Upside Down Cake
You Pick the Fruit
For a long time, I avoided pineapple upside down cake. For some reason, even though I have a massive sweet tooth, this type of cake was just too sugary for me. That all changed after I tried this recipe for the first time. I had a couple mangoes that were really ripe and decided to give it a try. It was so GOOD!!!! I’ve since tried it with pineapple and love it as well. This recipe lends itself to so many types of fruits(mango, pineapple, peach, apple, pear, apricot, cherries, plums or figs). Just make sure you cut the fruit thinly so it will get all ooey & gooey. This recipe makes one 9 inch cake and four cupcakes.
Caramel:
1 cup Sugar
4 TBsp Water
1 TBsp Vanilla
Cake:
1 Super Ripe Banana (I let it get almost black)
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
1/3 cup Buttermilk
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup Canola, Avocado or Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Sugar
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
Your choice of fruit- 2 Cups
Prepare your 9 inch round cake pan by oiling the sides. You don’t have to oil the bottom as it will be covered by the caramel. The next step is to make your caramel. In a medium size saucepan combine the sugar and water and place over medium heat. Keep an eye on it and swirl the pan every once in awhile. You don’t need to stir it. You want to get it to a deep amber color, but be careful not to let it go too far as it will burn quickly. This should take around 7-10 minutes.
Once it it just about the color you want, add in the vanilla. It will bubble furiously. Give it a quick stir with a fork to mix in the vanilla. Immediately pour the mixture into your prepared cake pan, completely covering the bottom. The caramel will harden really quickly, so get it poured and spread as fast as you can. Don’t worry if the caramel cracks once you’ve poured it into the pan. It tends to do this if you move it to a cold surface or when you place cool fruit on top of it. No worries, it will bake up and get all gooey in the oven.
Once your caramel is poured, prepare your fruit and layer it in the pan. Make sure to peel apples, pears or peaches and slice them thinly. As you can see in the picture above, my mango was pretty soft, so it was difficult to slice. Even if it’s a little messy, it will still be delicious. For cake making, a little tip I learned a long time ago is to mix wet ingredients in a large pourable measuring cup, this makes it super easy to add them to the dry ingredients.
For this recipe, in a large pourable measuring cup, first mash up your ripe banana really well then add in the egg, egg yolk, buttermilk, vanilla and oil. Mix until well combined. In a medium size bowl whisk together the salt, sugar, flour and baking powder. Pour your wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until combined. Fill four cupcake liners with the batter and if you have any fruit left, place a piece on the top of each, then pour the rest of the batter over your fruit and tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles. The first time I made this recipe, my cake bubbled up and over the edges of the pan (too much batter). So making the four cupcakes gives you the perfect amount for the cake.
Place the cupcakes and cake in a 350 degree oven. Cook the cupcakes for 16 minutes then remove them from the oven. Set your timer for an additional 29 minutes and let the cake continue to cook. Once the cake is baked, let it cool at room temperature for 5 minutes. Then comes the big moment of inverting the cake on to a plate or cake stand. I always run a thin knife or spatula around the inside of the pan to loosen the edges of the cake first. Turn the plate/stand over so its face down on top of the cake pan. Grip both sides (you may need to use oven mitts if the pan is still quite hot), making sure you’ve got both the pan and the plate held tightly in place. Flip it over so the pan is now on top and your plate is on the bottom. Set it down on the counter and gently lift the cake pan off.
Don’t worry if bits of the fruit stick to the pan. You can pull them off and place them back on the cake. With its gooey top you can easily push things back to where they belong and no one will ever know. This cake is wonderful to eat warm, right out of the oven. It also goes great with a scoop of vanilla or creme fraiche ice cream. If eating it later on, just pop a slice into the microwave for 30 seconds to warm it up. Lightly spray a sheet of plastic wrap with oil and place over the top if not storing in a covered cake stand. Will keep for 2-3 days at room temperature or in the fridge. Slice it up and enjoy!
