Ingredients
250g butter, softened
190g caster sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated mandarin rind
4 eggs, at room temperature
125ml sour cream, plus extra to serve
190g self-raising flour
75g almond meal
2½ tablespoons mandarin juice
For the mandarin syrup
120ml mandarin juice
150g caster sugar
3 mandarins, peeled, thickly sliced
Method:
Preheat oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan. Grease a 6.5cm-deep, 20cm (base) round cake pan. Line the base and side with baking paper.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and mandarin rind until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Stir in sour cream. Sift the flour over the resultant mixture. Stir in almond meal and mandarin juice.
Spread mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (cover with foil if over-browning).
Meanwhile, make mandarin syrup by placing the mandarin juice, sugar and 225ml water in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer and keep it there for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add mandarin slices, coating them in the mixture. Remove from heat.
Remove cake from oven. Using a skewer, pierce the top of the cake several times. Drizzle half the hot syrup over cake in pan. Stand for 15 minutes for syrup to be absorbed into cake.
Transfer cake to a serving plate with sides. Top with mandarin slices and drizzle with remaining syrup. Serve warm with extra sour cream.