Ginger cake with orange caramel sauce

Ingredients

• 3 medium (720g) oranges
• 2 cups (440g) caster sugar
• 60g butter, chopped
• 50g butter, at room temperature, extra
• 1 cup (220g) firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup (250ml) milk
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 2 cups (300g) self-raising flour
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan-forced). Grease a deep 22cm round cake pan; line the base with baking paper.
2. Finely grate the rind from 2 of the oranges. Peel the 2 oranges thickly, removing all the white pith. Cut oranges into slices about 5mm thick. Arrange the orange slices over the base of the prepared pan. Squeeze juice from remaining orange – you will need ¼ cup juice for this recipe.

MAKE THE CARAMEL

3. Heat the caster sugar and ½ cup (125ml) water in a medium saucepan. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Boil, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, keeping a close eye on the pan. The sugar and water will turn a lovely golden brown colour. At this stage, add the butter and stir briskly with a metal spoon. Be prepared for the mixture to froth up. Pour half the caramel over the orange in the pan. To make caramel sauce, add orange juice to caramel remaining in the saucepan; stir over a low heat until melted and combined.

MAKE THE GINGER CAKE

4. For the gingerbread batter, beat the extra butter, brown sugar and rind in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, milk and golden syrup gradually to the butter mixture; beat until combined. Transfer to a large bowl.
5. Sift together the flour, ginger and cinnamon; gently fold into the butter mixture. Pour the batter carefully over the oranges and spread to level. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 45-55 minutes or until the cake is coming away from the side of the pan and springs back when touched in the middle. A skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean. Stand the cake in the pan for 10 minutes.
6. Place a plate on top of the cake pan and carefully turn upside down, and remove the cake pan.
7. Serve cake warm with caramel sauce and double cream, if desired.