I discovered cardamom quite late in life, but now I am hooked! The citrus of the easy-peelers is really complemented by the fragrance of the spice in this cake recipe! Get pod crushing!
As I got closer to Indian cuisine, I got more familiar with a variety of spices, amongst which: cardamom. The potent fragrance of this spice was a huge surprise for me, coming from such tiny seeds in such tiny pods! I generally use cardamom in curries and when preparing chai tea, but this was my first attempt at using it in a cake. The citrus seems to balance the strong flavour of the cardamom and the apricot glaze sweetens the overall cake. I used easy-peelers in this version as this is mostly what is in my fruit bowl all throughout the autumn/winter period. Other citrus fruit as for example tangerines or clementines are also options; and I would be curious to try this with blood orange as well, if I was back in Italy.
Ingredients for 1X 9inch round tin
Ingredients:
For the TOPPING:
- 125g of caster sugar
- 7-8 easy-peelers depending on size (best to have a couple of spares just in case)
- 1X tablespoon of water
- 4X tablespoons of apricot jam
For the CAKE BASE:
- 285g of butter (unsalted - I always used dairy-free spread as my stomach and lactose do not get along)
- 285g of self-raising flour
- 285g of brown sugar (or light muscovado)
- 5X large eggs
- 1X teaspoon of salt
- 1.5 X teaspoon of ground cardamom (I only had pods so I had to slit a few, collect the black seeds and grind them)
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Prep your cake tin - I used a loose- bottomed 9- inch round tin : line the bottom with baking paper. I also lightly buttered and flour the sides.
As this is an upside-down cake, we would need to start from the topping. Place a saucepan on a high heat for a couple of minutes; once hot, lower to medium heat and add the caster sugar - slowly the sugar will turn to caramel. Caramel is not something I am particularly fond of making so I have learnt the following lessons over the years:
1. Ensure your equipment is clean and dry before starting, in particular the pan - any impurities will make your caramel crystallise and you will then need to start all over again.
2. Be PATIENT - the sugar will turn! Check and regulate your flame if you think it is not turning quickly enough and watch the bottom as it will turn quicker; resist the temptation to prod the sugar with a spatula or a wooden spoon - this is high risk for crystallisation. Once the bottom starts turning you can swirl the sugar around in the pan to spread the heat.
3. Seems an obvious one, but it happened to me more than once: try not to get any caramel on to your fingers as it will be extremely hot and painful!
Once the caramel is ready, get it off the heat and pour into the bottom of the cake tin. Peel the easy-peelers and arrange the slices in a circular pattern in the caramel - this is going to be the very top of your cake so be precise!
Now onto the cake base: cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and no longer gritty. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the flour to the mixture - I always try to add a tablespoon at a time to avoid any mess with my electric hand-held mixer. Add the cardamom and the salt. Once all the ingredients are well combined, pour the mixture into the cake tin, being careful not to shift your design.
Place your cake in the oven for about 1 hour - 1 hour 10 mins. Skewer-test it to check when it's done.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool. Once it is cooler, flip out onto a plate - now you can see your fruit design on top.
For the glaze, place the jam and the water in a saucepan and and warm on the stove. Bring to the boil to combine the ingredients. Once ready and warm, glaze onto the cake using a pastry brush.
Some extra tips
If I could eat ice-cream (granted, I can have the vegan version) I would love to serve this with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on the side!
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