Meyer Lemon Upside Down Cake is Moist and Delicious

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Meyer Lemon Upside Down Cake is super simple to make and tastes lemony and delicious. The cake is rustic with flecks of candied ginger throughout for a pleasant surprise.

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #SpringSweetsWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to help in the creation this recipe, but all opinions are mine.  Thank you for supporting the brands that support A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures.

 

I talk a little bit about Meyer lemons in my Meyer lemon olive oil muffins. Ironically, I’m using an olive oil cake for this recipe, too! Something about citrus and olive oil together in a cake taste delicious to me. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the rich bright olive oil and the bright clean citrus. I honestly have no idea. There’s just some ingredients I always pair together in my head.

 

Since Melissa’s Produce sent me 4 bags of Meyer lemons (that’s about 20 lemons) I knew I had to make something to highlight the flavor of these delicious gems. I’ve made cookie truffles, the aforementioned muffins, and scones with them before. I started to head down the muffin and scone path again this year, but I decided to make something different.

 

 

What is an upside down cake?

 

Yes, I realize this question might be rather self-explanatory, but some people might not really know what all an upside down cake entails. It’s not just a matter of putting some fruit in the bottom of the pan when you bake it. There’s the whole caramel syrup that you make first and then top with the fruit before pouring the cake batter on top of everything.

 

The caramel topping not only sweetens the Meyer lemons, but it seeps into the cake infiltrating the tender cake with the slightly sweet and sour topping. Did I mention that mine has crystalized ginger in it? Oh yes. I added some crystalized ginger to the topping and to the cake because I love ginger that much. If you want to know all about ginger, check out my double ginger oatmeal cookies.

 

 

What’s in Meyer lemon upside down cake?

 

Here is what I put in mine:

• butter
• brown sugar
• Meyer lemons
• candied ginger
• flour
• baking powder and baking soda
• salt
• nutmeg
• ground ginger
• olive oil
• eggs
• vanilla
• buttermilk

It’s not a lot of ingredients and most of them should be in your kitchen. Candied ginger might be the wild card, but feel free to omit it if you don’t have it. Or add in a little fresh grated ginger to bring the ginger flavor to the party. I love ginger so I’m always looking for an excuse to add it to recipes.

 

 

How do you make Meyer lemon upside down cake?

 

The first thing you have to do is make the topping. I grabbed by carbon steel cast iron like pan to make the topping. Feel free to use your cast iron skillet. If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, then cook the topping in a non-stick skillet and pour it into your baking pan.

 

I cooked the butter, brown sugar, and candied ginger in the skillet over medium-high heat until it was bubble and thick. Make sure you stir the mixture often, so it doesn’t burn. When it’s finished remove the pan from the heat and let it cool slightly.

 

 

Thinly slice the lemons. I only used the larger slices and discarded the smaller end pieces. Place these in a circle on top of the caramel mixture. I initially placed them so the edges touched, but that wasn’t many slices. And, as I said, I had 20 lemons I decided to overlap them so there was total lemon coverage over the caramel sauce.

 

I always mix my dry ingredients with a whisk. It removes any lumps in there and aerates it bit. Some might sift the ingredients together, but I find mixing it with a whisk is sufficient. I think we only really needed to sift because flour back in the day was not consistently ground and thus needed to be sifted to remove the larger pieces. At least that’s what I think I read somewhere.

 

 

Next, you cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Adding the eggs and stirring after each ensures everything gets combined well. Then the candied ginger, extract, and buttermilk goes into the butter mix. The buttermilk is the reason I added some baking soda to the recipe. If you add extra acid the baking soda combines with the acid to elevate the cake just a little more.

 

The dry ingredients gets added to the wet ingredients in increments. I added half, stirred, then the rest. Make sure not to over stir the batter. I stir mine until it’s just come together, and no more lumps are visible. Then I let it rest. It let the chemistry happen and let the batter finish coming together.

 

 

Finally, I pour the batter over the sliced lemons and topping. I spread it out a bit to make sure it’s even in the pan and then it goes into the oven. Now, I don’t like to overbake my baked goods. So, the whole “when a toothpick comes out clean” thing means when your baked goods cool they might be overcooked and dry. For me, I like to have just a few little crumbs on the toothpick. That way, as it cools in the pan it finishes cooking.

 

When the pan is cool enough to handle with a towel, turn your cake out onto your serving dish. I planned on using a pretty plate, but I was afraid it might damage it when I flipped the heavy skillet over onto it. So, I just grabbed one of our regular dinner plates and used that. Of course, it was all in vain. I didn’t push the plate back far enough on the counter and the newest addition to the family put her paws up and had a little Meyer lemon upside down cake snack.

 

 

What does Meyer lemon upside down cake taste like?

 

Delicious! The topping has the light Meyer lemon flavor with a hint of ginger to it. The cake is rustic and full of delicious olive oil and ginger flavors. It’s tender and the topping makes it even moist and delicious. Even though the dog nibbled some of the cake, I couldn’t help but snack on the rest of it. This cake came out even more delicious than I thought.

 

Not that I had doubts about the recipe, but I’m not usually a cake baker so I’m always surprised when I make them from scratch and they come out as delicious as this Meyer lemon upside down cake. It had bright lemon flavor in a tender cake. Not too much lemon for me, but the hubs, well, that’s another story. He would have puckered his lips and said there was too much but that’s because he doesn’t like citrus desserts. The only time he uses citrus is with fish or with piccata.

Tuesday #SpringSweetsWeek Recipes

• Blueberry Pear Muffins with Allspice by Blogghetti
• Carrot Cinnamon Rolls by Magical Ingredients
• Carrot Halwa (Gajar Halwa) by Palatable Pastime
• Dried Orange Slices by Art of Natural Living
• Key Lime Pistachio Cheesecake Bars by The Spiffy Cookie
• Lemon Ginger Smoothie by Cookaholic Wife
• Meyer Lemon Upside Down Cake by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Orange Liqueur by That Recipe
• Pear Ginger Bread by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Slow Cooker Butterscotch Pears by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Yellow Dragon Fruit Refresher by Jen Around the World

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