Upside-Down Cara Cara Olive Oil Cake #TheCakeSliceBakers #FoodieReads

It's a new year. And the Cake Slice Bakers have a new book from which they are cooking. For 2020, we'll be baking from The New Way to Cake: Simple Recipes with Exceptional Flavor by Benjamina Ebuehi.*

On the Page

Before getting my copy of the book, I had no idea who Ebuehi was. So, in case you are in that same camp, she's a London-based food stylist who was a quarter-finalist on the seventh season of The Great British Bake Off ; she writes the blog Carrot & Crumb and is active on Instagram and on Twitter. What had me really excited was the subtitle - 'simple recipes with exceptional flavor'!

While I enjoyed several cakes from last year's selection, those recipes were anything but simple. Sadly, several of those recipes were flawed to the point of me throwing them in the garbage and starting all over again. I have tried all three recipes that were picked for January from The New Way to Cake: Simple Recipes with Exceptional Flavor. Every single one was easy to make and incredibly tasty. You'll see the others soon, but I am sharing this one now as part of #FoodieReads. And, yes, it was simple and delicious.

I made this when my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and niece came for a quick visit. I hadn't planned a dessert, then realized that I had all of the ingredients necessary to make it. It was one bowl and one pan; and it was on the cooling rack in less than forty-five minutes from start to finish. A couple of things to note: it satisfied a sweet craving without being overly sweet; it had an incredible texture. Those two things alone makes the cake a winner in my mind. I can't wait to bake more recipes from this book.

On the Plate

This version is slightly adapted as Ebuehi's version used blood oranges and I couldn't find any organic blood oranges. I try not to use the skins or peels of any fruits that aren't raised organically. Also, I substituted buttermilk for the yogurt and reduced the sugar a tiny bit.

Ingredients for a 9" cake

• 1/3 C organic dark brown sugar
• 1 T water
• 1 organic cara cara orange, sliced
• 2/3 C organic granulated sugar
• 1/3 C buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 3 T olive oil
• 1-1/3 C flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/4 t baking soda
• pinch of salt (I used a birch smoked flake salt)

Procedure
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9" baking round with parchment paper and set aside.

Whisk together the brown sugar and water. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread it evenly to the edges.

Arrange the orange slices on top of the brown sugar base. You can make a pretty design. I didn't...next time.

Place all of the remaining ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and stir together until just moistened. Carefully pour the batter over the orange slices and push the batter to the edges. Put the cake in the oven and bake for 30 minutes - until the sponge is firm to the touch and golden brown.

Remove cake from the oven and let cool completely in the pan before inverting. Serve as is or with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream on the side.

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.

Click to see what everyone else read in January 2020: here.