Winter Citrus Cake

I while ago, I was looking for cakes to make and my husband emailed me about a dozen different recipes. I haven’t fully looked at all the recipes, but there are quite a few good ones in the batch he sent! I was looking for what cake to make to celebrate the birthdays at work this month and I thought this winter citrus cake sounded great. Sometimes it’s nice to take a cake that’s not quite so sweet and covered with frosting.

This cake takes advantage of citrus fruits that are available this time of year: Meyer lemons and clementines/mandarin oranges. My store didn’t have Meyer lemons, so I just used small lemons. If you can’t find mandarin oranges, or don’t want to buy a giant box of them, you could substitute any type of orange. I also used a combination of mascarpone cheese and sour cream in place of the Greek yogurt; I’m trying to clean out my refrigerator!

This cake came together fast. It baked fairly quickly, and you have to watch the baking time as it can vary depending on the size of the pan you used and how juicy your lemons and mandarins are. I baked mine for 40 minutes and it seemed done. It was fairly soft when I took it out of the pan, so I knew that the cake won’t be dry. This cake was just superb. The citrus flavors were so refreshing on a grey winter day. I’m so glad I made this!

Winter Citrus Cake

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

Juice and zest from 2 small lemons

Juice and zest from 2 mandarin oranges

1 cup flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8” or 9”springform pan with cooking spray and line the bottom of the pan with a circle of waxed paper. Spray the paper with cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. Stir in the lemon and orange zest and the juices; the batter will look lumpy.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, add half of the flour mixture to the batter. Add yogurt and continue mixing. Add remaining flour mixture and stir just to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for about 35-45 minutes, until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Your baking time will vary depending on the size of your springform pan.

Allow to cool on a wire rack. Remove the cake from the pan and dust the top with powdered sugar.

Recipe from Off the (Meat) Hook