I don't know who invented upside down cakes, but whoever it was, was a genius. They are not only delicious (hello, it's cake!) but they also look a treat, with fairly minimal effort. No mixing up special frostings, and fussing about, trying to achieve a perfect finish. With just a few moments of forethought, laying things out on the bottom of the pan, your result is going to be beautiful all on its own! (Plus, let's not forget, skipping the frosting = that much less caloric intake!)
This beauty was put together as dessert for a family dinner with my sis + wifey before their big move out of province. I'm always on the lookout for tasty gluten free dessert options. Yes, of course, we can always substitute regular all-purpose flour for gluten-free all-purpose flour, but in all honesty, those flour mixes can be pretty hit-or-miss. And I, personally, am not a fan of cardboard-flavored cake. 😝 So, when I was poking around, looking for inspiration for dessert ideas for dietary restrictions, and came across this almond cake I knew I had to try it. I already had the almond meal on hand from my adventures in making macarons, plus we had a flat of strawberries, and a rhubarb bush right outside my door.
Plan = made!
So let's take a peek at how I did it!
The first thing you need to do when making and upside down cake is to do the bottom... er, top...
Figure out the fruit you're going to use (in my case, strawberries and rhubarb), and cut them into your desired shapes.
Grease the sides, and line the bottom of a 9" springform pan with parchment, and sprinkle on some sugar.
Now lay out your fruit in a pretty pattern. This is going to be the most time consuming part of the whole thing, but to me it's worth it. I'm a bit compulsive when it comes to this stuff, but you can make the design as simple or complex as you wish.
The cake itself is really very simple, and really makes up for any time you've used up in laying out your design. Just cream your butter and/or coconut oil (I chose to use some of both, as I wanted to keep the dairy to a minimum, but didn't want to have an overly "coconutty" tasting cake) with the sugar.
Then mix in your salt and vanilla, and the eggs, one at a time. (Make sure you scrape down your bowl after each egg, to ensure it's all evenly mixed.)
Last but not least, sift in your almond flour. You could just pour it straight in, but I like to sift it, in case there are any larger pieces in there. No chunks in my cake, thank you! 😉
The batter will be creamy and thick.
Spoon it into your pan, over the fruit, and spread it very gently. You don't want to knock things around, after spending the time to make such a pretty pattern! Then lift the pan and gently tap it on the counter a couple times, to knock out any big air bubbles... GENTLY! (In my experience, sometimes the bottom of springform pans can pop out, and you do not want that to happen right now! 😱)
Bake it at 350°F for 50-55 min, until a tester (aka toothpick) inserted in the center comes out clean. When it's done, take it out and very carefully run a knife around the edges, to ensure it's released from the sides of the pan. Place a plate over the pan, and quickly but carefully flip it over. Remove the pan, peel off the parchment, and allow the cake to cool.
That's it! Now, wasn't that simple?
The cake is moist, almost creamy, and not overly sweet. The sugar over the fruit helps to caramelize it ever so slightly, and cuts the tartness of the rhubarb. Oh, and that little bit of tart tastes amazing with the sweet and creamy cake.
I served reasonably small slices, since we were having dessert a fairly short time after finishing dinner. It went over so well that we all went back for seconds. 😅