Nancy Silvertons Cranberry Ginger Upside Down Cake Recipes

NANCY SILVERTON'S CRANBERRY-GINGER UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Make the topping: Slice ginger into 1/4-inch disks. Combine with cinnamon and wine, and bring to a boil. Turn off heat, add cranberries and let them soak until liquid cools. Cranberries should be slightly soft but not mushy.
• In a 10-inch, oven-safe frying pan, heat butter with maple sugar, stirring mixture until it melts. Tilt pan to coat the bottom evenly; cool.
• When maple-butter mixture is at room temperature, arrange drained cranberries in concentric circles in pan, starting in middle. There should be a single layer of cranberries. Set aside.
• Make the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter, and beat in brown sugar until well mixed. In a second bowl, stir together yolks and molasses. In a third bowl, sift together flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger.
• Alternate adding dry ingredients and yolk mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
• Dissolve baking soda in 1 tablespoon hot water. Stir into batter. Stir in sour cream.
• Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar, beating until stiff. Whisk a third of the whites into batter; fold in remaining whites.
• Spread batter in an even layer over cranberries. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, and allow to sit a minute or so. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and invert it onto flat serving platter. Serve immediately with a large dollop of sour cream or crème fraîch.

FRESH CRANBERRY UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9-inch round cake pan.
• Place brown sugar and butter into the prepared pan and place the pan over medium heat. Heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and sugar has dissolved, 3 to 5 minutes. Scatter cranberries over the butter-sugar mixture. Set aside.
• Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
• Beat white sugar and butter together in another bowl using an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and mix well. Fold in the flour mixture in 3 additions using a silicone or rubber spatula, alternating with milk.
• Beat egg whites in another bowl using a whisk or an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Fold whites into the batter using a spatula. Spoon batter over the cranberries in the cake pan, spreading evenly.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Invert onto a serving plate, let stand for 5 minutes, then lift off pan.
• Whip heavy cream in a bowl using a whisk or an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Stir in confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract.
• Cut the cooled cake into wedges and top with whipped cream.

UPSIDE-DOWN PEAR GINGERBREAD CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; stir in brown sugar. Spread over bottom of a greased 9-in. round baking pan. Arrange pears over top., For cake, mix milk and vinegar; let stand 5 minutes. In a large bowl, beat egg, brown sugar, molasses, melted butter and milk mixture until well blended. In another bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, salt and cloves; gradually beat into molasses mixture. Spoon carefully over pears., Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream, if desired.

ALICE WATERS'S CRANBERRY UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To prepare topping: Put butter and brown sugar in a 9-inch round cake pan, and put it in the oven. As the sugar dissolves, stir to distribute the mixture evenly over the pan. When the sugar starts to caramelize, remove pan from the oven and allow to cool.
• In a small bowl, combine cranberries and orange juice. Toss to coat berries well. Spread berries evenly in pan, and sprinkle with any juice remaining in bowl. Set pan aside, and prepare the cake batter.
• To prepare batter: In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, cream butter with sugar until pale, light and fluffy. Add vanilla, and beat in egg yolks one at a time, scraping bowl once or twice. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, ending with dry ingredients. Set batter aside.
• Using electric mixer, whisk egg whites with cream of tartar just until whites are stiff enough to hold a slight peak. Fold whites into batter 1/3 at a time. Spoon batter into prepared pan, and spread it evenly over cranberries. Bake until top is browned and cake pulls away slightly from edges of pan, 25 to 35 minutes. Let cake cool for 15 minutes before turning onto cake plate. Serve with slightly sweetened whipped cream, flavored, if desired, with orange liqueur.