Pick-Your-Own Fruit Upside Down Cake

Celebrating the first strawberries with my go-to fruit cake.

This year’s first raspberry & strawberry cake, on top of the excellent Animalphabet.

We’re on the cusp of the joyous British summer fruit season. The excitement is palpable. We picked up our first box of British strawberries from our corner shop on Monday. They’re not at their juiciest yet, but they’re here all the same. Soon we’ll be plucking figs from the scrappy tree in our backyard for breakfast, picking basketfuls of plums with the grandparents, and feasting on blackberries every time we get to the meadows (hopefully Jasper doesn’t continue last year’s theme of eating so many he throws up, which was a daily occurrence last summer).

Over-purchasing seems inevitable at the beginning of the season. It’s all a bit too exciting to finally be moving away from the now fairly mushy apples and pears and instead be feasting on fresh berries every morning. And afternoon. And evening. When the excitement wears off but we still have too many baskets of berries or plums or apricots or whatever it may be sitting in the kitchen, we turn to our favourite upside down cake.

A selection of upside down cakes from my Brooklyn baking days.

I first started really leaning into upside down cakes when I was working at a café in Brooklyn. I was the pastry “department”, so I was constantly seeking out ways to quickly and easily add a splash of colour, a cake of the day, and something new and seasonal to the counter. The beauty of the upside down cake is it ticks all the boxes. No buttercream required. No food colouring. You can use whatever fruit you have. And it’s simple to put together.

The recipe I’ve finally landed on is fruit heavy (see above!). If you wanted more cake in the cake:fruit ratio you could always multiply the base recipe by 1.5 and cook it for an extra 10-15 minutes. You can use whatever fruit you prefer, and adjust the sugar quantity in the topping as necessary (more for apricots, less for berries). You can also play with the flavours you use. I typically go for rosewater and vanilla with red berries, orange blossom water and a dash of cardamom with apricots, lemon zest with blueberries… You get the idea. Do as you wish. I recommend serving it with a splodge of crème fraîche, or if you’re pretending it’s breakfast, a spoonful of Greek yoghurt.

One of my favourite combos — rhubarb and berries.

When winter comes knocking again I’ll share my winter variations so hopefully this can be a year-round failsafe for you as it is for us.

Makes one 8-inch cake (serves 8)

Ingredients

For the fruit

50g unsalted butter

50g light brown sugar

~ 350g fruit, cut into cake-appropriate size i.e. rhubarb 1” pieces, apricots halved, raspberries whole

For the cake 

150g unsalted butter, soft

100g caster sugar

50g light brown sugar

2 eggs

100g plain flour

50g ground almonds

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract and/or other flavouring — rose water, orange blossom water, almond extract, spices.

Steps

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F.

Butter and line the base and sides of an 8-inch/20-cm cake pan. If you use a springform pan, wrap a couple of layers of kitchen foil around the base and sides in case of leaks.

Start with the fruit. Melt together the 50g butter and 50g light brown sugar until the butter is bubbling. Remove from the heat and gently toss in the fruit. Pour into the cake pan (feel free to spend a while prettily arranging the fruit or just chuck it in and leave it where it lands) and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, ground almonds, salt, baking powder, and any spices you want to use.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and both sugars on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, until significantly lighter and airier. Scrape down the bowl and paddle and cream for 1 minute more. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides after each one. If the mixture starts to look a little curdled add a tablespoon or two of the dry mixture (and don’t worry about it, it’ll turn out just fine). Finally beat in any flavouring i.e. vanilla extract, rose water.

Reduce the speed to low and pour in the dry ingredients. Beat on low for 30 seconds. Scrape down and beat for 30 seconds more, making sure there are no pockets of flour or butter stuck on the paddle or at the base of the bowl. If you’re worried, give it a quick fold together with a rubber spatula to be sure.

Gently scrape the cake batter on top of the fruit. Use a spatula or spoon to even it out, making sure all the fruit is covered.

Place the cake on a baking tray and put in the preheated oven (if you’re using a springform pan this is double protection against leaks). Bake for 45 minutes until the cake is biscuity-brown and feels spongey but firm to the touch. 

Let cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then invert the cake onto a cake stand. Remove the cake pan and paper and let cool fully before slicing. This will last for a couple of days at room temperature.