Upside Down Sweet Cherry Cake
I’m doing a guest post today for my friend Anuradha and her blog Baker Street. We’ve become acquainted on Twitter and I was delighted when she asked me to do something for her blog. I love seeing her work through her baking adventures and I was most impressed with the wealth of information she put together recently on muffins!
An is from India (that’s her in the middle with Mdivani Monroe from LadiesWhoLunch and his partner Kieth) so you can imagine, we share cultural and generational differences but the one thing we have in common is that we both love to bake and have friends over to enjoy our efforts with us. As I’ve said in the post on her site, I was especially honored that she would invite someone with known high altitude issues (and no, not because I’m 6′ tall!) to do a guest post on her baking blog. That would be called a gamble!
Baking is therapy for An; a release from a very stressful job. She has never enrolled in a class or taken a course but loves exploring and playing with new flavors. The knowledge she shares has all come about through books, blogs and tv shows. While her blog currently focuses a lot on desserts she hopes to eventually balance it with savory baked goods.
I’ve always loved pineapple upside down cake so find myself being drawn to other cakes made in the same manner. I love the combination of fruit with brown sugar and butter that results in a sticky sweet topping, so when I saw a recipe in a recent issue of Bon Appetit for an Blackberry Buttermilk Cake that was made in an upside down fashion, I was sold. Now please, go visit An’s site and get to know her too!
Upside Down Sweet Cherry Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan and parchment
- 2 ⅓ cups cake flour sifted, then measured plus more for pan
- 3 cups pitted fresh sweet cherries
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp melted butter
- 1 ⅓ cups sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons finely grated orange zest
- juice of one orange
- 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Position a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350F.
- Butter a springform pan; line bottom with a round of parchment paper. Butter parchment. Dust with flour; tap out excess.
- Using a piece of aluminum foil, wrap the bottom of the the springform pan tightly with the foil to avoid having melted butter dripping in your oven.
- Arrange berries in a single layer in bottom of pan; sprinkle evenly with 1/4 cup sugar.
- Drizzle with the two tablespoons of melted butter.
- Sift 2 1/3 cups flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat 3/4 cup butter and remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar in a large bowl at medium-high speed, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Beat in vanilla, zest and orange juice. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating just until incorporated.
- Pour batter over cherries in pan; smooth top.
- Bake until cake is golden brown and cake bounces back when pressed gently with fingertip, about 1 hour for a 9? pan and about 45 minutes for a 10" pan. Test for doneness (see Notes).
- Let cool in pan set on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then run a thin, sharp knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Remove pan sides.
- Invert cake onto rack and remove pan bottom; peel off parchment. Dust top generously with powdered sugar and let cool completely.
- Notes
- I have to make modifications to any baked good in Denver to insure that they rise as they should. One thing we do is increase the oven temp to get the batter to set before it can rise too fast and then deflate. As a result I ALWAYS cook for a shorter period of time. In this case it was prophetic. When I went to the Bon Appetit site to get the ingredients and preparation instructions there were a LOT of comments about the cooking time being too long. Though I do not modify the recipes here to show my revisions for altitude adjustment, I have revised the bake time considerably and my cake was done a bit before an hour. So…I suggest you start checking and testing for doneness in your neck of the woods.
- I think the additional flavor from adding orange juice was a good call…this is a dense, rich cake but that little bit of orange flavor with the cherries is a winner.
Gorgeous cake! Heading over to Baker Street right now for the recipe!
I love cherries. I love simple cakey cakes with a layer of fruit on top. This is our favorite kind of cake and baking. And An is so cute!
This looks sooooo fabulous!!!!
Thank you sooooo much Kathleen!
I’m heading right on over to read this post! That cake looks lovely and I can’t wait to make it if I can still find nice cherries around these parts. Beautiful!
Thanks Kate…and I think our cherry season is over here. Sob.
I love fresh takes on the familiar. Bringing cherries to an upside down cake is certainly a fresh idea. GREG
Me too Greg…and it absolutely worked. Now I’m thinking blackberries next!
I never would have guessed it was an upside down cake from the picture. I’m off to check out the recipe.
It’s denser than a normal cake…more of a pound cake texture…which is why I liked the bit of orange to be upped in the flavor profile. Last of my cherries…was the perfect ending.
Would I not love this? Absolutely yum! Stone fruit & buttermilk? WOW!!
I know…right up your alley huh? I always think of you when I have peaches or plums…do you know I never called them ‘stone fruit’ before I saw you do that? Nope. Never ever!
I’ve never like the pineapple in pineapple upside down cake, but I do love me some cherries so this looks like the perfect combo. Beautiful photos Barb!
Hehe…I’ll take yours then, OK?
omg just tweeted this and “drooling”
Here’s a tissue…can’t be getting that drool on your keyboard!
No fair, I haven’t had lunch yet – serious cravings here!
Actually it is fair since you do that to me all the time when I get the your post. Even Steven I say!
I love this!! The cake and the fact that I get to discover another great blog!! Will have to hop on over to Baker Street and check it out!!
She is a doll; you will love her blog.
What a wonderful guest post on An’s blog. Gorgeous cake Barb!
Thanks so much Deb; she is a sweetie; how could I not!
Love the Guest Post for my dear Friend An! She is as talented at picking her guest poster as she is in the kitchen. Looking forward for more deliciousness from your Blog!!
MM
Thank you; we’ve been tweeps for a long time; embarrassed I just got to YOUR blog! I used to be VinoLuci…remember that? Seems a lifetime ago but just made the change in May!
I love Anurhada’s blog! That cake looks fabulous.
Heading there…
Cheers,
Rosa
Thank you Rosa; doesn’t she do a great job?
So,I peeked in and you were on the phone so I went over to An’s and told her you said *Hi*. Then I read your lovely post and decided that as much as I love whipped cream, I’d have your beautiful upside cake just as it is. Don’t want anything interfering with what looks to offer a wonderful taste experience all by itself…with friends of course 🙂
It’s almost gone without any whipped cream in sight and nary a complaint. You are so right Paula!
Barb: I’m beyond privileged to have you guest post for me. Thank you so much for baking this gorgeous upside down cherry cake. I only wish I could come right over for a slice. lol.
The feeling is mutual; about working with you and wishing we could actually share a slice.