Clementine & cardamom upside-down cake
Upside- down cakes are a staple British home comfort. This is a refreshing version; clementines turn fairly sour when cooked this way, which is lovely against the bittersweet caramel. Cardamom ties all the flavours together. Serves 10-12 Prep 20 mins plus cooling Cook 1 hr 10 mins 42p per serving
1 Preheat oven to 170C/150C fan/ gas mark 3. Grease a 23cm round loose-bottomed cake tin and line with baking paper.
2 For the topping, heat a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the sugar and allow it to melt and slowly turn to an amber caramel – the sugar touching the base of the pan will turn first, and the sugar on top will slowly become liquid, too. Give the pan a little swirl as the sugar starts to melt. Once you have a dark caramel, pour it into the base of the prepared cake tin.
3 Keeping them whole, peel the clementines. Cut them in half horizontally to retain the top and bottom holes. Arrange the clementine halves, hump-side down, on the caramel.
4 For the cake, cream together the butter and sugar until really soft. The butter should become very pale and the sugar will more or less dissolve into it. Add the eggs, a little at a time, beating well. Then add the flour, cardamom and salt and beat until incorporated into a smooth batter. I use my KitchenAid with the paddle attachment, but an electric hand-held mixer will do. Pour the batter over the clementines and gently level it out, being careful not to displace the fruits. Bake for between 1 hr and 1 hr 10 mins, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean (except the odd crumb made soggy by the oranges underneath). Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin for 5 mins, then invert onto a plate.
5 To make the glaze, simply combine the jam and water in a small pan and bring to the boil. Paint the glaze onto the cake with a pastry brush. The cake will keep for a few days in an airtight tin; it’ll actually be that bit better on day two.