Black Forest Upside-Down Cake
It’s been well established that late May/June is cherry season, there’s just something about those little sweet and juicy balls of joy that brings about smiles with every bite, mind the pits and stems. Yes, sir, there is nothing that says late spring more than a big bowl of cherries.
But like many stone fruit, cherries have a wide variety of culinary uses, both sweet and savory, and that’s something I hope to highlight here by turning these humble fruits into a very classic upside-down cake.
Upside-down cake is an American classic, it’s usually canned pineapple and cherries baked in a butter and brown sugar layer with a vanilla cake batter poured on top, so when you flip it you get to see all of the gorgeous caramelized fruit that was underneath. I suppose it’s the American version of the classic French tarte tatin, which uses puff pastry instead of cake batter.
However, the combination of canned pineapple and those overly sweet, bright red maraschino cherries plus vanilla cake batter and caramel always seemed like sweet on sweet on sweet, so I thought I’d tone that down a bit.
I am going to do an upside-down cake made with a chocolate cake batter and using fresh cherries, I’ll then top my upside-down cake with some simple whipped cream to give it more of a black forest cake type of deal.
Serves 8
For the Cherry Layer:
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved
For the Chocolate Cake:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
For Topping:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 oz bittersweet chocolate, cut into thin shards
8 Luxardo cocktail cherries, removed from syrup (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round nonstick cake pan (Ideally a pan that’s at least 2 inches tall).
Pour the melted butter into the bottom of the pan and mix with the brown sugar to form a paste. Spread this into an even layer on the bottom of the pan, then lay on the cherries, cut-side down, an a single layer. Set aside while you make the cake.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine, then set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Add that to the flour mixture, then whisk until just combined, be careful to not overmix.
Pour the cake batter over the cherries, spread into an even layer, then bake for 55 minutes, or until the top is firm.
Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes, then run a butter knife along the edge of the pan then lift up and tap the pan on the counter to help release the cherries from the bottom. Place an inverted plate on top of the pan, then flip it over, remove the pan, then let the cake cool completely.
Whisk the heavy cream and powdered sugar in a medium sized bowl until you get stiff peaks, an electric beater helps.
Cut the cake into 8 slices, then top each slice with a dollop of whipped cream, some chocolate shards, and a Luxardo cherry, if using.
(Don’t completely cover the cake in whipped cream as you want to see those gorgeous cherries)
