Despite the stress of the season, one factor remains decadently insistent, the food. My favorite holiday food items have always been those that are good any time of day. I’m talking in the middle of the night snacking, waking up in the morning craving, can’t get enough of treats. Those delightful tems we find ourselves sneaking so folks around you don’t see how bad your being with ooey-gooey carbohydrate delight. Finding the perfect balance of sugary, doughy, crunchy, and chewy in one bite isn’t the easiest. Especially, when it’s in a dish meant for sharing. upside-down cake is the dish that won’t disappoint any of these taste bud needs or experiences.
My first upside-down cake was like many of yours. It was pineapple with little bits of maraschino cherries adorning the caramel sauce. My grandmother would make them for us after school every once and awhile. Usually it took someone winning an award, or celebrating an occasion, but sometimes they were just because. The caramel would crunch in a way that only an upside-down cake baked in a cast iron skillet could accomplish .
Although this delicious cake is a tradition of our grandmothers, and even great-grandmothers, pineapple upside-down cakes were not popular until pineapples began to be available in cans in 1903. The cake truly rose in popularity around 1925 when what was the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, now Dole, asked for creative ways to cook the popular canned treat. They were shocked to receive over 2,500 different upside-down cakes. The next year the company had a national campaign in which they featured the top recipe. This ad campaign made a delicious recipe even more popular.
However, this single layer basic yellow butter cake has been popular since cooking in skillets began in the Middle Ages. Cultures all over the world have taken caramelized fruit and made different variations of this anytime treat, their own. The appeal is universal. Children and adults can’t help but smile with taking a bite of this fabulous dish.
This week’s dish will be something I guarantee you won’t be able to make just once. The first time I made it, I thought of so many things I wanted to add or change, I made another the next day. Make this cake your own. Put your own spin on this upside-down delight. Colorful pomegranate seeds, citrus fruit, fresh herbs, nuts, and seeds are some of my favorite flavors to interchange. But the one thing I never change is the brown sugar. The crunch it cooks onto the sweet yellow cake is unlike anything. It tastes like childhood memories and yet consumes your thoughts and memories with the deep craving for another bite, and another bite.
Good luck and enjoy!
Skillet Pear Upside-down Cake with Bourbon Caramel and Walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (Can be made ahead if stored in an airtight container)
Cake topper:
(This is the recipe for the top part of flipped cake, but not to be confused with the sauce. That recipe is listed below.)
2 tbsp butter
1 ¼ cup brown sugar
3 pears Cake mixture or filler: 2 whole eggs
1 cup sugar
2 cup flour
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (soak in bourbon overnight if possible)
1 pear (diced into small pieces)
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
Bourbon & Brown Sugar Hard Sauce
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 ½ cup brown sugar
2 shots bourbon
Melt butter for topper in a ten inch cast-iron skillet. Once melted, press brown sugar against base of pan so that pan is lined with a thin coating of sugar. Add pears, cut side down and arranged as you will want it to flip (this is the time for any pattern or festive decor with the pears or fruit). Make sure you have the middle seeds and stem scooped out of the pears. But keep in mind when arranging pears in the pan that these are also wonderful pockets for holding sauce and bourbon when fully assembled. Bake until juices of the pear begin to release (about 7 minutes). Remove from oven. Sauce will be melted around pears.
While pears are baking, add all of the ingredients for the cake mixture together in a mixer on medium speed. Pour mixture over pears, leaving plenty of room for cake to rise. The trick is to have the pears still thin enough in size. It’s not too hard to cover them completely. If your worried the cake will overflow your pan, place another pan or tray underneath so that the bits don’t mess your oven. Bake for around 45 minutes, keep an eye on it so that it does not burn. Check to make sure the cake is completely done before removing. When finished (golden brown and a fork comes out clean), run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen. Allow to cool for only a few minutes, and immediately flip onto desired surface. I recommend a plate, cutting board, or aluminum lined board. Depending on your delight, add about a shot of bourbon to the top of the cake. While cake is cooling, make the sauce in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once sauce has begun to boil, take off heat immediately. Keep an eye on it or it will overflow. Cake is to be served with Bourbon sauce poured on top.
The recipe and photos used in today’s column are from the kitchen of Chef Babz ([email protected]) with a little help from her grandmother, Louise Osborne.
