Apple-Cherry-Walnut Double Upside Down Crumb Cake
I'm finally sitting down and going through all the recipes I've found over the last decade. I'm a chronic recipe clipper, it may be a problem, but I'm finally doing something about it! Expect to see a lot of vintage and unique recipe posts, as I love digging into the past to see what people ate and how they prepared their meals without all the gadgets and gizmos we have now.
So let's get started!
**As always, read through the entire recipe before starting, unless you're like me and you think you have a fully stocked pantry, but probably don't. Haha.
Adapted from a 1950's recipe found in Cooking with Sour Cream and Buttermilk by the Staff Home Economists of the Culinary Arts Institute.
I've made a few changes, a round pan instead of a square pan as the final cake looks nicer round as well as the addition of the "double upside down" which is a crumb layer on top that gets flipped to the bottom when the cake is done. So, it's fruit, cake, crumbs, then flip... crumbs, cake, fruit. Make sense? The double upside down part I made up, hopefully it's not anywhere else, we're going to say it's not and that it's my creation. :)
I also added some nutmeg, almond extract and sweet cherries. The cake comes out not too sweet, very light, fluffy, and the crumb layer, divine, who doesn't like crunchy butter crumbs? Mmm. Serve traditionally with whipped sour cream, however this cake would go great with lightly sweetened cream or a scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream. Enjoy!
Makes 1 - 8" Round Cake
SPECIAL TOOLS
8x8x2 round cake pan
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
1 medium sized apple (I like to work with Golden Delicious, Fiji, and Gala apples)
1 cup sweet or tart cherries (pitted)
2 tsp lemon juice (please use real lemons, please always use real and fresh everything)
1/3 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1 egg (large)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
1 1/2 cup cake flour (sifted)
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp pink salt or sea salt
1/2 cup buttermilk (full fat if you can find it)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
Whipped Sour Cream - Makes 3/4 Cup
1/2 cup chilled sour cream (full fat)
1 tbsp confectioners' sugar
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. Melt 1/4 cup butter and pour into 8" cake pan.
3. In a small bowl, blend the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and walnuts. Sprinkle mixture over melted butter in pan.
4. Peel, core, and slice a medium apple and layer it on top of the sugar spice mixture.
5. Add cherries on top of apple layer. Pour lemon juice over the apples and cherries. Set aside.
6. In a mixer with paddle attachment, cream 1/3 cup butter with brown sugar.
7. Mix in egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Scrape down the bowl and mix again until the egg is incorporated.
8. Sift in cake flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, allspice, and salt.
9. Mix on low while adding buttermilk. Once incorporated, stop mixing, do not over beat.
10. Pour batter over apple-cherry mixture in pan.
11. In a small bowl, cut butter into flour and sugar until crumbs are pea sized.
12. Sprinkle crumb mixture on top of batter. You may have some extra, save for another recipe.
13. Bake for 40-45 minutes until a cake tester (or toothpick) comes out clean.
14. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to release the cake from the side of the pan.
15. Take your serving platter and flip it upside down onto the crumb side of the cake. Hold together and with oven mitts flip the cake onto the platter. Let it sit for another 5 minutes to loosen and allow the brown sugar syrup to drip down.
16. Carefully and slowly remove the pan off the cake making sure none of it is stuck. This should still be done while the cake is hot.
17. Serve warm with whipped sour cream (whip sour cream with sugar until fluffy and double in size).
Next Recipe: Chinese New Year Fudge (Peanuts, Coconut, and Sesame)
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