Chilean Carica Upside Down Cake

Versión en español

It’s graduation time in the US and my husband invited one of his students who just received her doctorate for dinner with her husband and her sister. One guest was allergic to gluten, but, as Julia Child says “A party without cake is just a meeting,”, so we had to have some kind of cake to celebrate.

I also wanted to do something Chilean, and I had these papayas (or Chilean Caricas) in the pantry. I decided to bake a Chilean version of the upside down pineapple cake which was gluten free too.

The rest of the menu was roast chicken and quinoa stew.

Almonds and Chilean papaya are highly delicious together, but if you don’t need the cake to be gluten-free, use 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup almond flour. 

Chilean Carica Upside Down Cake GF

Ingredients:

• 115 grams of butter
• 1 cup brown sugar cane or turbinate
• 300 grams of Chilean papayas or Carica
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups almond flour (or 1 cup all purpose flour + 1/2 cup almond flour)
• salt

Preparation:

1. In a small saucepan place the butter, let it melt over medium heat, add sugar and a pinch of salt, stir while cooking until fully incorporated and no butter is left floating on top. Cook for 5 minutes more over medium-low heat.
2. Meanwhile, drain the papayas and make an interesting pattern at the bottom of a 9′ cake pan.
3. Preheat oven to 180C or 350F
4. Pour the caramel on top of the papayas. Careful, it will be hot.
5. Place the eggs and sugar, a pinch of salt, and vanilla in a mixing bowl and heat in a double boiler, stirring until the mixture feels warm but not burning when tested with a finger. Remove from heat and beat at maximum speed for 10 minutes, it will rise a lot.
6. Sprinkle the almond flour on top of the eggs and fold in with soft movements.
7. Pour the batter over the caramel and papayas. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the cake looks golden.
8. Let cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack.
9. Run a table knife along the edge of the cake pan. Cover the pan with the serving plate and flip.
10. Serve with ice cream, fruit or whipped cream.