Upside Down Caramelized Orange Cake

 People romance Chocolate, but I need a zing! A citrus zing, to be precise. If you ever wondered why restaurants feature lemon or orange desserts on their menu... Well, for people like me! Lemon in the summer and oranges in winter!! Aaah! There is something simply divine in that!

My love for oranges is evident in my previous posts. I've made a marmalade , a cake and even a Kheer! Each one delicious in it's own way. I even made a very potent Orange Wine, but more on that later. This morning as the heady aroma of oranges greeted me from the fruit bowl, my heart craved cake. Now, I could go back to any of the previous cake recipes, but where's the fun in that?! 

I wanted to try something new. Something that had not just that citrus hit, but also celebrated the gorgeousness of the fruit. The fact that I've been dying to try a caramelized upside down cake, may or may not have influenced my decision. I used the French Yogurt Cake as my starting point. The flavours in that are just so fresh and citrusy! But i wanted the cake more crumbier and dense, to hold against the orange slices. So a few changes and to my luck, I got an absolutely perfect Upside Down Caramelized Orange Cake. 

Ingredients:

Flour                        1 and 1/2 cups

Semolina                  1/2 cup

Baking Powder        2 tsp      

Baking Soda            1 tsp

Oil                            3/4 cup

Sugar                       1 cup   

Eggs                        2  

Yogurt                     1/4 cup

Oranges                   4 

Brown Sugar          7 Tablespoons

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C. Sift all the dry ingredients together. Brush a 9 inch springform pan with butter. Sprinkle the brown sugar all over the buttered base. Thinly slice 2 oranges and arrange them over the sugar. Zest the other 2 oranges and rub into the granulated sugar. Once the zest releases it's aroma, beat in the eggs. Once the batter looks thick and creamy, beat in the yogurt. Now add the oil, drizzling a little at a time and beating well with each addition. Gently fold in the dry ingredients. 

Extract 1/4 cup juice from the zested oranges and add it to the batter. Pour the batter over the prepared tin. Bake for 45 minutes. Let it cool before serving it up! 

Notes: You can substitute the Oranges with Kinnows or Mandarins or any other citrus fruits.
 

Kheer Komola

The new year is upon us. A whole 365 days filled with opportunities. And given the blogosphere trend, this post should be about resolutions and hope. But I am perennially optimistic and I really don't do resolutions. If I did I would have long ago vacated my warm couch, and walked out battling the real world. Instead I choose happily to sink further into my warm spot, snuggle my dog and monster munchkin closer and go tap tap on my browser.

Its not that I don't like interacting with the physical world. It is jus that I am plain lazy! I remember when my friends raved about the benefits of retail therapy, all I could think was why anyone would abandon their pajamas and blanket to battle crowds and look at racks and racks of the same boring stuff!

Then online shopping came along and my brain went Aah! This makes more sense. So there I was indulging in some post festive, end of reason sales therapy when I chanced upon Santrawale. They sell, well, oranges! Not just any oranges though. Organic, sustainable, sourced from farm oranges. They had me at Organic! So tappity tap and I had two dozen juicy Nagpur oranges on their way. 

Now if you've browsed my previous orange post you will know that I was suddenly struck with the question again. What the heck do I do with all those oranges. The marmalade batch was still going strong so that option was out. Wine was option two. But that was really a long term project. 

The new year demanded a new approach. (There I've done my bit of following blog trends) I needed something different. Something unexpected. Out came the journals and cookbooks. 

Kheer Komola popped up twice. Milk and Oranges? Sounds like a recipe for disaster right? And yet there were people out there enticing me to give it a swing. It was too cold for a souffle, but a dessert was definitely on my mind. Did I dare to try? 

It wouldn't be my first attempt at Orange Kheer, to be honest. A long time ago I had ignored mum's words of wisdom and experimented for a dinner party I was hosting. The recipe had been tried and tested by Good Housekeeping so what could possibly go wrong? Plenty, as it turned out! Instead of the refreshing, creamy dessert I ended up with a bowlful of dense gloop with a bitter aftertaste. To their credit, my guests actually ate their dessert and assured me it wasn't that bad. That disaster still loomed large in my food memories. And I do have this annoying need to conquer all peaks. So I geared up for round two of Kheer Komola challenge.

This time I was better prepared. I turned to friend Google and read every variation I could find. I said a short prayer. Brushed aside mum's skepticism and dad's ribbing. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Ignoring the monster munchkin's calls I concentrated completely on my kheer karma. And it paid off! I was finally rewarded with a creamy yet light dessert that brought with it the promise of a refreshing spring with its delicate citrus touch. (Yes I can poetically romance food.) This was Kheer Komola the way I had imagined it. And so you can put away your search results. Go on and benefit from my Experiments with Oranges! And be prepared for friends and folk to be wowed by your brave and unusual dessert masterstroke.

Ingredients:

Milk                              2 litres

Oranges                         7

Sugar                             10 tablespoon

Green Cardamoms         5 or 6

Saffron                           a few strands

Method:

Heat the milk in a heavy bottomed pan. Once it boils, reduce the flame to the lowest and let it simmer. Soak the saffron stands in a tablespoon of the warm milk and keep aside. In the meantime, separate the segments of the oranges. Carefully, split the segment and discard the thin outer membrane. The white membrane is what caused the bitterness in my previous attempt. Remove all seeds as well, taking care to preserve only the pulp and juices of the oranges. It is a monotonous and exacting task, but then that's what makes this kheer so special. It is actually a labour of love! Powder the cardamoms, and don't forget to stir the milk every once in a while, scraping the bottom to ensure it doesn't stick and burn. Once the milk has reduced to less than half the quantity, blushing with a creamy hue, stir in the sugar, cardamom powder and the saffron soaked in milk. Let it simmer for another five minutes and then turn off the heat. Let the milk cool to lukewarm and then gently stir in the orange pulp. Allow the milk to be infused with the citrusy goodness overnight or for atleast four hours, If you are in warmer climes, serve this chilled and topped with pistachios. If like me you are freezing and need a reminder of the spring to come, serve the kheer at room temperature. And if like my father you want everything piping hot, just zap a bowlful in the microwave for 30 seconds. Either way, you won't be disappointed. 

Orange Whiskey Marmalade

The markets are flooded with oranges. All shapes, sizes and sweetness. Tempting you with their fresh, springtime aroma. Tempting enough for hubby to haul home an entire crate! Its been a week, and there they lie, begging to be devoured.
Unfortunately, the only fruit enthusiast at our place is the monster munchkin. And frankly, I am terrified he'll choke on the pips. And no, I am far too lazy to sit patiently and peel and de-seed the segments. Let him be content with kiwis, plums and berries for now.
That still leaves me with a crateful of oranges that no one wants to eat. Its not warm enough for a fruit salad or even juiced oranges, so I decided to take the route less travelled. Do I dare to attempt marmalade?
My past efforts at jam making have always resulted in mushy, oversweet pulp. Do I dare subject these vibrant citrus to what may result in another failed attempt? Aah! But you already know the answer to that! I dared!
I dared and am I glad I did! I am always a sucker for good marmalade. But good home made marmalade? Sheer heaven! And I thought to myself, if I am going to dare, why not take it a step further? Even if it meets a disastrous end, I have a warm cocktail to drown my defeat! So now I present, not just any marmalade. But an easy, super delicious home made Orange Whiskey Marmalade!

Ingredients:

Oranges       1.5 kg

Sugar           1.2 kg

Lemon         1

Whiskey      150 ml

Water          6 cups

Method:

Wash and halve the oranges. Juice them using a citrus juicer. Slice the empty peels into thin strips, discarding any pips you may find.  Place an empty saucer in the freezer to chill.  In a heavy bottomed pan, throw in the sliced peels, the strained orange juice and the water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover and cook for about 30 minutes, Once the peel turns translucent and soft, add the sugar and lemon. Stir till the sugar is dissolved. Let the mixture come to a boil again and then continue to simmer, stirring every ten minutes, After about 50 minutes, the mixture will start becoming translucent and jelly like. Bring out the chilled saucer and place a drop of the orange mix. Return the saucer to the freezer, After three minutes, push the chilled drop on the saucer. If it wrinkles, the marmalade is ready. If it is still liquid and sliding, let the mix cook for another three minutes before testing on the chilled saucer again. Once the marmalade is ready, turn off the heat and stir in the whiskey. Pour into sterilized glass jars and allow to cool to room temperature before putting the lids on. Store in a cool place, or refrigerate for upto six months. 

Go ahead and dare today! Hey! If I could finally break my jam jinx, so can you!

French Yogurt Cake

Anything French conjures visions of complicated techniques with impossible ingredients and hellish temperaments. But the French Yogurt Cake is simplicity itself. A few basic ingredients, couple of easy to do steps and even the novice can pull out a masterpiece from the oven! I got this recipe from DawnF on TTOD and successfully tried a number of variations. This delicate orange flavoured version has been my favorite so far.

Ing: 1 1/2 cups of plain flour

      2 tsps baking powder

      1 cup granulated sugar

      1/2 cup sunflower oil (or any other flavourless oil)

      1/2 cup regular yogurt (you could use non fat if you desire)

      3 eggs

      1 tsp vanilla essence

      a pinch of salt

      grated zest of two oranges (avoid the white pith)

Method: Put the sugar and zest in a bowl and rub with your fingers till the sugar is moist and the zest releases its aromatic oil. Whisk in the yogurt, eggs and vanilla till well blended. Sift the dry ingredients together and mix into the batter. Now carefully fold in the oil, a little at a time, till the whole batter becomes a light, homogeneous mixture.

Grease a baking tin and pour the batter into it. Pre- heat the oven to 180 C and bake the batter for 60 minutes. Unmould after cooling and drizzle over some melted chocolate.