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DESSERT
“T
he world’s turned upside-
down,” we say, shaking our
heads over the news when it’s
particularly unusual or crazy, which lately
seems to be more often than ever.
It’s hard to remember in such discombobu-
lated times, but upside-down-ness does have
its joyful sides. Consider children somer-
saulting across a green lawn or hanging from
playground monkey bars, cheerleaders cart-
wheeling on a brisk fall day, dizzying topsy-
turvy rides at the county fair. Think of lean
yoga instructors doing headstands and hand-
stands with seemingly calm effortlessness.
And then there’s dessert. When it comes to
dessert, a certain miracle of upside-down-
ness takes the cake. And this miracle can
happen with yoga-like calm effortlessness.
Upside-down cakes are easy. Their putting-
together is easy. Their batter is easy.
Decorating them (because their topping is
inherent — no frosting necessary) is super-
easy. Cleaning up from them (because there
are so few dishes to wash) is easy. Even
flipping them out of the pan — the idea of
which might inspire trepidation until you
have actually done it — is also easy.
Easy, yet showy. And definitively delicious.
Though we all know the canned pineapple/
maraschino cherry version, upside-down
cakes happily accommodate almost any
fruit from orchard or garden, fresh, canned,
dried or in combination. And not just
accommodate — when the fresh seasonal
fruit, a bit tart and textural, replaces canned
pineapple, the swoon factor is greatly
amplified, adding a new dimension to the
already appealing single note of sweet,
jammy, caramelized goo.
All these cakes do start with a layer of fruit
in this goo: a sweet, syrupy, buttery glaze in
the bottom of a heavy pan or skillet. Over
this, a good from-scratch, but not elaborate,
cake batter is poured. After baking, in
a culinary sleight of hand that is not
without drama (though, again, it’s easy —
I promise), the whole is flipped — literally
reversed out onto a serving plate.
Voilà
!
The fruit underneath is now a gloriously
attractive topping, its glossy prettiness one
you might expect to see in the window of a
French
p
â
tisserie
.
In fact, though what we think of as upside-
down cake is an American invention,
its conceptual origins may lie in France,