Weekend Dessert- Upside-Down Orange Walnut Cake

Upside-Down Orange Walnut Cake

By Heather Krasovec

Years ago I baked my first pineapple upside-down cake. I loved the way the caramel dripped over the cake and kept it perfectly moist for days to come. Since that day I have experimented with several different variations on the upside-down cake; my absolute favorite is the Orange Walnut Cake. This is the one that makes everyone ask first for a second piece of cake, and second for the recipe.

I tend to try to make everything a little bit healthier, even my desserts. I have included some whole grains but not all (it just wouldn't seem like cake anymore if it were 100% whole grain.) I use walnut oil instead of butter, and honey instead of sugar IN the cake. However, I have found that the caramel topping just doesn't have the right flavor unless I use real sugar and butter. Oh well, everything in moderation, right?

Ingredients

1/3 cup of butter, melted

1/2 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of dark molasses

1/2 cup of walnut halves

1/2 cup of walnut oil

1/2 cup of honey

2 large chicken eggs

3/4 cup of all-purpose flour

1/2 cup of whole grain oat flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

1/2 teaspoon of ground mace (if you don't have mace you may substitute 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg)

3/4 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup of plain, unsweetened yogurt

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Directions

Heat your oven to 325 degrees F. I prefer to use my toaster oven for this cake, since it will need to bake for at least an hour and it just seems wasteful to run my full-sized oven that long for something so small. But any oven will do.

Combine the melted butter, sugar and molasses. Pour the mixture into an eight inch round cake pan, rolling it around to coat the sides. Neatly arrange the walnut halves in the pan, with the tops of the nuts facing down. Set aside.

Combine the all-purpose flour, oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt and ground mace in a bowl. Whisk to combine well and aerate the ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the orange juice, yogurt and vanilla extract. Mix well.

Put the eggs, walnut oil and honey into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle beater. Beat until well combined, starting very slowly to avoid making a mess. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat until barely combined. Add half of the liquid mixture and beat until barely combined. Repeat with the next 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the rest of the liquid mixture and the last 1/3 of the flour mixture. Each time beat until the ingredients are just barely combined.

Pour the batter into the cake pan, being careful not to move the walnuts. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. This should take between 1 hour and 1 hour and 15 minutes, depending on your oven.

Immediately turn the pan upside down onto a serving platter. Be careful, the cake and caramel are extremely hot. Leave the pan on the cake for 10 minutes, then remove and allow the cake to cool completely before serving.

Heather Krasovec, creator of http://best-toaster-oven-reviews.net/, uses her extensive experience in food based industries to help consumers make the best choices when stocking their kitchens.

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Image adapted by google. The above image doesn't refelct the actual recipe but is similar.