24 Jul Upside Down Citrus Yoghurt Cake

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What better way to take advantage of winter’s oranges, grapefruits and mandarins than to make a bright and beautiful cake that really shows them off? As impressive as it looks, this upside down citrus yoghurt cake is surprisingly easy to make. In fact, the striking slices of citrus fruit do all the hard work! After arranging the slices at the bottom of the cake tin, they are covered in a syrup, then the cake batter, then baked all together. The fruit slices cook in the syrup resulting in a sweet and sticky marmalade-like topping.

The cake batter uses NutriDay Double Cream Plain which results in deliciously moist texture. When mixed with a little icing sugar and vanilla, it also makes the perfect light and creamy sauce to serve alongside your cake!
A couple of tips to get the best-looking cake:
* Wash and zest the fruits before slicing them, but leave the skin on. If you try to slice the fruits without skin they will be too soft and won’t form nice neat slices.
* Use little wedges or half slices to fill in any gaps between the round slices. Otherwise, the white cake will peak through and it won’t look quite as striking!
*Be sure to only turn the cake out after it has cooled completely (some patience is required here!), or the fruit topping will fall apart and look messy.

Ingredients: 

(serves 10-12)

For the base:
100g sugar (½ cup)
60ml water (¼ cup)
2 ruby grapefruits
2 yellow grapefruits or mandarins
2 oranges

For the cake:
175g salted butter, softened (¾ cup)
225g sugar (1 cup plus 2 tbsp)
1 tbsp finely grated orange or grapefruit zest (or a bit of each)
3 large eggs
315g flour (2¼ cups)
3 tsp baking powder
250ml NutriDay Double Cream Plain Yoghurt (1 cup)
60ml freshly squeezed orange juice (¼ cup)

For the vanilla yoghurt sauce:
375ml NutriDay Double Cream Yoghurt (1½ cups)
30ml icing sugar, sifted (2 tbsp)
5ml vanilla extract or essence (1 tsp)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 23cm diameter cake tin with baking paper, making sure the paper covers the bottom fully and goes up the sides of the pan so that the syrup does not leak out. If you are using a springform tin, I suggest wrapping the outside in foil to be extra sure it won’t leak.
• To make the syrup, place the 100g sugar and water in a small bowl. Microwave for 90 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds. The sugar should be fully dissolved and the syrup slightly thickened. Set aside to cool.
• Zest the citrus fruits and set the zest aside for later. Slice the fruits into 1cm thick slices (with the peel still on). Now carefully remove the peel from each slice with a paring knife by cutting off the outer ring as neatly as possible. 
• Arrange the slices on the bottom of the prepared cake tin, filling any gaps with smaller pieces as necessary. Pour over the cooled syrup and set aside.
• To make the citrus yoghurt cake, cream the butter, 225g sugar and citrus zest together with an electric or stand mixer for 3-4 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time and mix well after each addition.
• In a separate bowl mix the flour and baking powder together. Add the citrus juice to the yoghurt in a jug and stir to combine.
• Alternate adding the dry ingredients and yoghurt mixture to the creamed mixture in 3 batches. Mix until you have a smooth, thick batter. Do not overmix. Pour the batter over the citrus slices and smooth the top evenly.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Meanwhile, make the vanilla yoghurt sauce by whisking all the ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Allow the cake to cool completely in the tin (for at least 2 hours) before carefully inverting over a serving plate and removing the tin and baking paper.
• Serve generous slices of cake with the vanilla yoghurt sauce.