A Cake for All Seasons

Friday, September 28, 2012

I love a well-executed fancy cake, all buttercream and ornamentation, but sometimes you just want a simple and basic cake, something a little sturdier and less fussy, and which makes the most of the season.  This upside-down cake is all of that, and is quick and easy to throw together at the last minute besides.

I made it a month ago with plums, but the recipe can be adapted for just about any fruit. I will be making it again with pears soon, and you could make it all the way through the winter with apples until the rhubarb pops up in spring.

This recipe is for a full-sized sheet cake that serves around twenty, because I bake everything in double batches so I can feed my coworkers on Monday mornings.  The quantities could easily be halved to serve a much more reasonable 8, or 4 for dinner plus plenty for breakfast the next morning.

Any-Fruit Upside-Down Cake
Serves 16-20

For fruit layer:
¼ cup unsalted butter
Generous pinch of sea salt
½ cup light brown sugar
⅓ cup heavy cream
6-7 large plums, unpeeled and cut into 6 wedges each (or equivalent amount of other fruit)

For cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar (preferably raw)
¾ cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
¼ cup walnut oil (or an additional ½ stick melted butter)

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Melt the ¼ cup butter, brown sugar and salt in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until it comes together as a caramel and bubbles.  Quickly stir in the cream, turn off the heat, and fold in the plums.  (If using apples, pears or other sturdier fruit, do this part on the heat and cook a minute or so to start the fruit softening just a bit.)  Evenly spread the fruit and its sauce in an even layer in a nonstick, 9 x 13 rectangular cake pan.

Whisk together the dry ingredients for the cake in a medium bowl.  Do the same in a glass measuring cup with the buttermilk, melted butter, walnut oil and vanilla extract.

In a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs together until frothy.  Add the dry and wet mixtures in two additions each, starting with the flour, and stirring just until mixed before the next addition.  Gently pour the cake batter over the fruit layer and smooth into an even layer.

Bake 45 minutes or so, until the top is resilient to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the cake portion comes out clean.  Cool the cake on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully invert it onto the rack and cool the rest of the way.