Over the course of a few weeks, I have managed to make a total of FOUR upside-down cakes. One peach and the rest . . . cherries! I promised in my previous cherry post (more cherries and a local classic) that I would post the recipe. So I am keeping this blog post short and sweet, like this cake. This recipe is adapted from Epicurious, which I have to say is one of my favorite sites for recipes.
I’ve made quite a few substitutions from the original recipe. Some on purpose, like adding almond flour and almond extract. And some because I just didn’t have enough of an ingredient at the time, like substituting some oil for the butter. All of these substitutions, rather intentional or not, despite my apprehension turned out fabulous.
Cherry Upside-Down Cake (heavily adapted from Epicurious)
Ingredients:
Topping
1/4 c unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 c golden brown sugar (packed)
1/4 c coconut sugar
2 tbsp spice or dark rum
14 oz cherries, pitted and halved
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter sides of an 8-inch cake pan.
- Melt butter in the same pan set over low heat.
- Add brown and coconut sugar and mix until melted. About two minutes.
- Carefully add rum and mix until well incorporated. Removed from heat.
- Wait a few minutes for the sugar mixture to cool slightly and then arrange cherries (cut side down) in a single layer in the bottom of the pan. Press lightly to adhere. Set aside.
Cake
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c almond flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c light olive oil (or a neutral flavored oil)
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 c milk
Directions:
- In a medium bowl, mix all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, cream sugar, oil, and butter. About three minutes.
- Add egg one at a time and mix until fully incorporated.
- Add vanilla and almond extracts and mix until incorporated.
- Mix in dry ingredients alternately with milk, start with dry and end with dry ingredients. Mix well.
- Spoon batter over the cherries in the pan. Be careful not to overturn any cherries.
- Bake cake until deep golden on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50- 55 minutes.
- Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes.
- Run a small knife around edges of pan to loosen cake.
- Place platter over cake and invert onto platter.
You can serve this with whipped cream or some vanilla ice cream. It is best eaten right away when it is warm, but holds very well for a day or two.
A few notes about this cake:
- Use fresh cherries, if possible from u-pick farms or more feasibly from your local farmers’ market.
- I like to use coconut sugar to substitute for a fraction of the sugar in some recipes. Coconut sugar is low glycemic and tastes great! It is easier to find now in your local grocery store.
- If you are unable to find almond flour, you can make your own by grinding up some blanched almonds. This can be time-consuming and tedious, so if you don’t have it then all purpose flour will do just fine.
- I substituted light olive oil because I didn’t have enough butter! However, this may be the best substitution for this recipe. It creates a moist, yet light cake.
- Don’t forgot the almond extract! It makes all the difference in the world with the taste.
Tagged: bing cherry, cherry, cherry upside-down cake, rainier cherry, upside-down cake
