Mandarin & Bay Leaf Olive Oil Loaf | Recipe

You will need at least five mandarins for this recipe – make sure you keep two of them whole, for slicing. This cake is beautifully moist with slightly savoury, grassy notes from the olive oil and bay leaves, and freshness from the mandarin. If mandarins are out of season, this cake works perfectly well with oranges, blood oranges or Meyer lemons.

Ingredients

• 160ml (2/3 cup) mild extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 fresh bay leaves, crumpled/bruised, plus extra to decorate (optional)
• 5–6 mandarins (about 600g), depending on their size
• 100g (1/3 cup) apple purée
• 3 eggs
• 225g gluten-free flour blend
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons monk fruit extract powder
• ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Serves: 10

This cake will keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

Method

Heat the olive oil and bay leaves in a small saucepan over low heat for about 10 minutes or until bubbles start to form around the leaves. Set aside to cool and infuse, about 30 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaves, reserving the oil.

Finely zest and juice 3 or 4 mandarins – you need 2 teaspoons of zest and 80ml (1/3 cup) of juice. Thinly slice the remaining whole unpeeled mandarins. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan-forced). Grease an 11.5cm × 21.5cm loaf (bar) tin and line the base and two long sides with a piece of non-stick baking paper, extending the paper about 4cm above the sides of the tin to assist with the removal of the cooked loaf.

Whisk the cooled infused olive oil, apple purée, mandarin zest and juice and eggs together in a large mixing bowl. Sift in the flour, baking powder, monk fruit extract powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and stir until combined. Spread into the prepared tin and top with the mandarin slices, slightly overlapping them along the centre, as they will spread out as the cake rises. Decorate with the extra bay leaves, if using.

Bake for 50–55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.