Blood Orange Polenta Upside Down Cake with Homemade Whipped Cream
I’m trying to become more experimental with my cooking. Instead of taking a recipe to the grocery store and sticking to it, if something catches my eye, I buy it and then figure out the rest when I get home. When I saw blood oranges at the super market, I knew I had a recipe somewhere that called for them somewhere. This recipe is from Bon Appetit and can be found here. I didn’t alter anything in it besides the whipped creme fraiche it called for (instead I just made whipped cream), and I think it could have not turned out better. This cake took an hour to make and then 45 minutes to bake and was worth every second. I really concentrated and loved every step so it turned into a more meditative exercise than a tedious recipe. I will definitely make it again for a special occasion (or on a Sunday night when I happen to have blood oranges). This cake has everything - tartness and chewiness from the rind, pillowy soft and not too sweet cake, and lush sweet topping of the whipped cream. You can’t decide which season it belongs to - which is why it is perfect for fall.
Ingredients
7 tablespoons sugar, divided, plus ¾ cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
3 unpeeled small to medium blood oranges
¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
3 tablespoons polenta or coarse yellow cornmeal (preferably stone-ground)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, separated
6 tablespoons whole milk
What To Do
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Combine 6 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons water in 10-inchdiameter ovenproof skillet with 8-inchdiameter bottom and 2 ½-inch-high sides. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil without stirring until syrup is golden amber (not dark amber), occasionally brushing down sides of skillet with wet pastry brush and swirling skillet, about 4 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and whisk 2 tablespoons butter into caramel. Set aside.
Cut off both rounded ends of each orange so that ends are even and flat. Using sharp knife, cut oranges into 1/16- to 1/8-inchthick rounds. Remove and discard any seeds. Arrange orange slices, overlapping slightly, in concentric circles atop caramel in bottom of skillet.
Whisk flour, polenta, baking powder, and coarse kosher salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat ¾ cup sugar, remaining 6 tablespoons room-temperature butter, and vanilla in another medium bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beating batter just until incorporated.
Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in large bowl until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Fold 1/3 of egg whites into batter to lighten, then fold in remaining egg whites in 2 additions. Drop batter by large spoonfuls atop orange slices in skillet, then spread evenly.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool cake in skillet 10 minutes. Run small knife around cake to loosen. Place platter atop skillet. Using oven mitts, hold platter and skillet firmly together and invert, allowing cake to settle onto platter. Rearrange any orange slices that may have become dislodged. Cool cake completely at room temperature.
Homemade Whipped Cream
Pour however much heavy cream you want (I used a half pint) into a bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until peaks form. Add some pinches of sugar and dashes of vanilla extract and serve with cake.
