Upside - down chocolate caramel nut cake

Weekends are great time to unwind from the weekly grind. A moment to enjoy with the family a moment to laze around watching reruns of favorite movie snacking a bit of indulgence and catching up with friends and even as the clock ticks ahead pushing the supermarket trolley loaded with groceries. The fun part is doing it together. Last weekend we had assuming that the temperature would dip down to below freezing and so were planning to restrict ourselves indoors or visit the mall for a coffee. But seeing the vibrant rays of sun and comfortable temperature we decided to take a trip to the foothills of the mountain that is quite close to our place.

It was gorgeous with vibrant colors of the fall and overlooking the spectacular ocean. We had taken a small picnic basket and it was fun to see Rohan running around. It was fun and on our way we picked up some fresh fruits from the farmers selling straight from their orchards.

Since my hubby’s job demands a lot of traveling so at times I look forward to Fridays evenings as a time when all of us sit down together to have a nice dinner. So at times I feel like indulging with a nice spread. I had this chocolate cake made for his sweet carving. Since Rohan is not so keen on snacking on nuts I had to smother it with chocolate ganache. One more reason to celebrate was Aparna of My Diverse kitchen very well known for her exotic bread collections is hosting her blog birthday celebration event. So here Aparna I saved you a slice. I hope you will enjoy it.

Ingredients2 tablespoons chopped unsalted roasted waltnuts
2 tablespoons chopped unsalted roasted pistachios
2 tablespoons chopped unsalted roasted almonds
½ cup butter
1 ¼ cup plain flour
1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 free range eggs
¼ cocoa powder
100 grams dark eating chocolate melted
1/3 cup milk

Caramel topping
40 grams butter
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cream

Method
Prepare the caramel topping. Combine together butter sugar and cream in a small saucepan. Stir over a low fire with out boiling and until the sugar has been melted. Remove from fire and keep aside.

Line a 20 cm round cake tin with a butter paper. Pour the prepared the caramel sauce and sprinkle the chopped nuts evenly. Freeze it while preparing the cake mixture.

Shift the plain flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at time beating until just combined. Stir in the shifted flours and chocolate and milk.

Spread the cake mixture over the caramel topping and bake it at 175’C for 35 to 40 minutes or until done. Remove and let it cool down before turning it upside down.

Garnish in it some more nuts and serve warm with chocolate sauce or dollop of ice-cream.

Kitchen Notes - The original recipe had called for macadamias, since I had none so I had to substitute with chopped pistachios. Also I have reduced the cocoa powder from 1/3 to 1/4 cup.

This recipe was bookmarked from The Australian women’s weekly best food collection and I am sending this to Ruth of justaddeggs hosting bookmarked event every Monday.

Last but not least I am also sending to NotquiteNigella hosting an event with an interesting theme The Ultimate chocolate cake challenge. She does have exciting gifts for the winners so if you haven’t thought of, now is the time to put on your Chef’s hat and send in your favorite chocolate cake.