Upside Down Clementine Cake with Ricotta & Pecans


I have always made upside down cakes with beautiful blood oranges.....but sometimes they are hard to find.

This cake is made w/ the easy to find winter citrus fruit....clementines.

The perfect fruit, in my opinion.

You can take them on the plane with you, pack them in a lunchbox and there is no sticky mess.
They are easy to peel, have thin skins, and no pits! win win!

Here, I made a simple ricotta cake batter and poured it over a caramel with the sliced clementines and pecans.

I happen to love candied orange peel, but I know some people don't.....and that is what is going on here by leaving the skins of the clementines on.

So know that going in, if you don't like the taste of bitter orange peel, then you can certainly peel the fruit, but the look will be different, because the rind holds the clementines together, without it, the fruit will shrink on the cake. Still tasty.

This cake is moist and delicious and is the perfect winter cake. Make it for Valentine's day for your sweet little clementine!


Upside Down Clementine Cake w/ Ricotta & Pecans:

Topping:

5 or 6 medium clementines, skins on, sliced thin w/ a serrated knife (save the ends of the fruits for squeezing the juice)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
pecan halves for the top

Cake:

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2-3 tbsp of clementine juice (from the scraps of sliced clementines)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup of ricotta

I use a 9" cast iron skillet, I find it works the best and the cake comes out of the pan like a dream.

Make the caramel.

Heat the butter and light brown sugar in the skillet on the stove over medium heat. Using a silicone spatula, spread the butter and sugar mixture to coat the skillet.

Lay the clementine slices on top of the caramel, dotting with some pecan pieces wherever there is a hole in between the citrus. It's ok to overlap the slices of clementine.


Mix up the batter, it will be nice and creamy.

Using a silicone spatula, carefully spread the cake batter on top of the clementines and caramel in the skillet.


Bake 30 minutes in a 350F oven.

Let rest exactly 10 minutes in the pan. Anymore, and the caramel will harden and the cake will stick in the skillet!

Using handmits (the cast iron is very hot!), carefully invert to a cooling rack.
The cake should come out perfectly.

Let cool or serve warm.


I love this cake. A lot.

Comments

NYChristopher said…
As a non-baker, is it safe to assume 'make batter' is basically 'throw all cake ingredients in a bowl and mix, just, until smooth'?
Stacey Snacks said…
NYChristopher,
You are obviously not a regular reader of the blog, but that's ok.

Yes, you got it. No rocket science.
Mix the wet into the dry or vise versa.
You really can't screw it up!

;)

Stacey
upside down cake 😍😋 these kinds of no fuss, no frosting cakes are what i imagine to be perfect for my imaginary tea time with british accents and plenty of tea.