It takes me a long time to actually get around to reading the multiple food magazines I subscribe to. I usually catch up when I travel, bringing a couple month's worth of each subscription and knocking it out on the airplane to and from my destination. It's great, I actually look forward to airport lounges and long flights with lots of glorious, uninterrupted food porn time.
Normally this is a great system, but I was kicking myself for my literary procrastination last spring when I found this recipe for Blood Orange Polenta Upside Down Cake in Bon Appetit's March 2010 issue. By the time it was May and blood oranges were long gone from the markets. I tucked the recipe away, vowing to be more on top of it this winter.
And so I was really surprised when I came across a beautiful display of blood oranges at a food show last month. The produce manager explained they were from Australia, where they are in season right now, and was nice enough to pass on a half dozen to me at the end of the show. I knew exactly what I was going to do with them!
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| I baked this in my non-stick Green Pan, but I think it might have gotten a better crust if I had used cast iron. |
I'm not going to re-print the recipe since I didn't make any changes to it. I'm not a skilled baker and tend to limit my improvisation when it comes to baking. Instead, you can check out
the recipe on Epicurious.com.
I have to tell you this cake was incredible. The ingredients were relatively simple--standard cake recipe with a some polenta in it, a caramel sauce, blood oranges and a little vanilla. But somehow this cake was more than the sum of it's parts. It was rich and buttery from the caramel, hearty from the polenta, and heaven-scented from the blood oranges and vanilla. This is one of those cakes you make for company you want to impress. Give it a try, I swear you'll be surprised and delighted.
I love upside-down cakes. Pineapple upside-down cake is my specialty - but I would like to make this one for sure.
ReplyDeleteNow....I just need help with high altitude cooking! Mexico City is more than a mile high....
Will definitely check this out. And I totally know how you feel when it comes to food mags - I have PILES (which you probably saw hiding in the cubbies of the coffee table). I actually had to unsub from the New Yorker because it was just making me feel really bad about myself and my lack of free time. ;)
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing this recipe earlier in the year! When you finally make it to NJ, you'll definitely have fun with my massive binder of magazine and online recipes. It's the size of a dictionary.
ReplyDeleteI just checked out the recipe again. I didn't realize that on it's Epicurious rating, 100% of people (out of 17 reviewers) would make it again! I'm not sure if I have ever seen an Epicurious recipe with 100% positive reviews! I'm sold. (I was already sold based on your photos and blog anyway.)
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up of the cake and nice shots! You can see the buttery shimmer in that bottom shot. YUM!
ReplyDeleteI made this delicious cake and wrote about it when the magazine came out! I recently thought about it again when I was putting my 2011 calendar together and chose one of the cake photos for the cover. It was a great cake! I loved the texture and the corn flavor offset by the citrus flavor.
I've never heard of a blood orange. Can we get them in MN?? Sounds delicious!!!
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