Cara Cara Cake with Coconut Syrup
I guess I should start by saying, when it comes to desserts I am have a CHOCOLATE-ONLY POLICY.
However,
I have been trying my hand in a couple of desserts outside my comfort zone. And nothing could be further from my dessert-palate-comfort-zone than citrus. I am proud to say I was 100% wrong and 100% happy I tried to use some of my favorite citrus in a cake.
Now on to the cara cara - not just a regular citrus - a fabulous one! I have been eating these all winter (while they are in season Dec-Apr) and am so sad to see them go. So here I celebrate this gorgeous gal in the most decadently delicious cake with a perfectly jammy center. Chocolate not necessary.
Serves 4
Cara Cara Coconut Syrup
2-3 Cara Cara oranges (thinly sliced and reserve ends for zesting)
1 cup of water
3/4 cup coconut sugar
Cake (with a 6 inch cake pan; double for a 9 inch)
1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour (sifted)
1 tbsp + 1/4 tsp baking powder (sifted)
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup coconut sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter + 1-2 tbsp for coating the cake pan
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
Additional Items
6 inch cake pan with removable bottom (I have this one)
Parchment paper (cut to size of cake pan bottom
Rubber spatula
Method
Preheat oven to 350 F and line the bottom of your cake pan with parchment paper. Wipe about 1-2 tbsp of butter on the cake pan to prevent sticking.
Make the coconut cara cara syrup/candy the cara caras: Using a sauce pan, bring the water and coconut sugar to simmer on medium-high until the coconut sugar has dissolved (it wont be clear like regular sugar/water so it may be hard to tell; stir with rubber spatula until it does not feel grainy).
Lower the heat to medium and carefully place cara cara slices in the syrup. Make sure the syrup covers them a bit and it does not dry out (add a little more water if you need to). Simmer for about 15 minutes.
Remove the now candied cara cara slices and arrange them in the cake pan bottom. I like to start by arranging them to cover the most surface area then fill in any gaps by laying a slice on the 2nd layer. Set aside. Allow syrup to cool to room temperature in the sauce pan or in a mason jar.
Make your cake batter: Sift the flour and baking soda together in a bowl and stir in the sea salt and zest from orange ends. Set aside.
In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, start by creaming the butter then adding the sour cream on low to medium.
Slowly stream in the coconut sugar until well incorporated then the egg.
Now slowly stream in the flour/baking soda/salt until your batter forms. This will be fairly thick and not as runny as cake batter.
User your rubber spatula to carefully spread the thick batter evenly on top of the candied oranges.
Bake on top of a baking pan for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and center is no longer giggly
Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the cake pan. To do this I use a butter knife to loosen the cake from the sides then flip the cake over on a plate, removing the sides of the pan. Finally you can remove the bottom part of the cake pan and the parchment paper to reveal this beauty.
Finally drizzle about 1/4 cup of the cara cara coconut syrup over the cake focusing the majority of the syrup on the center (it will collapse the cake in the middle a bit but it will make for the most delicious jammy middle). Now, this is the hardest part, let the syrup soak in for about 20 - 30 minutes (even an hour). Then you can finally enjoy a slice of perfection.
