If we eat with our eyes first, then Cafe Pasqual’s Upside Down Bejeweled Citrus Cake is everything we hunger for in life. The citrus rounds on top
create what Kagel thinks of as a kind of edible stained glass window on the cake’s surface. The pomegranate seeds are dotted between the citrus, for a glistening surface that speaks of sun and warmth even in the darkest days of winter. “There’s a shine that we’re all needing,” Kagel says. We couldn’t agree more.
Cafe Pasqual’s Upside Down Bejeweled Citrus Cake
- Yield: Serves 8 – 12 1x
Description
Cafe Pasqual’s Upside Down Bejeweled Citrus Cake is a stunning dessert topped with bright citrus slices and sparkling pomegranate seeds. With its golden sponge, honey-orange soak, and jewel-like finish, it’s as beautiful as it is delicious.
Ingredients
For the pan syrup for the fruit:
- 1⁄2 cup sugar
- 1⁄4 cup water
For the cake:
- 1–2 organic oranges – or a combination of oranges, blood oranges, tangerines, or tangelos, zested, set aside
- 2 organic lemons, zested, set aside
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 pinch of kosher salt
- 1 1⁄4 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1⁄2 tsp baking powder, sifted
- 1⁄3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 oz melted unsalted butter
For the soaking syrup (for the baked and cooled cake):
- 1⁄2 cup orange juice
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1⁄2 cup honey
- Pomegranate seeds to garnish
Instructions
For the pan syrup for the fruit:
- Grease the bottom and sides of an 8 inch cake pan with softened butter or a spray of cooking oil release. Flour the sides and bottom of the pan discarding any excess flour.
- Line the bottom of the cake pan with parchment paper cut to fit the base.
- Put the sugar and water in a small saucepan on the stove top over low heat to dissolve the sugar or in a microwave safe pan for approximately 40 seconds.
- Pour the dissolved sugar and water in the prepared paper-lined cake pan.
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Slice the oranges in uniform rounds, either 1/4 or 1/2 inch.
- Slice the lemon in uniform rounds, either 1/4 or 1/2 inch (the same thicknesses as the orange) and then cut into quarters.
- Arrange the citrus rounds and lemon quarters artfully in the bottom of the parchment paper-prepared pan.
- In a large mixing bowl place the eggs, sugar, salt, all the zest, and stir until well incorporated.
- Add in sifted-together flour and baking powder and then the heavy cream, stir to blend. Stir in the melted butter. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven.
For the soaking syrup (for the baked and cooled cake):
- Heat all the ingredients together briefly over low heat in a small saucepan until the mixture is warmed.
- When the cake has cooled completely, loosen it from the sides of the pan with a table knife. Place an inverted serving plate or platter over the cake pan, then quickly flip over. Remove the parchment paper.
- With a wooden toothpick, poke holes in the interstices of the fruit slices and pour the warm soaking syrup carefully along the trail of the holes.
- Decorate the same interstitial trail lines between the citrus slices with pomegranate arils (seeds) to “bejewel” the cake.
Recipe by Katherine Kagel, Cafe Pasqual’s
Story by Julia Platt Leonard
Photography by Tira Howard
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