molds to avoid sticking. Otherwise, line muffin tins, prepare giveaway loaf tins, or spray and line loaf pans or cake pans with non-stick spray and parchment liner.
- Bake according to your pan size—small muffins may bake as quickly as 10 minutes in your oven, while larger pans or deep loaves can easily take an hour. As you monitor your cakes, look for a light spring to the touch and only moist crumbs on a toothpick or wooden skewer when inserted.
- Once cakes are out of the oven, allow to cool 10-15 minutes then remove from pan. While cakes are cooling, mix glaze, Add liquid 1 tablespoon at a time to your powdered sugar, forming a thick, smooth paste before adding additional liquid. This will help avoid lumpy glaze. Glaze cakes with a pastry brush or drizzle with a spoon. Immediately top with sliced almonds and cranberries, if using.
INGREDIENTS NOTES
*If you prefer to use butter, use room temperature butter, and cream with sugar instead for step 1.
** If you are not gluten-free, or prefer not to hunt down the alternative flours, you may sub 1 pounds 8 ounces total all purpose flour for the millet and corn flour, and omit the psyllium husk, which acts as a binder. Psyllium husk is a type of soluble fiber derived from the plantago ovata plant. It binds with water to form a gel-like substance that is often used for digestive support, but works very well in gluten-free and/or vegan baking as a binder!
*** If you prefer less-sweet cakes and do not like glaze, add UNTOASTED sliced almonds to the top of your cakes just before baking. These should be light enough that they won’t sink into the batter. If using this option, chilling the batter is definitely recommended.
