Rosace à l'Orange, Upside-down Orange Cake

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(1 x 8" cake)

Last month while I was making the Orange Tian for Daring Bakers, I kept thinking of this cake. This adaptation of a French dessert is also assembled upside-down. When inverted onto a serving plate it's a lovely looking cake topped with slices of fruit.

It's been a number of years since I made one and thought it would be nice to revisit.

I make a custard with cornstarch rather than the traditional pastry cream made with flour, and I make a buttermilk cake instead of spongecake; (I really dislike beating all those eggs over hot water). The fruit combination below is my personal preference. I imagine you could use mango, peaches, pineapple; really any fruit which slices well.

custard (can be made a day or two ahead)
2 egg yolks, (reserve the egg whites for the cake)
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, salt and cornstarch in a saucepan. Slowly whisk in the milk. Turn on the heat to medium and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Continue to boil for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent the bottom from burning.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour into a bowl  and cover the surface of the pudding with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming as the custard cools; smooth it across the surface with your hands to remove any air pockets.

This custard will keep refrigerated for a couple of days.

buttermilk cake
2 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, (1 stick)
2/3 cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Prepare an 8" cake pan by coating it with a thin layer of butter and cutting a piece of parchment paper to line the bottom of the pan. Set aside

Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

Beat the butter as you slowly add the sugar. Continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy looking. Beat in the egg whites, and when those are well incorporated, beat in the remaining egg.

Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture and stir until well combined. Add half the buttermilk and the lemon juice and stir that in. Keep alternating with the flour and buttermilk until they are used up and everything is well combined. Beat for about a minute.

Pour the batter into the prepared 8" cake pan. Bake for about 35-40 minutes in the centre of the oven, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the pan.

fruit
2 large navel oranges
1 kiwi
2 large strawberries
1/4 cup orange liqueur

Remove the peels from the oranges and slice them into thin rounds. Peel the kiwi fruit and slice those into thin rounds too. Slice the strawberries. Carefully place the sliced fruit (picking out the nicest pieces) into a shallow dish. Sprinkle the orange liqueur evenly over the fruit and and set aside.

Chop up any leftover/remaining bits of fruit and set aside.

to finish the custard
2 tsp gelatin
2 tbsp hot water
1 cup heavy cream, cooled

Combine the gelatin and water, stir until the gelatin is dissolved and set aside.

Beat the heavy cream until it starts to stiffen. Slowly pour in the gelatin mixture as you continue to beat.

Fold in the custard and up to 2/3 cup of the chopped fruit.

to prepare the cake mold
almond or canola oil
sugar

Oil and then sugar a 7-8 cup round mold. I used a glass mixing bowl. Starting from then centre, place the fruit slices, forming a pleasing pattern, reserving the orange liqueur the fruit sat in. You can overlap the slices slightly if you wish.

Cover the fruit carefully with about half of the custard mixture.

Slice the cool cake horizontally and brush both cut sides generously with the orange liqueur mixture.

Place one cake layer over the custard; I like to place the cut side facing the custard mixture to make it easier for it to absorb some of the juices. Cover that with the remaining custard and then place the other cake layer (liqueur side facing the custard) down.

Find a plate which fits slightly inside the mold and weigh it down with a few full cans. Place in the refrigerator overnight, up to about 24 hours.

When it's ready to serve, fill a larger bowl with hot water and carefully dip the mold into it to warm up the bottom (to loosen the cake a bit) being careful not to allow any of the water to get into the top and onto the cake itself.

Carefully unmold onto a serving plate.