STRAWBERRY UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Strawberry Upside Down Cake. Easy and delicious! A moist vanilla scratch cake baked on top of ripe summer strawberries. Best served warm with ice cream!
Summer does present its minor dilemmas for me, especially when it comes to produce shopping. I tend to get a little over excited about beautiful summer fruits like plums and especially peaches.

I tend to overbuy for fear these beautiful specimens, at their peak of perfection, will not be found on my next visit to the market.

This sometimes leaves me scrambling to clear them from the fridge or counter top fruit bowl. Most often they turn into small batches of jam when necessity dictates, like the Roasted Strawberry Jam shown below. Everyone knows I hate to throw anything out.

Upside down cake is the answer.

One excellent use for many fruits that need to be used quickly is a classic upside down cake. This recipe can be adapted to use other summer fruits too, like peaches, or even fall apples a little later on.

This time it was a some strawberries that were just going past their peak which got my attention.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp corn starch
  • 4 cups fresh strawberries, quartered
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the cake batter

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • ½ cup butter, melted
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Grease and flour a 10 inch round cake pan very well and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. A large 9 or 10 inch tube pan or an 9×9 inch square baking pan can also be used. (8×8 will be too small)
  2. The strawberries I used in this recipe were quite large, so I cut them in quarters but if you have smaller strawberries, just cut them in half. The 4 cup measurement is for the berries after they have been chopped.
  3. Mix the corn starch and 1/2 cup sugar together and sprinkle over the strawberries along with the 1 tsp vanilla extract. Toss together well and spread evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
  4. To prepare the cake batter begin by sifting together the flour baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  5. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, sugar at high speed until very foamy.
  6. Mix together the butter and vegetable oil in a measuring cup with a spout.
  7. Slowly add this butter and oil mixture to the egg and sugar mixture as it continues to beat.
  8. Stir the vanilla extract into the milk.
  9. Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk. When alternating wet and dry ingredients, always begin and end with the dry mixture. Here I folded in the flour in three divisions and the milk in two divisions.
  1. Pour the batter over the strawberries in the baking pan.
  2. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The toothpick test is definitely the best way to ensure this cake is fully baked.
  3. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before inverting onto a heatproof serving plate.
  4. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if you like.