TCS ~ Month of May - Orange Almond Caramel Upside-Down Cake

May's Cake by The Cake Slice Bakers!

Above: Toasted Almond slices with butter, sugar and honey!

Above: cake batter on topping

Below: cake did not come out in one piece.....

The cake itself is delightful, love the orange flavor. Once again its not a tall cake…

The topping.... should have been great except for.... my attention was diverted to a minor accident on the road visible from my kitchen window... hence my eyes was not paying attention to the oven thermometer (maintaining it at 350F) the heat in the gas oven went up to 400F... so the caramel portion on one side was burnt… and my cake was ready in 15mins!!

And I would suggest slicing the cake as soon the parchment paper comes off! As Natalia had experienced... topping hardens like toffy!

Do visit MY partners' results HERE!

May’s Cake: Orange Almond Caramel Upside-Down Cake

Makes one 9 inch round cake
(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Ingredients – Topping
1 cup sliced almonds
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup honey

For the Cake
1½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup sour cream
2 large eggs
¼ cup orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp grated orange zest

Method - Topping
Heat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9 inch round non stick cake pan and line the base withparchment paper. Dust with flour.

Spread the nuts on a baking tray and toast until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Heat the butter in amedium saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Whisk in the brown sugar, turn the heat tolow, and cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan andsmooth with a spatula. Drizzle over the honey and scatter over the toasted nuts.

Method - Cake
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Combine thesour cream, eggs, orange juice and vanilla in a glass measuring cup and beat lightly.

Combine the butter and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixeron medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once ortwice. Stir in the orange zest.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, pour the egg mixture into the bowl in a slow stream,stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the sides.

Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture, ½ cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Then mix of 30 seconds on medium speed.

Pour the batter over the almonds, gently spreading it into an even layer.

Bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, 35 to 40minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let stand for 5 minutes.

Holding the pan and a plate together firmly with oven mitts, invert the hot cake onto the plate.Peel away the parchment paper. If necessary, replace any almonds stuck to the base of the pan.Let the cake cool for 20 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.