cherry cornmeal upside-down cake
This is the cake in which I did everything wrong.
1.It was impromptu, on a week that I have been trying to embrace salads, vegetables and water, or all those things I got too little of on Alex and Deb’s Central European Vacation. But I’m a sucker for any and all upside-down cakes, and this one sounded so good, my resolve was immediately weakened.
2. Cherries are not in season around here, not even close.
3. I said if I couldn’t find frozen cherries, I’d take it as a sign and skip it, but then Alex went to the store for me and he’s so good, so eager to get everything on the list that he bought fresh ones that cost so much money, I cannot discuss it in mixed company. But it was still really sweet of him.
4. I do not own a cherry pitter. Oh, I have looked at them, marveled at an extra-cute one at Williams-Sonoma last summer, but that time, like all of the times before it, I determined such a purchase fussy and of little use. Halving and pitting cherries took forever, a forever I would have happily swapped for a $10 limited-use gadget.
5. I do not own a cast-iron or oven-proof skillet that is 10 or 11 inches, though this, too, I have often discussed buying one but the thought of lugging it home always talks me out of it.
6. I had worked until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, swam a mile at the gym, got home after 9 p.m. and still determined that I would have time to bake this cake, cherry pitting included. I hate rushing through recipes; something always goes horribly wrong and I forget an egg or the sugar and swear I’ll never rush again. Yet this is exactly what I did.
7. It turned out I was out of brown sugar, save one rock of a chunk I was completely unable to soften. So what then? People, I grated it, that’s what I did.
8. I decided that since I didn’t have the right size oven-proof skillet and lacked a 10-inch cake pan that wasn’t an always-leaky springform, I would use this as my perfect excuse to finally use my Maryann cake pan. But here’s the thing with Ms. Mary, the fruit/frosting/curd/cream that you put on top? Yeah, it’s supposed to go on top of a baked, not unbaked cake. I realized this after I’d already dumped the cherries in, and decided to just run with it. I mean, once you’ve already grated brown sugar, I think it’s safe to say that you’re probably not going to get hung up on a cake pan that pushes all of the out-of-season cherries into an unattractive channel.
And guess what? Despite my every effort to ruin this cake, it is still killer good. The cake is light and fluffy; the cornmeal is minimal enough to be interesting, not aggravating; the cherries–even out-of-season ones in average shape–are amazing, their combination with brown sugar, balsamic and butter is a stroke of genius. I wouldn’t change a thing, not one single step. Well, ahem, except those eight above. Oh, and two more for good measure and a nice even number:
9. Intent on getting at least one pretty picture of an ugly cake, I flipped it out onto my Martha Stewart Collection 12-inch white cake stand, despite being fully aware a) that the cake would be very sticky, and b) that I wanted to be able to pack it up and bring it to Jocelyn’s the next day. Trying to remove the still-warm cake 45 minutes later, the ended up in eight pieces, at least two of them still stuck to the plate, soaking in the sink.
10. As if I couldn’t have possibly done one more thing that evidenced my compromised logic that evening, I succumbed a slice of it at 12:00 a.m. And do you know what happened? I was so hopped up on sugar, I couldn’t get to sleep until after 1 a.m. But it was totally worth it.
Well, actually: I woke up the next morning with a sore throat and stuffy nose, and ended up missing the barbecue, anyway! And now we’re swimming quickly-depleting way-too-delicious Cherry Cornmeal Upside Down Cake. Halp! [P.S. Still worth it.]
One year ago: Spicy Bloody Marys, Baked Eggs with Spinach and Mushrooms, Buttermilk Chive Biscuits
Cherry Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake
Bon Appetit, June 2008
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
3 cups whole pitted fresh Bing cherries or other dark sweet cherries (about 21 ounces whole unpitted cherries)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal (preferably stone-ground medium grind)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, separated
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Combine 1/4 cup butter with brown sugar and vinegar in 10- to 11-inch ovenproof skillet with 2-inch-high sides. Stir over medium heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to high; add cherries and bring to boil. Remove from heat.
Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup butter in large bowl. Add sugar; beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with milk in 2 additions each, beating just until blended and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until whites are stiff but not dry. Using rubber spatula, fold 1/4 of whites into batter to lighten slightly. Fold in remaining whites in 3 additions (batter will be thick). Spoon batter over cherries in skillet, then spread evenly with offset spatula to cover cherries.
Bake cake until top is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool in skillet on rack 5 minutes. Run spatula around edges of cake to loosen. Place large serving platter upside down atop skillet. Using pot holders or oven mitts, firmly hold platter and skillet together and invert. Leave skillet atop cake 5 minutes. Remove skillet. If necessary, rearrange any cherries that may have become dislodged. Let cake cool at least 45 minutes. Cut cake into wedges and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Oh my. Wicked good! The stars were aligned for you.
It looks amazing. Your end photos look so good, I NEVER would have thought it came out of the pan in 8 pieces!
This cake looks delicious. Perfect time for this too, I just bought a huge bag at a local market for $0.99 per lb. I too hate pitting cherries. I put them in my smoothie the other day and only need about 15 or so, but I didn’t use a knife, I spit out each pit, then spit the cherry into the blender. This may not be the preferred method for making an upside-down cake, but at least I didn’t dirty a knife or risk cutting my hands on those tiny tiny fruits. But seriously, by the 8th cherry I was about to give up, it was getting real annoying so I can only imagine your struggle!
But if you were to go back would you buy the gadget now? I find that after the fact I tend not to care anymore, especially when it is so limited-use and just takes up space in the kitchen. In a year, you’ll open that drawer every few days and think, “Why the heck did I waste $10 on this?”
do you think that canned sour cherries would work for this cake?
I’m with you on the cherry pitter. You might only use it once or twice a year but it’s worth the money for the time you save. I would have given up about half way if I had to do those by hand.
Cherry pitters are worth it. You can use them for olives, too, if that helps you justify the purchase. You can also use a paperclip; unfold it, then stick the small loop into the cherry and use it to fish out the pit. Your cake looks wonderful!
this baking-with-all-the-pieces-in-place sounds exactly like something i would do. mint extract will sub in for vanilla well enough, right? congrats on a delicious result.
Cherries are my FAVORITE. My then-boyfriend-now-husband bought me a cherry pitter for my birthday ages ago. I love it and I use it. You can also pit olives with it, ya know. :)
Mmmm… this looks good. I saw some cherries at the market yesterday and I have an unopened bag of polenta sitting on the counter! Don’t have the pitter or the skillet though…
err… withOUT all the pieces in place. see? i can’t even write comments in one try.
I’m confused about the brown sugar. You grated it? Please tell me you tried microwaving it for 30 seconds first and when that didn’t do the trick you were left with no choice but to grate it…
well for something that everything went wrong, the photos sure do make the process look great!! (well, except for hand-pitting all those cherries, no photo could make that look fun!) glad to know the cake came out delish, this will be perfect to try in the summer!
The good news is this cake still works if you do almost everything quote-unquote wrong. You can halve the cherries and get the pits out with a knife, and you can make the cherry topping in a saucepan and then scrape it into an 10- or 11-inch cake, if you don’t have the right sized skillet.
Oma — Mint might work. I’ve never cooked with it, but I’d be careful not to let it overwhelm the cake. I think that almond extract would be nice with the cherries, too.
Squashi — Haven’t tried it with the sour cherries, or canned ones, of course, but I love, love, love them and can’t imagine why it wouldn’t work as long as you increased the sugar if they’re not already sweetened, possibly skip it if they are.
I think from what your blog said, the cake came out in 8 pieces with 2 pieces soaking in the sink…but your final photo looks like the cake is 1 solid creation? Am I missing sumthin? Does look yummy … and for b-day hints or any housewarming or whatever hints, why not hint for a cherry pitter?!!!! You should really have that and all the other cool gadgets that a person who loves to bake and cook should have!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m running out later to buy an egg poacher gizmo. I NEED IT TO LIVE AT THIS POINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so funny! i’ve had nights like that for sure. grating the brown sugar is hilarious — i never would have thought of that!
Sorry if I was unclear. I couldn’t get the cake off the cake plate after I photographed it. It came out of the pan just fine.
wow that looks good, i’m gonna have to make some! I love anything with cherries in it :)
I’m a sucker for (a) desserts made with cherries, (b) desserts made with cornmeal and (c) gooey, sticky upside-down desserts. Hence, I too cut out this recipe from the most recent Bon Appetit :). Good to know it’s a winner, no matter what happens in the process!
p.s. Did you see the photo that accompanied the recipe in Bon Appetit?? It looks like even the professionals at BA had trouble getting the cake off the plate :).
How is it that you own a Maryann cake pan and not a mid-size ovenproof skillet?
I’m so making that cake this weekend! I’ve got a bag of cherries in the freezer that’s been begging to be used for a while. ps That Williams-Sonoma cherry pitter? Totally worth the $10 and drawer space.
where there is a will….
I sold the whole mid-week BBQ by promising that Debbie made cake. Even an overdue pregnant lady showed. We still had great food, but we all missed you and your busted up cherry cake. Sigh.
I still don’t understand why Alex couldn’t of brought it over!! Alex??? Where were you? We want cake! We want cake! We want cake! We want cake!
aha ah aha haahah
Hairpins - oldfashioned hairpins - make wonderful cherry pitters. Better than a paperclip, because they’re thinner and a little more flexible.
This looks amazing. I love it when despite everything going wrong in the kitchen, things still come out tasting right. Alas, it doesn’t always work out quite so well for me, and I certainly wouldn’t have had the guts to do this baking wise, so kudos to you!
Now I really want cherries to be in season. Right. Now.
This is a must try! I’ve made cornmeal pineapple upside-down cake before, so I know this one must be out of this world!
Hmm, with mounds of rhubarb growing in the garden right now, I’m wondering if I could add more sugar and sub rhubarb for the cherries? I have one of those cake pans and never knew the name of it.
I may be showing my rural ignorance here, but could you order a cast iron skillet from Amazon or some such and have it delivered to your apartment? Avoiding the need to have to carry something like that all the way home. Or is that not done?
I bet rhubarb would be delicious.
As for the pan, which I am of course going to buy really really soon now that I’ve called myself out on it (…but its complicated; do I go for a cast-iron–we have a 12-inch, barely ever use it, do I start upgrading our non-sticks to non-non-sticks, as I’ve planned to for eons, piece by piece? I am paralyzed with indecision! Cake pans are much easier to commit to).
Ironically, because we can’t get packages to our apartment–no doorman to sign for them–I order everything online to my office, which means–heh–that I would still have to carry it home!
Cherry pitter for $4.99
http://www.kitchencollection.com/Temp_Products.cfm?sku=01069060
It’s bee-yoo-tee-full!
But if I make it, I’ll run out and get a cherry pitter and perhaps a 10″ oven-proof skillet.
killer good, you say? because i have a cherry tree in my backyard that produces an ass-load of cherries, and i NEVER know what to do with them all.
interesting.
What a great post! I am always banging on about seasonality but sometimes it just is and it just happens and it’s great anyway. I like to take my time when cooking too but it looks like things were on your side as the cake is stunning and looks so juicy and moreish. I can feel myself coming down with the sniffles right now and I feel like a slice would ease my pain!
I find that a paperclip is a great stand in for a real cherry pitter. It is messy but I think that’s half the fun. That being said, the halved cherries look beautiful in the cake.
That cake looks and sounds delish. I don’t have a cherry pitter, but I do have a couple of cast iron skillets. If you think the 10″ is heavy try a “chicken cooker” that is almost 100 yrs old. LOL
I have almost all of the ingredients in my kitchen. I think all I need is the cherries.
I actually snorted with laughter when I reached “I grated it.” I love that you were willing to share some of your kitchen missteps. Strangely, a post I wrote about my own kitchen capers is one of the most popular emailed posts on my blog (I wonder what that says about me? should I be concerned?)
At any rate, you read my mind. I have really been craving upside down cake. I was thinking pineapple but now you’ve got me thinking cheery. Glad it tastes great after all that effort.
Go for the 10″ cast-iron — it is SO worth lugging it home. I bought mine for 3 bucks in a second-hand store in San Francisco (along with two 6″ ones and a cornstick pan), schlepped it back on the plane (actually the husband did the schlepping, tee hee), and have never looked back. It’s now seasoned to perfection, and is more non-stick than my so-called non-sticks, which all eventually lose their cancer-causing non-stickness, and need to be thrown out anyway.
I try to avoid washing mine, unless it actually has food stuck to it, in which case we just use hot water and a scrub brush, no soap. Otherwise, I simply wipe it clean, and put it away. I know some people respond in horror to that idea, but it’s really the way to keep it seasoned. And we haven’t died from whatever maladies the unwashed pan could conceivably transmit — at least not yet…
seriously, we’ll all club together and get you a cherry pitter. ITS SO WORTH IT!!! I hope you bought one straight away!!
Listen to MB: Not only can you order cast iron from Amazon, you can get free Super Saver shipping on it! I would have thought they’d have a no-cast-iron policy somewhere in the free shipping deal, but nope. Your mail carrier may hate you for it, but give her a slice of that cake and all will be forgiven.
I love your blog. Somehow, this post just sealed my appreciation all the more. I want to make this cake…anyone, do you think it would also work spectacularly with oat, whole wheat, spelt, or brown rice flour? Thanks!!
I firmly believe, after multiple uses and no slippery fingers, that a cherry/olive pitter is a good tool to have around the kitchen. Unpitted kalamata olives are way cheaper, and heck if you’re going to pit some you might as well save yourself some time and pit them ALL. For ease- the pointy end is where the pitter should go; a quick snap and the pit flies out easily, and gleefully through the stem end. If you’re like me at all, you may try all sorts of funny tricks with it to make it more interesting. Or not.
And when there is someone, anyone around your kitchen that has issues with trying to force a cherry pit out in their mouth, just hand them the pitter and smile kindly. They will love you forever.
this looks so good! and it’s really reasurring that other cooks improvise endlessly like i do.
What a great combination of flavors!
You swam a MILE?!!!!
After work?
I can’t believe no one else has commented on this.
Good Lord Deb, you are turbocharged.
Thank goodness for us. Else we would not have had this cake!
I love cornmeal in desserts - combined with the cherries (once they get in season!) - this seems like it might be a good way to break in my new cast iron pan.
What a trooper! Baking at 9pm… I’m almost asleep by then! :-)
I’m glad you stayed up - this cake is gorgeous.
This looks delish, I am loving Bon Appétit these days. Can’t wait for my subscription to begin - I’m afraid to buy the new issue because I don’t want to end up with two! Of course, there are worse situations I can think of… ;)
p.s.
What brand of stone-ground cornmeal do you use?
Ditto on the unbent paperclip: it sounds icky but works. Messy, but worth it in terms of time and sheer pleasure.
now I know how you keep your girlish figure while baking…a mile! You are awesome.
If this is the cake in which you did everything wrong, then I must be missing something - it’s PERFECT to me!! And hey, I love fresh cherries (they’re in season here now, and I can’t get enough of them!)
How do you do it? Every time I read your blog, my mouth waters! This looks fantastic!
This confirms it. I love your blog. Your kitchen capers are hilarious, the same ones we all have and won’t admit. Who hasn’t felt compelled to make a recipe even though everything goes wrong?? The worse it gets, the worse you want to make the damn thing. Happened to me once with a ricotta cheesecake (rancid ricotta, half the necessary sugar, accidentally spilled last few drops of vanilla, etc) and it’s now my favorite recipe! Keep on telling it like it is, Deb :)
cherries 2.88 a pound next week. May be tempted to try the recipes
I saw this recipe in the mag and thought it sounded great! I also love upside down cakes, but I really love cornmeal cakes. I’ll keep this one on hand in case I find some good cherries.
That’s one helluva resilient cake. It looks so good!
Talk about a comedy of errors……..I LOVE it! You and I should hook up sometime and make………anything together. When I am distracted………my dog wants to go in or out for the “third” time……..the phone rings, and it’s my “mother”………or UPS finally shows up with the “next day” delivery “three days late!!!”……..I totally lose my concentration and wind up doing a lot of the same things. AND despite multiple miss-haps, last minute substitutions or that “killer” instinct to finish the %$^($% thing, it usually comes out surprisingly well. Stopping by your site is always invigorating and very amusing.
That looks fabulous! I cannot wait to try this…gotta wait for cherry season, though. They were $6 a pound, “on sale” this week.
I love your story! Luckily, these frustrated baking episodes don’t come too often. Your cake looks delicious to me. I have been obsessing about cornmeal lately, so I’m so happy to see this.
I think cherries might be good in about a week. Or at least I hope so!
Cherries! My all-time favorite! The cake looks divine! I had to laugh with you when you were describing all of the things you were lacking but bent on getting it made anyway, I’ve had my share of mad scientist moments. When I lived in Utah you could buy these wonderful, huge, deep maroon cherries that you’d eat warm right from the stand and then of course, you’d get runs…. I can’t wait for cherries to make this cake! Yummers!
When I spent summers on my aunt’s farm, helping her preserved, we used hairpins to pit mountains of cherries. You just dig the looped end into the cherry, and pop the pit out. It eventually turns your hands a hideous color, but it’s very easy and fast to do.
these pictures made me so hungry!!
last night i rushed home and made this cake!!
thankfully i had all the ingredients other than the cherries, which i picked up on the way and whole milk … which i substituted with skim milk.
i also had a pan-problem. but even after most of the cherries juices ran out of the springform pan i used - it turned out WONDERFUL!!!
thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!!
I have so been thinking of a cherry cake but couldn’t bring myself to splurge after breaking the budget on blueberries and rhubarb. Should have been as smart as you and sent out the husband, always comes home with whats on the list. Marvelous photos!
This looks awesome! I’ll definitely try it out soon. I love it when there are all sorts of problems when cooking something (this has happened to me countless times, some of which I don’t want to think about!) & then in the end things turn out fine. More than fine, in this case, if I judge from the pictures.
I’m melting. This sounds so much better than pineapple upside down cake. I love that it is cherry season!
deb. it’s on the list…
and i have a williams sonoma cherry pitter!
and the right pan!
i am so awesome
but not as awesome as you
yet (i’m working on it)
ps - i need the black and white cookie recipe
i mean it. i may have to resort to holding my breath…
pretty please?
I couldn’t find fresh cherries. Took out the jarred cherries in a sugar water from Trader Joe’s. They worked out too. This cake is great. Thanks.
I darted over to Epicurious and found that cake recipe with the picture. For all your jury-rigging..your cake actually looks better than the Bon Appetite picture. I probably wouldn’t have been as intent on making this if I hadn’t seen your photo!
I just thought you’d like to know that! BTW…what is a Maryanne Pan?
I was drawn in by the amazing photos and your fierce account of culinary improvisation. I have had the pleasure of feasting on your cake and while mine was not quite as beautiful as yours (I also made mine in a tart pan), it tasted amazing! When I make it again, I will fit the tart pan with a foil collar so that the batter does not spill over the edges.
I did however find a useful tool for pitting cherries! I rummaged through my kitchen drawers to see what I could find to make the job a little easier. If you have a meat thermometer, I found that the little case that fits over the outside works perfectly. It made quick work of a tedious task.
Thanks for all of the inspiration and for getting me into the kitchen tonight!
I love cherries and believe that’s for a reason since I’m born in the first month of our cherry season :)) an let me tell you that the cherries you used are the exact type of cherries that open the season.
I love that you used cornmeal: works best for colour and taste.
Also I have an award waiting for you on my blog so come and get it ;)
This cake looks awesome! I can’t wait to try it. I just stumbled upon your blog about an hour and a half ago and have been browsing all your recipes ever since–I think I’ve found a new favorite blog! Keep up the good work :D
I also broke down and purchased some out-of-season cherries (for mother’s day), and gasped out loud then the cashier rang them through. It’s making me rethink the whole notion of planting a cherry tree, let me tell you.
WOW, if I didn’t like you so much, now I’d REALLY have to not like you. Because, even when you TRY to mess up a cake, still, perfection. And still, you come off totally likable. I think you’re the Martha that I wish Martha really was. This “mess up” cake is totally beautiful. :) By the way, my dog is sitting here looking at it with me, and he totally agrees - it’s his new favorite SK creation, next to the chocolate cut-out cookies. :)
Well, it doesn’t look like you made any mistakes at all! Looks divine!
Wow, this is truly beautiful. I am happy I happened upon this one. My kitchen is being DEMOLISHED on Wednesday, but if you squeezed this one in after the day you had, I should be able to get it done, right? Thanks for sharing, it’s gorgeous.
no cherries available in Australia at the moment but used frozen raspberries & redcurrants instead….absolutely DELICIOUS! love the balsamic tang!
I made this cake at 5:00am this morning. We’ve had temps of over 100 the last few days, so I needed to get this done early. Like you, I should have just waited, but I was determined to do this today. Once I turned the cake out of the pan..all I could smell was vinegar. Shit! Long story short..I used 2 Tbsp vinegar, instead of the 2 tsp’s. Thinking I’d ruined it anyway, I cut into it after 1/2 hour cooling, and to my delight, it was wonderful in spite of me. I won’t do the vinegar thing againl, but I would even serve this one to company, it’s still that good. The cake is out of this world. It’s light and fluffy but with a hint of grit from the cornmeal. The flavor it lends to the cake is outstanding, especially with cherries. I will definately make this again..the RIGHT way next time!
the owner of a fruit stand up in hudson suggested that the best cherry pitter of all is a paper clip. apparently what you do is flip out the middle part so that it makes a little hook, and use that to pierce the cherry and scoop out the pit. i’ve never tried it, since i have a couple of cherry pitters. i can’t live without making sour cherry pie at least once a year when the sour cherries come in at the union square market.
this cake looks great! i just bought a pink cake stand at williams sonoma. the cherries should look especially cute on pink.
That looks AMAZING. And I’m totally grabbing the recipe, running, and veganizing it. Yum! Maybe with a berry that’s in season though… I love that you were able to pull it off so late at night after a crazy hectic day. That’s the sign of a good baker. :)
GOSH! I feel like I’m on cloud 9 after seeing this post! This looks so delicious! I am immediately making a grocery list for tomorrow morning and I WILL make this while the kids are in school tomorrow! I would LOVE to include this on my website, with your permission of course!! This is such a wonderful post and I LOVE this blog!!
I have grated brown sugar myself! We must be kindred spirits. Or just equally desperte for cake.
I’ve been walking through the day obsessed with the ide of a cornmeal and raspberry cake, and then come across this. Since no cherries are to be had around here, either, I’m going to try it with frozen raspberries…
You are a truly wonderful baker, that’s why you would never ruin any cake. ;)
This looks wonderful, Deb!
I have a similar recipe at home I’ve been meaning to try, but with apples instead of cherries.
deb, you’re too kind! you answered my “mint extract can sub for vanilla, right?” question, even though the thought of mint and cherries together was probably gag-inducing. i actually wasn’t asking it in reference to this recipe, but using it as an example of the random thoughts that have gone through my head when i’m determined to bake despite having all necessary ingredients. just wanted to clarify that i wouldn’t seriously consider, for this recipe, using mint extract. ugh. :)
I can’t wait to try this cake! I love upside-down cakes, and cherries are my favorite.
You have to get a cast-iron pan. Once you get it seasoned well, it makes the absolute best upside-down cakes. Anything you want caramelized fruit on top of — cast iron is the best. Before you get that slick seasoning perfected on the pan, the cake may stick to it a few times. Just use hot water and kosher salt to scrub it out. Don’t use soap, and store it so that air can circulate all around it. Keep it oiled, too. Trust me, you’ll use it every day.
By the way, not only do I have a couple of 8-inch cast-iron pans and a 10-inch cast-iron pan — a couple of years ago I bought a 14-inch cast-iron pan. After making countless batches of biscuits and cornbread, it’s got a sheen to it that you can almost see yourself in. It makes an upside-down cake that uses twice as many pineapple rings to cover it! It’s heavier than you can even imagine, but it’s SO worth it.
Oh man, that looks so fabulous. Do you think this would work with sour cherries and a sugar adjustment??
Ok, I am so bad, I just read the comments and I am Late Lucy on asking about sour cherries. I’m gonna try it for sure….!
Dear deb! There’s something wrong with this cake! Someone up there doesn’t want us to make it! Bought really nice french cherries on the farmers market yesterday and started the pitting. Believe it or not, i completely ruined a cashmere sweater. Later i did something wrong whisking the eggwhites, saw them flying through the kitchen. Also i paid to little attention to your instructions so i put all the butter in with the cherries. But hey, the cake turned out delicious…i served it yesterday for a couple of friends and they were amazed (especially after telling the story!)
Yum…I love anything with cherries though I generally eat them all before I can get around to cooking with them. For this cake I’ll try and restrain myself. I agree with Lisa T about the cast iron skillet. Nothing better for an upside down cake.
Put a plain, round pastry tip over your finger like a thimble to pit cherries. Works like a charm, and you don’t need to buy yet another kitchen gadget that will take up room in a drawer.
So yummy! i just recently found your site and since I had just purchased a big bag of cherries, this recipe called out to me.
I only used maybe 2 cups, since I too was pitting them by hand - and, to add to the “things done wrong”, my hand mixer broke and I had to do everything with a wooden spoon and a whisk.
Still came out delicious! Thanks for this!
I finally made this today (thanks so much for admitting that the cherries don’t have to be great; it’s tiresome to read recipes exhorting one to buy the freshest, shiniest, sweetest whatever especially here in Southwestern VA). My “thing done wrong” was: I couldn’t find our skillet so substituted my MIL’s hand-me-down bundt pan (thus using it for the first time since we were married in 1993). It still came out great!
comment #91.
you can always zap brown sugar in the microwave to soften it. but grating it sounds like fun too. tee hee.
I mentally filed this one away until cherries were available and affordable. Made the cake tonight - yummy - but the bings I used were so big and dark, the cake looks like a prune upside down cake!!
I made this over the weekend.
I, too, used a maryann cake pan but drained the sauce and set about half the cherries into the outer ring only. I thickened up the sauce using a little cornstarch and filled the center of the cake with the sauce and the rest of the cherries after the cake had cooled. It turned out really well, I think. At least that’s what the friends who gobbled it up in less than five minutes said: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24081294@N02/2601052273/
This cake is clearly jinxed and yet destined for perfection. I was making the thing for a potluck and so I decided to make an extra for me to pre-try just in case it was gross or I couldn’t resist or something. I had the cherries prepped and neatly spread into two pans and then during the egg white folding stage I somehow hit one of the pans sloshing buttery sticky staining cherry sauce all over the floor. After 15 minutes of cleaning and praying that my rental floor was not permanently stained I got around to the cake. Well I put about half of the batter in the remaining pan since I had made a double recipe and it really didn’t cover the cherries so I started to spread it around and it started turning red which I didn’t want. I figured hey, I’ve got extra batter why waste it, so I poured in the rest and spread it around. It was still only about 1/3 way up the springform so I figured good. Man does this thing rise, it topped out the pan luckily not overflowing, but the leaking cherry juice was charring on the cake pan by the time it was done—still the little bit stuck to the pan tasted fantastic. In the end I got an extra tall version, less likely to crack apart and very elegant looking under the cake dome. Nice. Jinxed and yet destined for perfection. Note, all 7 reviewers at epicurious gave it 4 forks and 100% said they would make it again. Not even the ever finicky constantly substituting epicurious people can screw it up.
Do you think I can make this the night before I serve it?
Yes, it keeps very well.
I made it last night at 9 pm. No skillet, no maryann pan — just a big foil pie pan. I had fresh cherries, pitted with a knife. I must say mine did not turn out so great. My pie pan was too shallow (I know, I know, you’re saying it’s not an upside down pie, it’s a cake, so why use a pie pan — but I did it anyway, so there). So the batter overflowed and I lost a lot of it. This meant the cherries, which are SUPER sweet sort of overpower the cake (which is also super sweet). I just tasted the edges because I am supposed to take this to someone’s house tonight - a good enough friend that if it fails, I won’t lose face. Anyway, what I tasted is like eating caramel. So I think I’ll put some unsweetened whip cream on it or maybe some almonds just to try to kill some of the sweetness. Sigh. . .
I take it back — everyone loved it.