Friday, April 2, 2010

Linola's Egg-less Apple Cherry Upside Down Cake

This is one delicious cake and how! It is essentially two cakes in one pan since Linola places apples on one half and cherries on the other. And even better, it is egg-less! It is Linola's adaptation of a recipe that she found on cookingclub.com. Absolutely to live for!

Linola loves to pile drained canned dark sweet cherries on one half of the pan and as many apples as needed to fill out the other side depending on their size. Other types of cherries or fruits may be used instead - about 4-5 cups total amount. Linola prefers a glass baking dish for baking this cake because she can see if the contents come out completely when the pan is turned upside down.

Without further ado, here is the much awaited recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a 9"x13" cake pan by oiling or spraying with cooking oil spray.

Fruit Layer:

1/3 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
3 cups pitted sweet cherries (canned or fresh)
Chopped apples (about 4)

Heat the butter in a small pan until melted; stir in the brown sugar and keep heating until melted and bubbly - about a minute or so. Stir in the cinnamon and pour into the prepared pan to cover the bottom.

Arrange the fruit over the butter-brown sugar mixture; cover one half of the pan with cherries and the other with the apples.

Cake:

21/2 cups Unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp freshly ground Nutmeg
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
3/4 cup Unsalted Butter
1 tsp Almond Extract
11/2 cup Sugar
3 Tbsp Cornstarch + 1/3 cup milk or water
3/4 cup Sour Cream

Sift together the flour, salt, nutmeg and baking soda into a medium bowl.

Cream the butter and sugar with the almond extract until fluffy and light.

Beat in the cornstarch and milk mixing well.

Add the flour mixture and sour cream 1/3 rd at a time and beat until smooth.

Spoon the batter evenly over the fruit in the baking pan. Do not worry if it is not perfectly even; the batter will even out while baking.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until it is done - a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake should come out clean or the cake should spring back if pressed gently with a finger.

While the cake is still hot, run a thin spatula or a knife around the edges, and place a platter or tray over the cake, and carefully turn the whole thing upside down.

Let the cake cool and serve warm. Delicious served as is, with the optional whipped topping, or with Vanilla or Butter Pecan ice cream :P. Enjoy!

Topping:

11/2 cup Whipping Cream
3 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
OR
Ice cream to serve

Place the cream in a cold bowl and beat it until soft peaks form. Mix in the sugar and vanilla and beat well until the peaks hold when the beater is lifted out. Chill until ready to serve.

Serve the warm cake with the whipped topping or a la mode. Enjoy!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Linola Here! Well, well, well, this sounds good even if I never made it before. Good Luck, Folks - you'll love it! Linola

Geetha said...

Thank you Linola for the yummy cake - it is every bit as delicious as it sounds!:P