Satsuma Mandarin Cake
Photos of cake, and a few of our cat. Because she loves to hang out wherever we are, especially if that's in the kitchen. Anyhow, yesterday was our friend Ethan's birthday, so I wanted to bake a cake to bring to dinner. I remembered a couple recipes I had pinned on my "tasties" board I have on pinterest that had citrus in them, and at this time of year that sounded like the best idea. So, after some deliberation and inventory of what we already had, I went with this recipe, from Martha Stewart of all places.
Much to my surprise, the cake turned out wonderfully. This is despite our miserable attempts to cut the slices evenly. The recipe recommends using a mandolin, which I'm no longer the biggest fan of after the pickling incident last year where I sliced a good chunk of my finger tip. . . but anyhow, I gave it a shot and I think it would have worked with a mandolin that had properly sharp blades, but ours does not fit that criteria. I ended up with smushed mandarins after the second slice. So then I tried a serrated knife, which worked for a couple of slices as well- but not any further than that, and it went on like this with all of our painfully dull knives that really need to be sharpened. (I know, it's a serious hazard, believe me I know)So, our mandarin slices were not as uniform and beautiful as I had hoped, but they still did look wonderful on the cake, and they tasted great as well. Yay for recipes that are easier than they seem. I think if I made this cake again though, I would decrease the butter by a bit, and the sugar by a bit more.
