I love that many of the foods we eat become attached to our fondest memories.  A single bite of an unassuming dish eaten on some special occasion can years later sweep us back to our sweetest memories and remind us of the dear people with whom we shared them.
For instance, pineapple upside-down cake holds a special place in my heart.  It’s not that I particularly love the taste or concept of it, but that any thought of this type of cake evokes a memory from my early childhood, when my preschool teacher led my class in making mini pineapple upside-down cakes.  I still recall the sight of my teacher scooping batter into a big muffin pan and leaving the room to take it to the school kitchen, and being the only kid who stuffed her cake into a Ziploc bag to take home and share with her sister.  I remember feeling the sugary satisfaction of sweet sticky pineapple and juicy maraschino cherry on top of a fluffy, golden-brown cake, but also a sense of childlike wonder at this new, cool treat that looked like a cupcake but was upside-down and had caramelized fruit on top in place of frosting.

My nostalgia for this preschool experience was the inspiration behind this upside-down orange cake.  Instead of recreating the classic pineapple upside-down cake from my childhood, I wanted to build on the fruit upside-down cake concept, which I think was the thing that truly stood out to me about this dessert.

Caramelized oranges, ginger, spices, and bran give this cake a rustic feel.  The cake base is actually inspired by a bran muffin recipe I use a lot– I tweaked the recipe once and got a result that I thought was very fluffy and cake-like, which gave me the idea of adapting it to make a cake.

This cake is soft, moist, and dense.  My favorite part is pulling it out of the oven, inverting it onto a plate, and seeing that gorgeous golden mosaic of soft, caramelized fruit emerge from under the pan.  It’s like seeing the face of a friend.  When fresh out of the oven, the edges are sticky and the toffee sauce, still bubbling, has mingled with the juice of fresh oranges and condensed to become slightly chewy like a caramel candy.
It’s delicious, easy to make, and definitely a dessert to remember.  Enjoy!

Upside-Down Ginger Toffee Orange Bran Cake     –     makes 1 cake

– 3 tbsp. unsalted butter
– 1/3 cup brown sugar
– 1/2 tsp. orange zest
– 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
– 1/4 tsp. ground ginger powder
– 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
– pinch of salt
– 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
– 1 – 2 medium oranges (as needed)
– 1  1/2 cups wheat bran
– 1 cup buttermilk
– 1/3 cup vegetable oil
– 1 egg
– 1/3 cup honey
– 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
– 1 cup all-purpose flour
– 3/4 tsp. baking soda
– 1 tsp. baking powder
– 1/2 tsp. salt

1.     Preheat the oven to 375°F.  In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, orange zest, and sweetened condensed milk and cook until thickened, golden, and bubbling.  Remove it from the heat and mix in the ground ginger, cloves, salt, and vanilla extract.  Pour the mixture into the bottom of a greased or lined 8″ or 9″ round cake pan, and tilt the pan to allow the caramel to spread out and evenly coat the bottom.
2.     Peel an orange and slice it widthwise into thin disks roughly 1/4 inch thick.  Lay the orange slices on top of the caramel in the pan in an even layer. (Start with one orange and see how many slices you need, depending on the size of your cake pan.)
3.     In a medium bowl, combine the wheat bran and buttermilk and allow the mixture to soak and absorb for 10 minutes.  Then whisk in the vegetable oil, egg, honey, and vanilla extract until smooth.
4.     Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and stir just until there is no more flour visible in the batter.  Pour the batter into the cake pan over the oranges and caramel, and lightly shake the pan side to side to smooth out the batter and ensure that any gaps are filled in.
5.     Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the cake is dark brown on the outside and springs back when touched.  Remove it from the oven to cool completely, then carefully loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and invert it onto a plate so that it is upside down, with the fruit facing up.  Serve with cream on the side.