Cake Slice Bakers - May 2011: Orange Almond Caramel Upside-down (Cup)cake

It’s the 20th again and that means Cake Slice Bakers will be posting all about this wonderfully moist cake from Cake Keeper Cakes by Laura Chattman. This months cake is called the Orange Almond Caramel Upside-down Cake, and it is delicious!

I didn’t want to make a full on cake this month because I felt that it would probably just sit on the counter forever. Thus, I make cupcakes. However, I didn’t want too many cupcakes, so I cut the recipe in half. By cutting the recipe in half, it gave me six cupcakes, and if you really, really try and squeeze out every last ounce of batter, you can get seven cupcakes. This, I think, is the perfect amount because after one night, there were only four cupcakes left, which seems a little less daunting to consume than nine.

This cake is supposed to have a brown-sugary almond top once the cake in inverted. Now, I kinda knew that this might not work with the cupcake, but I decided the try it anyway and put the topping on the bottom and I planned to take the cupcake liner off and turn it upside-down. Let me save you the trouble if you plan on making this in the form of cupcakes, put the topping on top of the cake, not on the bottom. I got a little bit of topping, but not much and I tried to scrape it off of the liner and onto the cake, but it just didn’t work. Oh well, we learn from our mistakes. Now, I’m just making this sound like a too complicated cake; it’s really not very difficult at all and the end result is a very tender and moist and just all around awesome cake!

I’ve never made cake with sour cream before because as a food, I don’t like sour cream. However, I will never snub my nose at a sour cream cake ever again because I now know the magical powers it possesses; it makes cakes super duper moist without the cake being kinda liquidy (has anyone had that experience where the cake is really moist {albeit it still tastes good} but it’s kinda wet it’s so moist?). This cake is so soft I’m pretty sure that I could replace it with my pillow. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating just a tad bit, but seriously, this is good stuff. The only thing I wish I had done was add the orange zest (I didn’t have an orange and didn’t want to go to the store). It would have definitely amped (ampt?) the orangey flavor of the cake because the orange juice alone was not enough for me.

I was afraid these hadn't cooked all the way because they seemed so springy when they came out of the oven. However, 15 minutes and 30 seconds was deffinately the right amount of time for these beauties.

As you can see, the topping really didn't stick to the cake; it stuck more to the liner. It still tasted very nice though!

Orange Almond Caramel Upside-down Cupcakes
barely adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes by Laura Chattman
makes 7 cupcakes

Ingredients
Topping
¼ cup sliced almonds
3 tbsp butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2.5 tbsp honey

Cake
¾ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
¼ cup sour cream
1 egg
2 tbsp orange juice
½ tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp unsalted butter, soft
½ cup sugar
½ tbsp orange zest

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tin with paper liners. Place the alomds onto a nonstick baking pan and put them in the oven for about four minutes or until golden. Meanwhile, heat a small sauce pan on medium low and melt three tablespoons butter. Whisk in the brown sugar for two minutes. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cupcake liners. Sprinkle some of the toasted almond ontop of the sugar mixture and finish off the "topping" with a drizzle of honey
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the four tablespoons of butter and the sugar until fluffy, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the sour cream, egg, orange juice and vanilla extract and light whisk until combined. The result with be thick and creamy.
3. Add the sour cream mixture into the butter-sugar mixture and beat on medium for a few minutes. As you wait for that mixture to come together, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Then, with 1/2 cup intervals, add the flour mixture into the creamy mixture. After the last addition, beat for 30 seconds on medium speed.
4. Using a protion scoop, spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 15 minutes. Once baked, transfer onto a cooling rack and let stand for a few minutes. You can serve these warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition Facts
serving size: 1 cupcake

Calories 287.6 Total Fat 14.0 g Saturated Fat 0.9 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g Monounsaturated Fat 1.3 g Cholesterol 59.3 mg Sodium 146.5 mg Potassium 58.6 mg Total Carbohydrate 38.8 g Dietary Fiber 0.8 g Sugars 28.9 g Protein 11.1 g