BACKYARD CITRUS UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preparation Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan and line it with parchment paper. Start by making the upside-down layer: In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Remove the pan from the heat and add ½ cup of the sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk the mixture until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is glossy and thickened a little. Pour the melted butter and sugar into the prepared cake pan and smooth into an even layer to cover the bottom. Place the cake pan in the freezer until the butter and sugar layer freezes; leave the pan in the freezer until you are ready to transfer the batter to the pan. In a small bowl, gently toss the lemon slices with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Leave the lemon slices in the sugar to macerate for 10 minutes. While the upside-down layer freezes, make the cake batter: Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Set aside. Combine the eggs with the olive oil in another large bowl and beat vigorously with a whisk until well combined. Add the yogurt and sugar. Make a well in the flour mixture and add the wet mixture in three additions, folding in each addition until no dry bits of flour remain. Set aside. Fan the lemon slices out to cover the melted butter and sugar in the cake pan, overlapping the slices by as much as 1⁄8 inch. Pour the cake batter directly on top of the lemon slices. Bake for about 1 hour, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a serving plate and carefully remove the parchment-paper lining. Allow the cake to cool for 1 hour more before serving. Note: This cake can be made with nearly any citrus, my favorite being lemon because I like it to be bitter and tart. The only citrus I would not use is raw grapefruit, oro blanco, or lime. The rinds of grapefruit and oro blanco are much thicker than lemons and oranges and they will take longer to bake. Lime and grapefruit also retain too much of the bitter quinine flavor and will make for an odd-tasting cake Candied citrus zest: Cut the citrus into wedges and remove the flesh. Use a sharp paring knife to remove as much white pith as possible from the peels. Reserve and use the insides of the fruits for juice or another use. Place all the peels in a 2-quart saucepan. Cover the peels with water and bring them to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and drain. Set the peels aside. Add the sugar, honey, and 1½ cups (354ml) water to the empty pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook to dissolve all the sugar, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes. Add the reserved peels to the sugar syrup and reduce the heat to low; gently simmer until the syrup registers 220°F on a candy thermometer or until the peels are bright and translucent looking. Stir the peels frequently. This should take about 1 hour. You do not want to caramelize the sugar at all, so keep the flame low and cook slowly. If the syrup begins to thicken before the peels have cooked through, you may need to add a touch more water to the pan during the cook time to slow down the candying process a bit. Cool the peels in the syrup until they reach room temperature. From here you can go in two different directions: you can store the candied peels in an airtight container in the syrup to keep it soft and hydrated. Alternately, you can dredge the peels in granulated sugar and set them on a wire rack overnight to create a dried candied zest confection. The sugared zest can then be stored at room temperature for months and months. Note: Make sure to use unwaxed fresh fruit ONLY. Reprinted from Dappled: Baking Recipes for Fruit Lovers by arrangement with Avery, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2019, Nicole Rucker. Buy the full book from Amazon.