I know I was on the fence in my last post about baking with cardamom–now I think I am off the fence and liking it a lot! It definitely has a distinct aromatic property that cannot be confused with cinnamon. But like cinnamon, when baked smells just fantastic and you know that something yummy is going to be coming out of the oven soon!
I am loving the blog The Food Librarian! This recipe along with my last post (White Peach Buckle) is from there. The Food Librarian originally made a Strawberry Upside-Down Cake, however I decided to make some cupcakes. I made some Pineapple Upside-Down Cupcakes awhile back and I should have remembered that the bottom, which ultimately becomes the top, doesn’t have the right circumference to hold all of the fruit. In other words, the top and bottom are not proportionally the same.
In any case the strawberries looked really nice in the cupcake pans before baking.
I was excited that it looked like a flower, but should have know better that the shape wouldn’t hold. In any case, they still turned out nice . . . but the taste . . . out of this world. The cardamom gives the cake a nice spice taste and the strawberries were nice and sweet. The cake was also very moist and not as dense as some upside-down cakes. I did make one adjustment and that was after I turned out the cupcakes, it wasn’t as caramelized as I wanted it. So I stuck them under the broiler until a hint of amber brown.
Strawberry Cardamom Upside-Down Cupcakes (adapted from The Food Librarian and Joy the Baker)
Ingredients:
Topping
3 tbsp butter, each tbsp cut into fourths
12 tsp brown sugar
6 good-sized strawberries, cut into rounds and then cut into fourths
For the Cake:
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
2/3 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
2/3 c sour cream
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cupcake pan with cooking spray.
- Place a fourth of a tbsp of butter in each cupcake cavity and place pan in the oven. When butter is melted, remove the pan from the oven. Coat the sides of each cavity by tilting the pan.
- Sprinkle a tsp of brown sugar in each cavity.
- Layer strawberries over the brown sugar and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer, cream butter and brown sugar on medium speed. Cream until slightly pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Stop mixer, scrape down the bowl with a spatula, and add egg and vanilla extract. Beat for 1 minute.
- Add dry ingredients alternating with the sour cream, start with dry and end with dry ingredients.
- Mix until the batter just comes together. Batter will be thick.
- Using a small cookie scoop, spoon batter over strawberries and smooth over the strawberries with the back of the cookie scoop.
- Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes rest for about 10 minutes in the pan.
- Run a knife around the edges of each cupcake and invert them onto a cookie sheet.
- If you want a more caramelized top, place under broiler until desired color, I like it just a hint of amber brown.
Tagged: cardamom, strawberry, strawberry cardamom, strawberry cardamom upside-down cupcakes, upside-down cupcakes
