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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Upside-down cake makes comeback as trendy dessert

By Johnathan L. Wright
Reno Gazette-Journal

Upside-down cakes graced the cookbook pages of Fannie Farmer, '60s dinner parties and the potluck line at countless church socials.

The upside-down cake gained wider popularity in the late 1920s after the Hawaiian Pineapple Co. (now Dole) ran an ad campaign of recipes for upside-down cake.

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Now, from recent recipes in family magazines to restaurant dessert menus, upside-down cakes are making a comeback.

"Some of your best recipes come out of older things that somebody decides to update," said Nevada pastry chef Marthe Clark.

Upside-down cakes, no matter what their particulars, have the same structure: Butter, sugar and fruit become caramelized as they bake in a cake pan under a layer of batter. The cake is inverted before serving, and the glazed fruit becomes the top of the cake.

In America, upside-down cakes originally were made not in cake pans, but in well-used cast-iron skillets that conducted heat evenly, and that possessed nonstick finishes because of their oil-saturated pores. The upside-down cake gained wide popularity in the late 1920s after the Hawaiian Pineapple Co. (now Dole) ran an ad campaign based on upside-down cake recipes from its 1925 recipe contest.

Cooks find upside-down cakes versatile because almost any fruit can be used.

Pastry chef Shelly Southwick of Reno likes to use rhubarb, strawberries, blueberries and plums.

Others use pears and apples and still others use a combination of pineapple slices and maraschino cherries.

"If you're using really fresh fruit, you want to cook it for five minutes over low heat with a little butter and sugar, just enough to release some of the juices to make the fruit easier to work with," says Clark.

Fruit juices and caramel would cause a standard sponge cake to fall apart; for this reason, upside-down cake batter often is similar to the batter for sturdy pound or tea cakes.

Reno pastry chef Didier Laborde offers these ideas for kicking an upside-down cake up another notch: "Use apricot glaze over the pineapple. Mix rum, brandy or Grand Marnier to your taste with the pineapple juice. You could use ice cream. Or chocolate shavings. Or you could melt semi-sweet chocolate and drizzle it on top of the cake."

Whatever their stripe, upside-down cakes have enough retro-cool that people will say, "Upside-down cake? I haven't thought of that in years. You know, I think I'll have a slice."

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

  • 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, soft (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
  • 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups cake flour
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1 3/4 cup milk, room temperature
  • 4 cups sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 cans pineapples slices
  • reserved pineapple juice from cans
  • maraschino cherries

Grease two 10-inch molds or cake pans.

Mix butter and sugar together in large bowl, until fluffy. Mix in eggs, then vanilla, then cake flour, then baking powder, then milk. Set aside.

In saucepan, mix four cups sugar and water and bring to a boil, scraping sides to avoid crystallization, and cooking mixture until a medium-brown caramel color results. Pour mixture into pans and spread to cover bottoms. Arrange pineapple slices over caramel mixture and place maraschino cherries between the slices and in the holes of each slice. Pour in batter so that it reaches halfway up the edge of the pan. Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 to 35 minutes, until inserted knife comes out clean.

Let cool for about 30 minutes, ensuring cake is still warm. Cover with cake plate and invert. With brush or squeeze bottle, apply reserved juice and serve. Makes two 10-inch cakes.

Source: Didier Laborde, pastry chef, John Ascuaga's Nugget in Reno.

Chocolate Apricot Upside-down Cake

For the apricots:

  • 1 1/4 cups dried apricots
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup apricot brandy
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup melted butter

Simmer apricots, water, sugar and brandy in large saucepan for about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving about one-fourth cup of cooking liquid. Take four tablespoons of the reconstituted apricots and puree with poaching liquid in a food processor. Melt brown sugar and butter together in saucepan until hot and bubbling. Add apricot puree and cook together, about 30 seconds. Immediately spread mixture on bottom of nine-inch cake pan well coated with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange remaining apricots in concentric circles atop mixture.

For the cake:

  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 3/4 cups sugar
  • 4 1/2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 3/4 cup cold coffee
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift together cake flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.

In mixing bowl, beat together mayonnaise, coffee and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Gradually add dry ingredients and beat until smooth.

Pour batter over caramel and apricots in cake pan and bake for about 30 minutes in 350-degree oven, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for five minutes, cover with cake plate and invert. Let cool for 15 minutes more.

Serve with fresh whipped cream.

Makes one nine-inch cake.

Source: Marthe Clark, pastry chef, Freddie's at Red Hawk and the Red Hawk Room, Sparks, Nev.