My mama turned 60 last week. You know, last week while our whole family was sick? I had imagined a big Italian family feast in the backyard with tons of food and wine, and hours of laughing conversation, what I mustered was soup and salad and cake. Regardless of what other corners you cut, when it comes to a birthday, you better have cake. I needed it to be simple, composed of ingredients in my house, and yet worthy of a big birthday for the person that brought me into this world and babysits at least once a week. So it had to be more than just cake - it had to be a GOOD cake. This orange upside number fit the bill. If you'd like to recreate it at home, and I highly recommend you do, use whatever vanilla cake recipe floats your boat. I opted for the ever reliable Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World to provide me with a recipe. Once you have that part covered you should:
Heat the oven. Prepare an 8-inch round cake pan by greasing it and lining the bottom with parchment paper. Cream together 1/4 c. earth balance and 1/2 c. demerara sugar. In the meantime, cut one orange into thin slices. Spread the butter-sugar mixture over the bottom of the pan. Arrange the orange slices on top of the butter mixture. Make your cake batter, pour it over the orange slices, and bake until a toothpick comes out clean. This took about 45 minutes in my oven. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a rack to cool. Carefully invert and serve. With candles if appropriate.
And happy birthday Mom, I think 61 is really the big one.
