madbaker | Oranges: Slim Shaded

This week's Resolution Recipe: Upside-Down Blood Orange-Rosemary Tea Cake.
"This gorgeous ombré* cake features in-season blood oranges, rosemary for a subtle savory note, and cardamom** for a delicate floral touch. And don't skip the whipped cream - some things in life are simply better with it."***

Cake:
4 Tbsp turbinado sugar
3-4 small blood oranges, thinly sliced
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup almond flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
~~1 tsp cardamom~~ (I used 1/4 tsp each: cinnamon, true cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg)
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled (no, not that cooled)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup sugar
4 eggses, room temperature
2 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
2 tsp vanilla (Ha! I used... actually that amount.)
1/4 cup blood orange juice
zest of 2 small blood oranges

Glaze:
3 Tbsp apricot jam (I used house-made)
2 Tbsp water

Whipped Cream:
1 cup crème fraiche
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Heat the oven to 350°. Spray the base and sides of a 9" springform pan with baking spray. Add parchment paper to the bottom. Sprinkle the parchment with turbinado sugar. Arrange the blood orange slices on the base of the tin in a slightly overlapping layer, such that the tin does not show.

In a medium bowl, add the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to blend. Using a rubber spatula and a large bowl, mix the melted butter, olive oil, and sugar for about 2 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Add the eggses and whisk until well combined. Add the juice and zest and whisk again. Fold in the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Do not overmix.

Carefully pour the cake batter into the tin. Even out the surface of the batter as needed. Bake for about 45 minutes, until golden and firm to the touch; an inserted knife or toothpick should come out clean. Remove from the oven and let stand for 15 minutes.

Very carefully, remove the outer layer of the springform pan and, while it's still slightly warm, place a serving plate on top of the cake and turn the cake orange-side up. Wait for it to cool completely.

Warm and stir the jam in a pan with water for 2 minutes over medium to low heat. Brush this syrup over the cake. Combine the crème fraiche, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl and mix until you get soft stiff peaks, about 1 minute with a mixer. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature with the cream.

What worked: Standard pineapple upside-down cake is too cloyingly sweet for us (and I loathe mass-market fake maraschino cherries). This wasn't that, thankfully.

It was pretty. We generally substitute crème fraiche for whipped cream as the curvy upstairs neighbor doesn't care for plain whipped cream. We have grown to prefer the tangier version ourselves.

What didn't: This was more work and fiddliness than I often care to do. It was a cool day, and when I left the melted butter it re-solidified. I had to warm it back up before whisking in.

I didn't sufficiently overlap the orange slices, so half of the cake had a nice covering, and the other side had oranges that faded into the batter and half-disappeared. That's a failure of my technique, not the recipe's fault.

Will I make it again? Meh, I doubt it.

* "shaded", presumably referring to the oranges fading into the cake?
** or not.
*** True!