Hi all,
Just took the cake out of the oven and guess what!! It was a mess!
Actually, I should re-state that. The top was a mess. The bottom was perfect! The bottom cake was moist and buttery and soft and everything a cake should be. The top, however, was completely carmelized and stuck to the pan, ruining my (now burnt) design. it would have been salvageable in a surrealist world where black is a fruit color and burnt sugar is a flavor (oh wait....)
In any case, I'm now thinking my mistake was cooking the brown sugar too long. So if you make this, try decreasing the amount of cook time so that the sugar/butter mix doesn't reduce and stick to the pan like mine did. But definitely try out the dough mix if you want a delicious, light, and not-too-sweet base for your upside down cake!
Surrendering to Alex,
Jenny
Showing posts with label upside down cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label upside down cake. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Upside Down Cake Bake-off
Hi all,
So today's excitement is an UPSIDE DOWN CAKE BAKE-OFF competetion between me and my friend Alex (http://farcefodderandfoodstuffs.wordpress.com .) I got excited because my mom bought some really aesthetically impressive dried apricots and cranberries, so I decided I had to make a dessert to feature them (this is how my brain works--its not enough to just enjoy the apricots as they are..they MUST be combined with some sort of pastry to truly reach their potential.)
So here's the recipe I'm trying...it's in the oven as we speak, so results will follow!
Bottom of the Cake:
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ginger (of course!!)
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
scant 1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Beat together egg, milk, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix until batter takes on a very smooth consistency (like pancake batter.)
Topping:
3/4 stick butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
apricots and cranberries (dried)
In a cast iron skillet, melt the butter. Add brown sugar, stir once, and let cook for about 3 minutes without stirring. Arrange cranberries and apricots in a design of your choosing on the surface of the pan with the part you want visible bottom down in the butter sugar mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes on low heat.
Add batter to the skillet, and put in preheated oven (350) for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy!!!
So today's excitement is an UPSIDE DOWN CAKE BAKE-OFF competetion between me and my friend Alex (http://farcefodderandfoodstuffs.wordpress.com .) I got excited because my mom bought some really aesthetically impressive dried apricots and cranberries, so I decided I had to make a dessert to feature them (this is how my brain works--its not enough to just enjoy the apricots as they are..they MUST be combined with some sort of pastry to truly reach their potential.)
So here's the recipe I'm trying...it's in the oven as we speak, so results will follow!
Bottom of the Cake:
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ginger (of course!!)
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
scant 1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Beat together egg, milk, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix until batter takes on a very smooth consistency (like pancake batter.)
Topping:
3/4 stick butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
apricots and cranberries (dried)
In a cast iron skillet, melt the butter. Add brown sugar, stir once, and let cook for about 3 minutes without stirring. Arrange cranberries and apricots in a design of your choosing on the surface of the pan with the part you want visible bottom down in the butter sugar mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes on low heat.
Add batter to the skillet, and put in preheated oven (350) for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy!!!
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