Warm Cherry Upside-Down Cake

I’ve been anticipating good things from this recipe for Warm Cherry Upside-Down Cake since one of my swag bag goodies from Camp Blogaway included the Eating Local cookbook by Janet Fletcher & Sur la Table. While the recipes I post on Teenie Cakes are dishes or desserts that I enjoy and would feel proud to serve to my family and friends, this recipe?   Wow!    Not only did it smell absolutely heavenly while baking in the oven while it’s a crazy, humid mid-90′s today in my part of Southern California…it’s utterly fantastic!      I realize “fantastic” is not the best word usage to describe food. The word “fantastic” is too broad a term and nothing culinary about it. However, this cake…”fantastique!”

Due to my lack of patience after I pulled the cake out of the oven, I turned the cake over to invert it and attempted to pull the pan off the cake too quickly! I just had to taste it immediately. I eagerly picked at some of the cake that stubbornly stayed behind on the baking pan and it had me excitedly exclaiming outloud “E-Yum!”     You just know when that something hits your palate and you have that instant reaction when your eyes widen and your taste-buds sing.    This recipe did that for me.    I almost couldn’t wait to share it.    (Foodie Friends: However, being that this is Teenie Cakes…I still had to shoot it…with the camera.)     {Sigh} I could not do this scrumptious butter cake justice and became childishly impatient in attempting to capture it’s very deliciousness.

If you enjoy fruits and cake, I hope you’ll give this recipe a try.     It’s a goodie…I already have plans to make it again with a twist or two and another unlikely fruit (that’s for another post).

• The recipe calls for a 1/2 pound of cherries, which is about 40 cherries.
• I substituted low-fat milk for the original whole milk.
• If the fresh cherries you’re using are good and sweet, you may want to adjust the sugar. It was plenty sweet and next time (there will definitely be a next time for this recipe) I will adjust according to if the fruit I’m using is sweet or if there’s some tartness. I wouldn’t add more than the recipe calls for, but I would consider less.

Warm Cherry Upside-Down Cake

Eating Local: The Cookbook Inspired by America’s Farmers by Janet Fletcher & Sur la Table

Makes one 9-inch cake, serves 8-10

Ingredients

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 pound cherries, pitted and halved (1/2 pound is about 40 cherries)
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2/3 cup low-fat milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the sides (not the bottom) of a 9-inch round cake pan.

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over moderately low heat. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar and the lemon juice and cook, stirring just until the sugar dissolves and the mixture bubbles. Pour into the prepared pan and swirl the pan to coat the bottom evenly with the mixture.

Evenly distribute the toasted almonds evenly over the bottom of the pan. Place the cherries, cut side up, in the pan in concentric rings.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the remaining 1/2 cup butter on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining 1 cup sugar gradually, beating constantly until pale and light and the mixture is not grainy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.

On low speed, add half of the dry ingredients and beat until blended. Add milk and beat until blended. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until blended. Transfer batter to the prepared baking pan and spread evenly.

Bake until the cake is well risen, golden brown, firm to the touch and beginning to pull away from the sides of baking pan – about 45-50 minutes. Test for doneness with toothpick inserted in middle and comes out clean.

Remove from oven and immediately invert the cake onto a serving platter. Leave the cake pan upside down over the cake for about 2 minutes, then lift it off. If a few almonds or cherries stay behind in the pan, place them back on the cake.

Serve it warm.